depressing.org

make pigment prints

Christopher — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 20:05:01 +0000

A lot of photographs from this current generation are going to be stuck inside computers and on memory cards. For me it is important to have prints of at least some of the digital imagery I make so that the images are no longer locked in a machine. Just an image showing a test print as I work toward a larger project.

gallerytop

Christopher — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 19:25:10 +0000

Archive: Winter is coming

Christopher — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 16:42:00 +0000

That weather is changing quickly around these parts. The trees are becoming spindly branches and the nights are getting chilly. Here is an old archived image to get you in the winter mood. It is amazing to see the things that people leave abandoned out there. MOOP, or matter out of place, is everywhere. And sometimes it is big. This is a scanned 5×7 gelatin silver print made in a traditional darkroom..

Making art that you can touch

Christopher — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 21:38:00 +0000

Making things makes you feel good. Tangible things that you can hold in your hands are one of the most amazing things humans create. With all of this digital content creation these days I think it can be easy to forget how much a tactile experience can dictate how we feel about something. This is an 8×10 gelatin silver print.

One of our traditions

Christopher — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 14:47:00 +0000

One of the things that can help to define a culture is tradition. The Lamplighters, a group of hard workers that work to make Burning Man happen, have been around since 1993. One of the current traditions is a Bloody Mary Brunch party on Wednesday during the event. The Lamplighters bring out 100 gallons of the infamous red ooze and serve over 1000 people in their roomy lounge structure. Along with the bloody mary the lamplighters have worked hard weeks and months before hand to pickle tons of veggies. Here are some photographs of the 2011 bloody mary brunch in lamplighters village. A mix of 8×10 and 5×7 gelatin silver prints on various types of paper.

More California Zephyr Photographs

Christopher — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 19:42:00 +0000

I have recently been going through older negatives and printing them. Here are just a few photos made on the California Zephyr. Unsure which year. Printed as 8×10 prints in a wet darkroom.

Bookmaking: How to make a hard cover book part 3

Christopher — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 14:34:00 +0000

On to part three. This is the final part of a three part tutorial in a continuing series of instructional posts. This tutorial is about book making and how to make a hard cover book or journal by yourself. Head on over to part one and then part two to get the full story.

While this isn’t really about binding, here is an example of one type of binding that I have used a few times.

If youre going this route, remember that people will see the stitching, unless you come up with a different way to bind it.

A different example.

It might seem crazy but at this point all we need to do is use our very strong PVA glue to connect the block to the cover. This will form a strong bond. Remember to cover both sides that are to be glued.

At this point you’re pretty much done. Leave it closed tightly overnight making sure to wipe away excess glue before you leave it to dry.

It is really hot in here

Christopher — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 14:15:00 +0000

It really does get hot in the desert. One of the things people who go to burning man know is that it gets hot in tents. This was a cool day 113F. People build all sorts of contraptions to help them beat the heat. Maybe I will have to do the same. This is a 5×7 gelatin silver print.

Bookmaking: How to make a hard cover book part 2

Christopher — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 22:47:00 +0000

This is part two of a continuing series of instructional posts. This series is about how to make a hard cover book. In this part we will go over the joining of the two covers and lining the inside covers with fabric. If you have not read it yet please refer to the first part of the series right here before reading this one.

Now that are covers and spine are dried we can attach the two covers together.

Again, mock up the final product with some tape. Put the paper block inside to see how it fits. This is your last chance to get it right before gluing it into place, make sure it is right.

Taped in to place and it looks pretty good.

Glue it down, remembering to put glue on both surfaces, the paper baked fabric and the surface it is being glued to. Remember to glue the front side as well, carefully.

Now that we glued the middle joining piece lets get to finishing the inside. Again we tape it all up so when we finally glue stuff is in the right plate.

Here we leave most of the inside cover taped in place while some is released so we can glue it down. Remember to glue both sides. I’ve masked off a bit of the area to avoid getting glue where it doesn’t belong, you should too.

Now that the first part is tacked in to place (but not dried yet, be careful) we can remove the rest of the temporary taping. Make sure to mask off the edges as they will be exposed and visible, you don’t want glue there. Put glue on the paper backed fabric and the board, both sides need to be wet with glue.

Hooray. We are glued in to place and the inside cover, and front cover is finished.

Great now the cover itself is pretty much finished. It is still very fragile though so we need to let it dry overnight before we continue on to part three, where we put it all together.

That is it for now. Be sure to tune in for part three. Again, if you have any questions leave a comment below.

archive: tornado 2007

Christopher — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 21:27:00 +0000

In late August 2007 a small F1 tornado swept through my neighborhood outside of Chicago. As far as I know there were no injuries. There was a small amount of property damage and people in the area went without power for 5 days. Here are a couple photographs showing tree damage in the immediate area around my home.