The recent work from photographer Kathryn Watts-Martinez can be described as old world and timeless. Seeing the direction of photography going more digital she became more nostalgic about the forgotten processes and started experimenting with several old photographic processes from the early 1800's like Platinum/Palladium, Kallitype, and more recently the Argyrotype process.
Her recent photographs are done using the Argyrotype process. It is a Iron/Silver base process of hand coating watercolor paper with light sensitive emulsion then contact printing 4x5 or 8x10 black and white negatives and then exposing them under UV light. There are no enlargers used in the process. Every print she makes is an original because the brush strokes cannot be reproduced the same way and every environmental and process factor, including humidity can affects the contrast or density of the final print. All the cropping is in the negative and has to hold detail in the highlights and shadows because there is no dodging and burning on the print as you normally could achieve with an enlarger.
Her work is timeless, it's hard to tell if these images are recent or from a hundred years ago. She currently has over 20 different images and is still busy photographing botanicals, local architecture and visions of the old west.
For the past 4 years she was shooting primarily with her 4x5 and 8x10 cameras. Kathryn has been experimenting with making digital negatives incorporating the old printing techniques with modern technology.
Prints made from the 4x5 negatives, on 8"x8" paper and framed 16.5"x19". Prints from the 8x10 negatives on 11"x14" paper and in a 22"x25" frames. The hand-tinted images are tinted using watercolor paints and pencils.
The Argyrotype process gives the images a warm brown/amber tone. All prints are framed with the images afloat in the center of a brown mat using acid free mats and conservation/UV absorbing glass. All images are signed and numbered.
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The Russell Collection Fine Art Gallery :: Open Tuesday - Saturday / 10 am - 6 pm