New Printing and Old Photos

• November 20th, 2004 • • photography, screen printing •

Contrary to popular belief, I actually have been down in the garage working on art! My screen printing endeavor is going fairly well. Using drawing fluid and screen filler is devastatingly easy, though I have not done as well using the photo emulsion. I figure it could be three problems: 1) the photo emulsion and sensitizer are old. 2) my inkjet printout on denril is not solid/translucent enough to make a good exposure. 3) I am not exposing long enough with the lightbulbs I am using. Photo screen problems aside, I’ve made several solid prints on paper, as well as one on fabric. I’m pleased with all of my test results, and can’t wait until I am satisfied enough to get started on an edition of some sort!

Oh dear, speaking of editions, I really wish I could edition my prints I did in Scotland now. Last week I stopped by UNT and visited with both Justin Quinn and Catherine Chauvin, my former teachers/bosses. To my pleasure, I recieved high praise from both of them when they looked at my APs. The local community college is literally across the street from me and I have resolved to visit with the print teacher over there and see if I can buy some shop time. I very much wanted the Scotland prints to be an edition of 30 or so; this appears to be the best way to do it.

In art-related news, I am working on archiving the family fortune: scanning several thousand photographs, many dated back to the 1800s. My Uncle is the family historian, and has almost all of the family portraits and photos. Well, far be it from me to allow him to horde them all to himself! I believe that it is something of a rariety for a family to have such an enormous collection of visual history available in one place, especially with an historian that can identify 90% of the persons in the photos. Therefore, I am digitizing everything. Everything. I realize that this is an enormous undertaking, but firmly believe that the results will be well worth it. Who knew my job in the school slide library would be of some use? In addition to scanning and forcing my Uncle to type down whatever he knows, I am transferring many of the pictures to proper albums. Sadly, many of the photographs are in viciously acidic albums that are falling apart. (Yes, I already chewed out my Uncle.) The only thing I am unsure of how to handle is the old albums into which photos were glued. The acid in the paper is eating away at the photos, but there is no apparent way to separate the two. (Hence one of the reasons I am scanning them!) Surprisingly, some of the old photos are actually tin-types! Most of these are in very good condition; I am completely unaware of what sorts of factors could cause them damage, other than the obvious scratching or moisture. Here’s to good luck safely archiving and finishing the project!

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