I can find expired papers, even Brovira, and by using Lith printing techniques and carbon transfer from old bromides I can get some sense of the visions I had when taking the picture.

An example is this image of my first wife, Linda, I took in 1979 – I had a commission from Honeywell Computers to do a series of magazine covers. I was not a great fan of the technology, believing it was dumbing down thoughts and invasive (perhaps I was ahead of my time) – Honeywell did not like my ideas so it was never published, but this image reminds me of the one way conversations I had with Linda and it was great to find a way to stop her talking for a few minutes.

The original image was from a 5×4 inch Polaroid 55 neg/pos film – another great product that has gone – I took the original in 1979, but reprinted in 2023 and made a reversed carbro print onto glass from the bromide by putting in contact with sensitised carbon tissue I made and then gilded the transferred print to make an orotone.

image size 12 x 17 cm

frame size 28 x 34 cm

Price euro 950

I take images from work I have done over the last 60 years and look for ways I can “see” the people and places again. It is interesting to remember the details of the photo shoot and I can usually remember exactly the lighting and exposure parameters.

 

 

 

 

The technical information and even the printing stages are often crystal clear in my head and it amuses me to reprint old negatives and realise I am using the same timings and techniques I used, often 50 or more years before.

But a big handicap to repeating the print is that most of the papers and materials I once used no longer exist – Agfa papers, I dream of Brovira and Record Rapid – Amidol developer (I can sometimes get stock ad have a few kilos stored) and platinum paper are now unaffordable to make and cannot be bought. But carbon printing is now a home-brew only  – all the papers and tissues are extinct.

But I do find ways to rethink the presentation and use new/old techniques to reinterpret my work.