THE 'DIGITAL NEGATIVE'
Now that digital cameras have settled in to our culture, an interesting trend is taking place that allows photographers to produce silver and other ‘historic process’ prints by marrying some old fashioned methods with today’s state-of-the-art technology.
This combination of old and new allows photographers to make ‘digital negatives.’
The simplified explanation of a digital negative goes something like this: A photograph taken with a digital camera is turned into a ‘negative’ using a computer a program such as Adobe Photoshop.
After some basic manipulation, the image is printed using an inkjet printer onto something very similar to overhead projector transparency material.
The transparency is then ‘contact printed’ onto readily-available traditional black and white photographic paper or, for those who really want to take the complete trip, onto hand coated paper, such as platinum or palladium.
The prints are then developed using very basic, inexpensive, darkroom equipment.
The minutiae of the subject is well beyond the scope of this article.
For those who want to know more about the process, it’s generally agreed the definitive source on the subject is Digital Negatives by Ron Reeder and Brad Hinkel.
One of the leading suppliers of traditional and alternate process photographic materials is Bostick & Sullivan, located in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Co-owner Melody Bostick said in a recent interview that despite the overwhelming digital trend, her business is actually growing.
While the market for film has declined substantially, Bostick says sales of the special overhead transparency material, made by Pictorico, are skyrocketing.
“You’re not producing something standard,” Bostick said. “Using the historic processes gives the individual the ability to hand craft a photograph that is unique, long-lasting and in many cases, a work of art.”
Bositck said some of her biggest customers are a growing number of community colleges and universities that offer courses in traditional and alternate process photography.
Handmade platinum and palladium-based prints are especially popular. “Platinum and palladium prints are considered the standards of excellence for fine art prints.”
Fine art photographer Dick Arentz produced a nice compendium on the Platinum and Palladium method. Click to see.
As it stands, the notion of film photography may seem rather quaint these days. But it’s certainly not going away, not anytime soon.
At the very least, the combination of old and new technologies opens up a unique method of visual expression for all the shutterbugs of the world.
