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In this category I have listed practical research blog entries that have helped me realize the project proposal. I have marked in green the ones related to Photo Intaglio as this research helped me to decide the output method of my work.
Solar Plates for valves
This is a research/experiment blog about the technique used to transfer my images from positives to Solar plates which then could be inked and printed.
Preparing for the show
In this blog I recorded some very useful information about ‘what not to forget’ for the show and how to price your work. Personally I find this information essential with regard to the possibility of selling my installation/video work.
Stochastic Printing
This research is about a method to print my images onto positives. This method produces fine detail and high resolution.
Permission to photograph
Here is where I list the locations I wished to photograph and gave an example of the letter I wrote to the relevant individuals.
Today after spending many hours in the UV exposure unit room I managed to expose the Solar plates for my photo intaglio process.
The printer at college wasn’t able to do more than one of my positives as the acrylic film kept getting stuck on the printer. I was working with the technician and we tried several times with a variation of settings but the same kept happening. I wasted a couple of days because of this mishap- not good.
Yesterday I got my new positives made in an Imagesetter by commercial printers. An imagesetter is a high resolution output device that can transfer electronic text and graphics directly to film, plates, or photo-sensitive paper. It uses a laser and a dedicated raster image processor (RIP) and is usually Postscript compatible. Unlike the resolution on a home printer, which is probably between 300 – 600 dots per inch (dpi), the resolution on a typical imagesetter is 1270 or 2540 dpi with a maximum dpi of 4000.
The very first time I did a successful plate, my positive was from a inkjet printer and the plate was exposed to an Aquatint Screen during 15 light units, then another 15 light units exposure of the positive and 3 min development.
Because my new positives where made in an imagesetter they are different to the previous one – the positive created with an inkjet lets some UV light through the denser black dots whilst the positive from an imagesetter has dead-black opaque dots - I was told I would not need to use an Aquatint Screen. I exposed one plate for 15 light units to the positive of my image and then developed it for 3 minutes (following the settings of my first successful plate).
But it didn’t work, what should have happened is that the opaque dots of my image positive should have stopped the light going through giving me a less rich black. A rich black means a deep tooth on the polymer and many of these mean that the polymer may come out of the metal plate all together. But it is also truth that when developed too much polymer can came off the darker areas of the plate. As I developed my plate as long as the previous one I thought that I should try using the Aquatint Screen in the next exposure.
So, today I exposed the Solar Plates for 15 light units each to an Aquatint Screen, which is an 80% stochastic screen covered with tiny dots of random sizes, shapes and distribution. The dots are small enough not to be noticed on the finished print. Aquatint Screens are used to prepare Solarplates for intaglio printing. The plates are first exposed to the screen so they are partially hardened. When they are exposed to the art work and developed, areas that were blocked from the light will still have enough photopolymer to hold the ink when it is applied, eliminating open areas or deep grooves that hold too much ink. Allowing the resulting print to show a wide variety of tones including rich, deep blacks.
I found some information about the history of Aquatint screens, artist Elisabeth Dove, who based her study in the research of printing with Ashahi glass by Keith Howard, developed her own aquatint screens and commercialised them in the US.
As advice, I read that if you want to increase the richness of blacks, darken your image and retain more detail, you should reduce the exposure time. Alternatively, if you have problems with grooves holding too much ink, or you want to lighten your image, or if there is too much polymer washing away (this is what happened the very first time I did a plate) the thing to do is to increase the exposure times.
As an experiment I did increase the exposure times for one of the Solar plates to 30 light units and didn’t use the Aquatint screen previously. Unfortunately the polymer still washed away from the plate, so I guess that the increasing exposure would only work to modify the lightness of your image. Due to the price of every Solar plate (£10) I decided to stop experimenting and stick with the exposure of Aquatint screen for 15 l.u. plus another 15 l.u. for the positive and then, once developed for 3 minutes and dried, I hardened them by exposing them to UV light for 30 l.u. I will let them dry for a week before inking them.
Today I attended a session on how to prepare for a degree show. It was very informative. The following are key point which I believe to be very useful for our show.
Things to Remember for Degree Shows (and other solo projects…)
(Kindly provided by Medeia Cohan-Petrolino and Eamonn Maxwell)
>You may think the following reminders are very obvious, but you would be surprised how many artists at degree shows have none of the following recommendations sorted.
>Always price your work. Be careful not to underestimate your worth nor overprice it.
