gelatin silver process
Lately my words have not been flowing so much. That is fine… Sometimes you just need photographs without much words.
Anyways… Here is a set of 4 experimental Gelatin Silver photographs, toned, and painted on. Sizes 14x21.5 CM.
Hopefully they will brighten your day.
For a long time I wasn’t interested in photographing humans. I don’t know why that was… I pondered and pondered, wondered and wondered, until I could make sense of it.
I so far have yet to find an answer.
But in a way aren’t all photographs you take portraits? Portraits of nature, the elements, portraits of feelings. I have to admit, it made things infinitely harder. Somehow I have an tendency for that. I also don’t consider myself as a landscape photographer, or solely a portrait photographer. Just a photographer. Nothing more, nothing less.
One day I will maybe go more in depth about the last personal project I finished “I started writing you this letter in autumn…” Maybe if I will ever give a talk or something. But for now it is time for new beginnings.
A new personal project which I am pretty excited about to work on. And alongside my interpretation of portrait and fashion photography.
To get things moving again, mainly in my overly strangely working brain. I did my first session with a dear friend of mine, Kirsten. It is always a pleasure to have her in front of my camera. No pressure, just fun. It is definitely good to see that we both have grown a lot. Same goes for the camera as well, since my little 35mm Nikon which I started out photographing with eventually became by now a 4x5 large format camera.
We shots some other frames too. But as soon as we progressed during the session I realized I wanted to create a diptych. I prefer to see these two photographs together. But realized that they work individually as well.
For now… I am ready to photograph humans again. That it may become a fruitful time.
~ Cristian
Exciting…
It is always scary to show new work. Especially when it is different than usual. Scary but in a good way and exciting. That’s the case with this series as well…
“The lost of of having a deep conversation…” started in Morocco. I was having a well deserved holiday which in it’s original incarnation would only consist out of eating a copious amount of delicious food as well as waking up with a view over the old city of Marrakesh, in the company of a good cup of coffee.
Well I go that. And more… I like taking photographs and wiring so much that I do it in my free time as well. Same goes for print making. And during one of the morning I just started shoot… Simple things. Incredible inspiring though. Things don’t always have to be over complicated. Sometimes things are just what they are. And this situation, just incredibly beautiful, is what came to mind. And it is hard not to see why Morocco has not inspired many many many artist.
I didn’t even bring fresh film. Just old expired film that at one point in time was gifted to me and was kept safe in the fridge. Also not even the same types and brands, and took only a couple of rolls. It is what it is and these are the things I have to work with.
It just flowed. And I like it when things just flow. :)
Morocco has a big photographic history, and I can advice anyone who visits the country to dive into this. There is a reason why you see gorgeous photographs in plenty of places around the country. Just be aware and look around you with a open mind. They are everywhere.
I do also recommend going to the House of Photography located in Marrakesh. Besides the gorgeous, and I do mean gorgeous photographs you will see there, you will learn a thing or two about Morocco and their history and photography. Current and classical.
I was looking for a way to print them differently so I experimented with a multitude of alternative processes before I eventually came back to, you can guess it, Gelatin Silver again… I just really love that process that much. Nothing wrong with all the others. But this is just me. I do see the advantages of the others though through the capabilities of artistic freedom they have. If you study the Japanese masters and how they embrace their paper and Platinum Palladium process that is awes inspiring. So I started working with liquid Gelatin Silver as a middle ground. The rich tonalities of silver, yet the freedom of alt.
Somehow I stumbled upon Sandararc varnish which is actually made from a tree from Morocco to finish it. It gives the prints a bit more of a depth and increases the dynamic range a bit. The blacks pop way more, and has a certain 3 dimensional feel to it which does not come across on a computer screen. But to be fair, I am a firm believer in experiencing things for real anyway.
The entire series took about 3 months. From the developing of the film part to the last print.
This, in a way is just a technical explanations though. Which does not matter at all…
I would like to see that everyone who takes their valuable time who has a look at it. Hopefully during an exhibition one day, or on their computer. To experience it the same way as I do. So please don’t look at it on your phone.
It is a poem. Nothing more, nothing less…
The words go along with the photographs and are intertwined. You cannot have one without the other. What it is about, it on the viewer and reader to decide that. And in a way it can be anything if you approach it like that.
That is the beauty of art, no?
It is nothing more than just the result of a hopeless romantic which shares a connection with his cup of coffee, the morning sun, and a cat.
~ Cristian
You can find the new series on the project page or just use the navigation bar.
Happy to see my work in The Hand Magazine Issue 43. Not only that, but I have the cover as well! The back cover nonetheless. But a cover is a cover. I’ll take it, and I am proud of it. And it definitely makes me happy.
