3 day Workshop in B&W Carbon Photography

Service Description

This workshop is an introduction for complete beginners to single & double transfer black & white printing. Carbon photography is a 19th century continuous tone pigment transfer process with gelatine and pigments as the main constituents. The underlying principal in this process is that once the light sensitive chemical in the pigmented gelatine has been exposed to ultra violet light, the gelatine becomes insoluble in proportion to the amount of light received. The exposed images can be transferred onto almost any prepared surface during development in hot water. The parts of the image that have not been exposed to UV light dissolve in the water. The prints produced are archivally very stable and the tones rich and deep. I have replaced Potassium Dichromate with a less toxic sensitizer called DAS (Diazo), which is more stable and environmentally safer to use. There are a number of steps involved with the preparation of materials and transfers of your print onto the final paper. You will learn the history, production techniques and safe handling of chemistry for Carbon. You will be instructed in the preparation of carbon tissues, sensitisation, exposure and the transfer of the exposed image to another substrate for development in hot water. Due to the nature of the materials used, humidity, constituents and light can effect the materials in unpredictable ways. You will learn to identify problems and how to resolve them. There is opportunity to experiment during the workshop with pigments, materials to print to as well as a more creative approach to image making. The workshop will be tailored to suit your needs. Digital Calibration: As we will be working with a package called CALIBRATION FOR ALTERNATIVE PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESSES produced by The Wet Print, I would highly recommend purchasing this excellent and comprehensive online workshop in advance. The price is extremely reasonable at 59.95€. You will be guided to produce step tablets and calibration prints to measure with a spectrophotometer. Visual Calibration: To create carbon prints from large format camera film, glass plate negatives or experimental photocopies or inkjet negatives then an alternative approach is demonstrated. The workshop fee includes the cost of all materials, except imagesetter negatives. A limited number of workshops are available in the year, please email info@silverwoodstudio.co.uk directly to make enquiries.

Contact Details

• Northrepps, Cromer NR27 9LF, UK

  + 44 (0)7944 731081

  info@silverwoodstudio.co.uk