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ALT PHOTOGRAPHY
Our curiosity in Alternative methods of processing photography began when we wanted to be able to print our photographs onto any natural surface we imagined but there were limitations to digital printing with depth involved so we turned to the Analog processes with a deep yearning of wanting to print our photographs onto dried mushrooms.
This is how our journey began into the deep and beautiful rabbit hole of the analog world. At Tibetan Flag Trail we always believed in bridging the gap between traditional crafts and modern technology, so we devoted a good chunk of our creative energy and time into studying all about Analog photography and the different methods of processing.
Using the tools of modern photo compositing with softwares that allow for photo manipulation together with converting our digital photographs back into film using CRT lasers (after about 2 years of research) we were able to get our digital photos onto film which allowed for us to work on the analog platform and dark room.
We are also in the process of creating an experimental darkroom and alt photography space along with booklets on how to. Stay Tuned.
Here you can see some of our works on Liquid Emulsions, Cyanotypes and Chlorophyll printing.
Our interest began when we wanted to print our photos onto intricate surfaces such as mushrooms, we realised a digital printer cannot do justice and cannot print onto such surfaces with different depths. So we turned to the analog world only to run into many obstacles but like always we find a way around to jump these and find alternatives.
Liquid Emulsion is a technique of using Silver Halide crystals to create a photosensitive thick gooey fluid known as Photo Emulsion or Liquid Light. This Gooey magical liquid is sensitive to the smallest traces of light except a limited frequency of Reds and Ambers, making it an incredible material to print photos onto using an enlarger in the darkroom.
We started out by using transparency sheets to make negatives only to realise this was not possible due to the lack of clarity while enlarging so we thought why not convert our digital photos to film - what we did not know is that this process does not really exist after about a year of research and reaching out to the pro's in the analog world we finally came across a way to make that happen - God bless CRT lasers which allowed us to expose onto film not leaving a grain of pixels out we were able to enlarge at 16k pixels per inch.
If you would like to get any of these prints OR would like any of our existing photographs created for you using Liquid Emulsion on a surface of your choosing reach out to us and we will make it happen.
Cyanotype printing is an age old method of printing on to a photo sensitive material, its a super fun process which makes you feel like a little alchemist.
The green hues, exposed by the UV from the rays of the sun,
turning shades, alchemising and transforming,
the deep blue cyan, taking me on a journey, transforming and changing,
Blue by blue into this Hue.
The cyanotype was discovered and named by Sir John Herschel who in 1842 published his investigation of light on iron compounds. Cyanotype in Ancient Greek means : kyáneos 'dark blue' and týpos 'mark, impression, type'. It involves the mixing of ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide to create a photosensitive paint of sorts.
We use Photographs that we clicked then put onto transparency sheets later exposed by the sun onto various natural materials we put the Cyanotype paint on.
If you would like to get any of these prints OR would like any of our photographs printed using the cyanotype process on a surface of your choosing reach out to us and we will make it happen.
Printing onto leaves is one of the oldest and most traditional way of photo processing which dates back to 1,228 CE. During the 13th to the 19th century, botanists, herbalists, and doctors all over the world used herbal prints for medical research and identification.
It is a process where the chlorophyll in leaves is used to print using the UV rays in the sun where the leaf is covered by a photo negative on a transparency sheet casting the image onto the leaf.
This process is extremely rewarding, firstly because it uses the most organic and natural material abundantly available to us - LEAVES!!, Studying the different concentrations of magnesium, calcium and chlorophyll on leaves also makes our connection to nature and science more deeper.
This process can be very time taking and frustrating while trying to find the perfect leaf that will offer contrast and allow us to print, constantly referring to the UV Index and being at the mercy of clouds but extremely rewarding when you get 1 good print from the 50 failed attempts.
This process has not only strengthened our bond to nature and understanding plants but has also taught us a lot about different natural processes of a plant and the suns rays.
If you would like to get any of these prints OR would like any of our existing photographs created for you using Chlorophyll printing reach out to us and we will make it happen.