The Hand Magazine is a magazine the focuses on print based art. Very interesting to see all of the processes of all the artists as well.
After the news broke I have gotten so many sweet messages that the Swan is their favourite photograph. And that definitely made my day.
Thanks for The Hand Magazine for having me. And thanks everyone for the messages.
~Cristian
Coating my own silver gelatin paper has always been a goal of mine. It’s a rare and challenging technique that offers greater creative freedom and allows me to select the paper and shape that align with my artistic vision, while still preserving the rich tonal range of silver that I adore. Although not commonly seen in the silver process, I wanted to take on the challenge.
After some experimentation, I finally achieved my goal. Using the Adox Poly warmtone emulsion and applying it on Vinczemillhandmade cold pressed 400 gram paper, I produced a unique and original work of art, a one-of-a-kind edition that I’m particularly proud of.
The final outcome is truly stunning, and I believe it showcases the beauty and allure of this intricate process.
08:00
… is the moment in time where I look outside the window, and ask the sun: Is it time for you to wake up as well?
Only sporadically he answers…
It is strange though. I sometimes feel like the sun, but the more I think about it. 2022 made me feel more and more like that big fuzzy ball in the sky. But only the sun in winter times. Just like now… Not knowing clearly if I am ready to show my face yet.
My balcony window is steamed up… A beam of light was coming through. The light deflects a bit and scatters all over my living room because of that…
It is beautiful.
There is a saying that the sun loves the moon so much, that he dies every night to let her breathe. It makes me think... Is the moon sometimes sad about that? Does she miss him? And does the sun sometimes get cold at night?
After breakfast and morning coffee I pack my gear and prepare to go out and shoot.
I felt lonely and depressed that day… Yet I go out. Back to work, back to the grind… The places I go, the people I meet. All seems connected, it makes me happy. At least outside of the city… Each moment I am done and I finish up my day and go back to the areas where normal life happens the loneliness returns… I see a lot of people. Afraid, and always in a rush… That what strikes me always more when I come back to the Netherlands from a trip sometimes close by… And sometimes far away…
It makes me think of “The Crunch“ by Bukowski…
“there is a loneliness in this world so great
that you can see it in the slow movement of
the hands of a clock
people so tired
mutilated
either by love or no love.
people just are not good to each other
one on one.
the rich are not good to the rich
the poor are not good to the poor.
we are afraid.”
I may be thinking about Bukowski but it is conflicted by my own longing. I am more of a Johnny Cash person anyway, and his description of paradise.
Something was gnawing on me though… If you read about the photography masters, they sometimes mention that photography is a mirror. What is really inside is what comes out. And they way you view the world is a part of who you are.
I explicitly say part and not just who. Since so many things in life are so more nuanced then meets the eye. And a lot of humans are just not really one thing.
Maybe they were right. Maybe that is the reason why my photographs are always filled with melancholia. Maybe it comes from scars in my heart from they pain I carried inside for a long time... Or that I never had a “Merry“ Christmas. And the times they were Merry they were based on a lie. Maybe it is because of a society that wants me to be normal “because being normal is crazy enough” and I just want to be full of emotion and not being afraid to express myself. Or when I was a little boy my piggy bank was suddenly empty and a month later it was full again. Only to discover on a later age that was because otherwise we wouldn’t have anything to eat.
Maybe it is just me…
My day continues…
I have a coffee. I make my food…
My phone buzzes…
I could have swore it was from someone I deeply care about since everyone I regularly speak to have their own sound.
Nothing… No message at all…
I must have gone crazy…
The news is real and I read it… I scroll through social media… I see stories passing by about Iran and Yemen. An energy crisis. A kitty was also saved from a tree.
It makes me think that despite I travelled so much and learned so much. I actually know nothing. I will never know how it is to flee from your home country or how it makes you feel when there is a revolution is going on. But know that every time you tell me about it I will have a tear in my eye.
Out for groceries… Next to the super market Christmas trees are being sold. Yet it reminds me of a story of someone told me that she couldn’t take a bath because with current energy prices the costs are just too high. Do I get a tree for myself this year? My decision ends up in a “no“ and get a big ball of dough we eat at the end of the year, baked in oil, named a “oliebol”, instead.
I punish myself by working out a little bit longer…
I cycle home…
Go to bed, and when and I wake up the next morning all the autumn leaves in my head are making way for blankets of snow that cover my ever lasting thoughts and turn into a beautiful winter landscape…
Frozen… For now… Until the sun shines bright again and it is time to show what is underneath. My head could have been a snow globe.
It makes me think about love. What is love, actually? And why are we so afraid of it? I know what it is for me. Love is freedom. Love is support and letting each other grow. Love is not possessive. Whatever kind of love you are seeking for in life, love is about being whole again. I know that, and believe in that with my heart and soul. Maybe that is why it is so scary? To get what we really want in life…?
