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This image is one on which I have been working on and off for several months. There are so many ways to print it, and most of them have found their way into the trash can.
This is a Bromoil image from a series of images I took of people in New Castle, Delaware.
I have been taking pictures of forgotten places and abandoned items recently, and this is an example. Behind a store lies discarded items that meant something in the past, but are part of the rubble of the present. I decided to print this as a Bromoil, which turned out to be one of the more difficult images to print, but I think that the intention properly fits the process.
A while back I offered a post called Steps. My intention for the image was to use it to create a Bromoil print. After calibrating the curve that needed to be applied to the paper I decided to use (Fomabrom Variant IV), I printed a red negative version of the image onto a clear substrate. This allowed me to use it as a negative that I could use to contact print a traditional silver gelatin image, which is the first part of making a Bromoil print.
The ability to do this means that if I choose to abandon film at some point in the future, I will still be able to create Bromoil prints. I am not concerned that film will go away any more than black and white went away with the introduction of color, but it not only allows me to carry one less camera, but also manipulate existing images with the ease of Photoshop.
I finally purchased a decent printer and began my move toward digital negatives last weekend, spending too many hours calibrating things to work well with Fomapan Variant IV paper, the paper I have been favoring for use with the Bromoil process. I selected a couple of images that I had taken while on vacation in North Carolina a couple of years ago and used them as tests, and this is the first Bromoil made from a digital negative for me.
I have been shooting images of many houses and buildings that have seen better days, and this image is part of that series. With this particular house, the entire front of the house was gone, so I stood just outside and shot into the building. This jar was full of a white powder, and without a label I have no idea what it was. I have also printed this image reversed, with the jar on the left, and am contemplating which one I like better.
I meet with a group of photographers each month who are primarily interested in large format and alternative process photography.
Recently we had a chance to use some rather nice studio flash equipment so one of the women brought her daughter for us to use as a model. I decided to use my Certo Six camera (a medium format “folder” made in East Germany sometime after WWII), and not wanting to take a straightforward image, asked the model to move her head back and forth.
The exposure time was one second, and the shutter opened as her head was turned to my left, and closed just as the flash went off and her head had turned to my right. I did a series of these images, but liked this one because the left eye lined up with the right eye.
To add a level of abstraction to the image, I printed it as a Bromoil print.
This is the third of my three Bromoil street photography images. I am using this process to add an element of abstraction from the scene.
Everywhere I’ve ever been, people make lines and force the cars to go within these lines. In New York City things are done the opposite – taxi cabs create the lines and make people go within them.
This is the second of the three Bromoil street photography images. This pictures actually relates to the Jackson Pollack In New York image I offered on Flickr. You can read the description of what was going on there.
This particular individual had the demeanor of a lookout, though I really didn’t know whether or not that was the case.
I’m attempting to combine street photography with the Bromoil process, and the results are rather interesting.
There is no better place in the United States to do street photography than New York City, which was where I was stuck for a day. Of the images I took, three stood out for me. I wanted to add a layer of abstraction and decided to try creating Bromoil prints of these three images, and this is the first of those three.
I like this image because each person is separated and working independently of each other, although some may be together. The scene appeared to line up for me nicely and I grabbed the shot, moved to find better positioning, and found that the moment had gone. I may return to this print and do a little more work on it, but this is the general thrust of the idea.
If there is one thing that it ubiquitous in Annapolis, Maryland, it is boats. Boats of every kind, from the smallest sailboat to the largest power boat, to yachts that you are certain nobody can actually afford. The harbor can handle some boats, but most of them drop anchor in Spa Creek so that they have easy access to the city. The mode of transportation from the boat to shore is normally via dinghy, and these are a group that were crowded into one of the lesser known docks near the city.
A number of years ago I traveled to Spain to participate at “Englishtown.” A company was teaching Spanish speaking business men and women the English language and for a week the students were in a trial by fire, where they were not allowed to speak Spanish at all. There to converse with them for the entire week were mostly Americans, some Brits, and an Australian. We all stayed in a hotel in Gredos, and this Bromoil print is of the back of one of the buildings in this picturesque location. I believe that the company is still doing business, looking for English speakers to wine and dine for a week – information can be found at vaughanvillage.com.
