*Blue Len*
Cyanotype Printing on SunPrint Paper
This Lensbaby portrait of my friend Leonard has a really cool, laid back feel to it, and I like the translation onto cyanotype as well. Again, I find that Lensbaby portraits and Cyanotype work well together.
*Aluminium Bluebeard*
Cyanotype Printing on SunPrint Paper
Aluminium Beard is one of my most recent shots in the Human Nature(s) series, and one of my favourite. I hoped it would work well as a cyanotype print, and I think it did. For some reason, this one came out a little light, but I think it works very well indeed.
*Deal with the Blue Devil*
Cyanotype Printing on SunPrint paper
Deal with the Devil is one of my favourite Lensbaby portraits, and I thought (I hoped) that the evanescent blur of the Lensbaby would marry well with a cyanotype print. In this instance, I think it worked rather well. This print was washed with lemon juice to deepen the blues.
*Treescape on Blue Skin*
Cyanotype printing on SunPrint Paper
Treescape on Skin was one of the early successes in my Human Nature(s) project. I thought it would make a good candidate for some cyanotype experimentation. The print lacks a little contrast, but I like it a lot nonetheless, especially the fact that the left shoulder and arm are no longer visible in the print, which give it an even more surreal look.
*Verdant Profile*
Fuji TX2 (XPAN) + Ilford FP4+
Model: L.
When I first started this project, my goal was to burn the white background entirely to have the subject stand out as much as possible. But since studio lighting is an inexact science (and I’m an imprecise scientist), quite often a little bit of the texture remains on the edges of the shot where the light on the background wasn’t quite bright enough. I could photoshop that out easily, but I’ve grown to like it, a reminder that this is film.
*Aluminium Tattoos*
Fuji XT2 (XPAN) + Ilford FP4+
Model : M.
The impact of subtle differences in relative exposure on the textures appearing or not fascinate me. Here, the low contrast between my daughter’s blonde hair and her pale scale was not enough for me to overexpose the skin too much and have strong texture only in the hair, but I love how the taxture shines in the less exposed parts of her back.
*Amaranth Back*
Fuji TX2 (XPAN) + Ilford FP4+
Model : N.
This semi-improvised session of double exposure I did with my family as models was mostly to test some slightly more scientific exposure approaches. I did each shot three times at three different exposure settings, and this particular photo gave me an a-ha moment both in terms of textures and exposure. I’d shot two different textures for this session, aluminium plant and globe amaranth. The former was as textured and structured as the latter was low-contrast and chaotic. With this shot I realised that low-contrast and chaotic still worked, but only for silhouettes and underexposed.
*Patterned Youth*
Fuji TX2 (XPAN) + Ilford FP4+
Model : M.
When you cannot find models because of social distancing (and because the ones you know will pose are 10000 miles away), you work with those closest to you, so last week-end I shot textures on my wife and kids. My 8 year old daughter wanted to be silly at first, but took some serious and quite lovely poses in the end! Her skin and hair lack contrast for a truly striking effect, but that’s not her fault!
*Aluminium Beard*
Fuji TX2 (XPAN) + Ilford FP4+
Model : L.
This is very much a COVID-19 era shot. My son let his teenage beard grow wild during lockdown, I didn’t have any models for further double exposure experimentation, so the two combined to form a sort of session in my mind. This was a bit of an experimental session, with the idea of trying different exposure levels for each shot. I really like how this one came out, with the texture lightly imprinted on pale skin but starkly visible in the beard and hair. Oh, and the leaves are from pilea cadierei, aka the Aluminium Plant.
*You’ll be a man, my son*
Fuji TX2 + Rollei RPX25
Since schools closed in HK in late January, my 16 year old son has stopped shaving. He didn’t seem to have much of a beard at first, but a few months on it turns out it’s quite bushy. I took this portrait in the sunset light on a tripod, because Rollei RPX25 isn’t exactly made for portraits… but I love the look of it. I will definitely try that film for portraits again, just possibly with artificial lights to make it easier.
Recent Comments