My breakfast consists of my favourite coffee and my favourite crackers. I take a bite, my phone buzzes. This time it was real…
The text made me smile.
Time to go… Time to head out… Time for the grind… To work on that photographic dream. To express myself.
It was a beautiful foggy day in the Netherlands and the fog fell over the landscape like a magical cloud with treasure hidden inside it.
It was a good day. Cold, but good.
When I got home I started writing as well… This piece…
It makes me think about that I want to write a poem… I grabbed my typewriter and set it up on my living room table… A paper is inserted in the machine… I love this paper… Grain and structure are present all over. It is perfectly imperfect… Just like me. Just like you…
I write down the words…
“i am the story of a human being
I am the wound of time
I am falling rain…”
I pause… Is it done…?
Yes…
It is done…
Happy new year and a amazing 2023…
And isn’t art beautiful?
~ Cristian
P.S. Thank you every one that made my year amazing again. You are always in my thoughts and in my heart. You know who you are. You are the ones I feel safe with. My friends and my dearest. <3
Thank you Anna-Patricia for finding me. It is beautiful to have an amazing and super sweet gallery director in your life.
Thank you Fotovakhuis for supporting me and being my second home.
And thank you everyone that always follows my adventures. 2022 was amazing. But I promise you… There are plenty of more adventures to come. And I will hopefully will finish the project I am working on soon. Good things just take time… Just keep checking in on me… And I will do the same with you.
With all my love…
Thank you…
Me working snapped by other Chris.
Signing session at the ºCLAIRbyKahn booth at Paris Photo 2022.
Expired Agfa Record Rapid paper from somewhere late 80’s begin 90’s. I started with a proof of concept a month a go and wanted to make everything perfect before I started printing for real. It is the only box I had and this paper is not being made anymore. Expired paper is not only difficult to work with both also there are tonal shifts that can be aesthetically pleasing. I wanted to finish this idea this year. It may not be a conventional way of silver gelatin printing, but projects like this help make me become a better printer in general and it also helps me thing outside of the box.
Size 72cm x 53,4 cm. Edition of 1.
Happy New Year from my little place of magic…
Experiment in oak toning.
I was looking to see if I could find a way to make prints more personal. So what I did was I collected oak bark and made a toner out of that.
I added the toner to my regular process which I do with selenium and it actually came out pretty well.
The goal was to make prints of photographs that you can easily put in a book or a journal or a book, and you discover as little treasures when you open it. The feeling it should give you when you discover them is nostalgia and give you a little smirk on your face. Similar to the smirk you get if you receive a hand written note of a loved one.
I wanted it to be with done with materials you can find around the area here in Haarlem and where certain photographs are taken to tie things in the concept together.
This does not mean all photographs will be done like this. Only when it is called for. But if you see the print for real it really does look pretty. :)
My eyes were sore from staring too much into the sun
I rubbed them with the hope it would get better
It did something though...
08:00 AM
Listening to some records to wake up in the most relaxing way
My hand grabbed yours
We danced a slow dance in the living room
To one of your favourite songs
I never told you it was one of mine as well...
Your head on my shoulder
as we turned I placed a kiss in your neck
A couple of steps left before the end of the song
my eyes slowly started to feel better
08:05...
Back among the trees
I will always remember us
Your dance was like a stroke of life
I just wish I would find you here
If you have been following my stories a bit you've seen that I've been experimenting with alternative processes instead of my regular process. The reason is just to have a bigger pallet of skills in my regular practice. It's something I've learned from being an athlete. Broaden hour horizon, and you will have more insights in your main thing. :)
So in this case I've been figuring out the process called Lith printing. If you are a fan of i.e. Anton Corbijn there was a phase that his printer used the lith technique as well.
As you can see there is a heavy color to mine and to his are none. But that depends on so many variables as well as paper used. And the paper I used here was fomatone since it is easily available and liths very well. There are not many papers available nowadays that lith very well, so it seemed like a logical choice.
Anyways to make a long story short. Printing is amazing and I just wanted to share an experiment. :)
Thanks @hetfotovakhuishaarlem for the scan and @contrastique for helping out with the negative. And @captain.forkbeerd for being a the bearded day dreamer.
A while back I have taken the portrait of Tom de Haan who is the city pastor of the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands.
It took me a while to finish it because I wanted to marinade the contact sheet for a while in my mind, and at a later stage how I was going to print it.
But after getting all of that out of the way, four months later it is done.
Printed on silver gelatin Bergger fiber warmtone paper and retouched by hand. Not with photoshop of course.