*For films
1. For films, editions of 5 (plus artist’s proof, that you keep) works best, on DVD.
2. When somebody buys it, you are to give an exhibition copy and a storage/archive copy.
3. The going price now for films (one edition) is £150-350.
4. Number them in odd numbers (edition 1, edition 3…).
*For installations
1. The price for installations includes your artist’s fee and the total cost of equipment.
2. Don’t sell your installation piecemeal- include all pieces of equipment.
3. If somebody wants to install your work in a gallery/space, the installation fee is £175 per day.
>If applicable, always know how many editions are in your series before pricing and showing your work; it’s a good idea to keep that number under 10 to begin with.
>Always, always, always provide a legible business card with current contact details.
*Keep those business cards; make a mailing list.
>If applicable, discuss the possibility of commissions with interested parties. However, be careful with making too many accommodations when commissioning work.
*Every buyer is a start of a relationship.
Other important tips:
*Research the galleries.
*UK galleries don’t use contracts.
*Put things into writing.
*Don’t sell everything.
*Keep artist’s proofs.
*Be mindful of your work’s ability to be displayed anywhere.
*For presentation of work, it should be professional and well-done.
*The University also helps you after you graduate, they can connect you to galleries, institutions and collectors.
I got some good results with the photopolymer plates. I bought a Toyobo Printight Solar Plate (KM73) which allows high resolution positives to be transferred to it. Because of this I was told that I could use a different way of printing the positives, called stochastic printing. [Stochastic is a mathematical term that means random, having to do with random variable/s involving probability or chance]. It differs from the conventional printing in the modulation. Conventional Printing is AM (amplitude modulation) and Stochastic printing is FM (frequency modulation)
- Amplitude Modulation. In printing, used to refer to conventional halftone printing techniques in which dots of various sizes (amplitude) are used to reproduce the tones and colors of a continuous tone image, with large dots used to reproduce the darker areas and smaller dots to reproduce the lighter areas.
- Frequency modulation. Used in printing to refer to stochastic printing techniques in which the number of dots, and sometimes their size as well, is changed to reproduce the different tones and colours in a continuous tone image, with relatively more, closely spaced dots used to reproduce dark areas and relatively fewer, more widely spaced dots used to reproduce light areas.
(information from ED NewPage and education)
So, I am going to try to produce this positives at collage although I heard that it maybe a little difficult as a highly developed program is needed in order to use complex algorithms to place the dots more or less often as required in order to reproduce the image with no determinable pattern. If the ripping program -raster image processor- Wasatch (which is the one we have at collage) can’t handle working with the inkjet printer in this manner then I’ll have to go to a commercial establishment to get it done. One more thing to think about is that although this process (FM) will give finer detail than the conventional method (AM) also it is quite unforgiving and imperfections will be more visible sometimes showing too much detail.
I have the contact details for the Film Officers of the boroughs where the locations I want to photograph are located. The locations are:
- Abbey Mills Pumping Station in Newham : Abbey Lane, Stratford, London E15 2RW
- Crossness Pumping Station in Bexley: The Old Works
Crossness S.T.W., Belvedere Road, Abbey Wood, London SE2 9AQ - Ladywell Baths, Ladywell, Lewisham
I have composed a letter to send to this different locations. I will also try to get them trough the phone and see if I can get any closer to access the locations. The letter goes as follows:
Dear ………..
I would like to introduce myself, my name is Esmeralda Munoz-Torrero and I am student at Camberwell School of Arts, currently studying an MA in Digital Art.
I was kindly given your email address by the Film Officer for City of London, and believe that you are the best person to contact with regard to acquiring access to Crossness Pumping Station. (The Old Works, Crossness S.T.W. , Belvedere Road, Abbey Wood, London SE2 9AQ)
In my project I am attempting to capture through photography some of what remains from the functional architecture of the industrial era. I am documenting buildings, constructions and machines whose development followed a historical thread and also represented the various technical achievements of their time.
Because of this I am therefore writing to you to ask for your help in gaining permission to take photographs inside Crossness Pumping Station. It seems to be a perfect environment and an ideal space for me to capture some truly interesting work for my MA project.
I would like to assure you that this is purely for artistic purposes and not commercial in any way.
If you would like to see the progress of my project and some examples of my work, then you can view my academic blog at http://esmuto.wordpress.com.
Could you please reply to me and let me know if this is acceptable. Naturally I would be bringing photographic equipment with me, such as camera and tripod.
Thank you very much for your time and consideration.
Yours truly,
Esmeralda
