I can't paint. I've tried, but despite my ability to draw, I still can't handle a paintbrush. I've even gone as far as following a Bob Ross tutorial - my Little Accidents were never Happy, and trees cannot "cover up a multitude of sins" when you're painting a seascape. Sorry Bob, I'm just not a painter.
But I still want to paint.
I've splashed developer onto a print with a paintbrush before. That was quite fun, as I didn't have to rely on my terrible motor skills to capture a smile, or my inability to visualise to get the correct proportions. I could simply paint the developer on and reveal the latent image beneath. Okay, I know it's not the same as painting, but I could still get creative, allowing certain parts of a photo to come through.
Experimenting with the developer and fixer was great fun, and I tried things like uncovering just the eyes of my subject as the dev rolled down their face like a teardrop. I began to wonder how else I could utilise selective application of the chemistry, and what would happen if I did it outside of the darkroom. That's when I found out about a fusion of painting and photography - the art of the chemigram.
The concept behind a chemigram is simple - developer and fixer are repeatedly and alternately applied to photographic paper while in the light, creating a unique print with dark and light areas. If you expose the paper to light and then apply the chemicals in the darkroom, the resulting image will be monochrome. However, if you have the lights on, the paper begins to react and different colours are formed, much like in lumen prints.
Chemigrams really come into their own when you apply a resist. This is any substance that comes between the chemistry and the paper, allowing for greater variation in the areas of the print that are exposed. These resists can be hard (such as varnish, wax, or glue) or soft (like honey, oil, or even peanut butter) or anywhere in between. A range of factors can influence the outcome of the image:
Choice of paper
Choice of resist
Application method (e.g. paintbrush, sponge, knife, spray)
Solubility of resist
Physical manipulation (e.g. cracking dried varnish or wiping off honey)
Length of time before submerging in chemistry
Length of time in the chemistry
Order of chemistry (dev then fix, or fix then dev)
Number of alternating chemistry applications
This list is endless.
A chemigram can be made within seconds, or it can be cultivated over the course of hours or days. Different resists can be applied and manipulated, dissolving or flaking apart to reveal new areas of the paper that are ready for exposure to light or chemistry. There is no right or wrong way to create a chemigram, and as Bob Ross said, there are no mistakes, only Happy Little Accidents. Thanks, Bob.
Photographers
Pierre Cordier
In 1956, Cordier was stationed in Germany during his military service. He met a young German woman called Erica and wanted to make her a birthday card, so he took some photographic paper and wrote "Happy 21st Erica" on it with nail varnish. To change the card's background to black, he put the paper into some developer where the nail varnish began to flake off. It continued to do so when he submerged the paper into the fixer, allowing the chemistry to reach new parts of the paper and create mottled areas of both dark and light. Where a photogram is a "light-drawing", Cordier's method uses developer and fixer to form a "chemistry-drawing", therefore he coined the term "chemigram" to describe his method.
I am very happy that other people do chemigrams, absolutely, and that there are many around the world who do them - Pierre Cordier
The internationally famous Brassaï, a fellow artist and photographer, told Cordier to never divulge his secret for making such interesting works of art. Fortunately for us, Cordier ignored Brassaï's advice and shared his technique with the world. He is not precious about it, he simply wants people to continue making chemigrams. I have great respect for artists who value their art over themselves.
Cordier's creations are abstract wonders, created by fine-tuning his process over decades. He has experimented with many resists, such as honey and varnish, as well as various techniques. Some of his works are geometric and highly controlled, using stencils and slicing through the resists mid-development. Other pieces are organic and free-flowing, allowing the chemistry to react with the resist and the paper as chance dictates. No two chemigrams are the same, yet each contains the remarkable detail and tonal depth you'd expect from such a pioneer.
In 2010, Cordier's work was displayed at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Click below to see a short film commissioned by the V&A as part of this exhibition.
Melanie King
A successful photographer gaining recognition for her art, Melanie King has a particular passion for alternative processes. She is interested in sustainable practices and the relationship between photography and the natural world.
While Cordier has been praised for the way he would craft many of his chemigrams with painstaking precision, King has been inspired by the more natural aspects of his work. Rather than focusing on what she could create, she often chooses to explore what the environment can create through her. Her Unstable collection is a prime example of this: using circles of standard photographic paper and a spray of fixer, King allowed the chemistry and light to interact while the prints were on display. Throughout the course of the exhibition, the prints changed, becoming visual representations of time.
Inspired by August Strindberg's attempts to capture scenes of the sky at night, King experimented with adding the chemistry to the paper before exposure to light. To create her Celestographs set, King placed circular objects onto paper and sprayed it with both developer and fixer in darkness. She then exposed areas of the print to light, allowing the different chemicals to interact with the light simultaneously. The resulting images are highly textured and reminiscent of eerie alien planets, the circular imprints creating a perfect impression of uncharted worlds.
Follow this link to one of King's videos where she demonstrates the chemigram process using Caffenol-C.
How-To
It has been said that chemigrams are easy to create but hard to master. The key is to practise - try different techniques, different papers, and different resists. See what works for you.
You will need:
Photo paper - any will do. You can use expired or fogged paper as it will be exposed to light anyway. Different papers might give you different effects, so feel free to experiment.
A light source - sunlight or artificial, bright or dim, whatever works for you.
Developer and fixer - you can use homemade chemistry or store-bought, but you may find a salt-water fixer isn't strong enough. Note: only mix up a small amount of chemistry as once you've used it for chemigrams it won't be suitable for reuse.
Resists - this is where you can get creative. Anything you can think of that will stick to the paper for even a moment can be a resist. Common choices include oil, butter, wax, varnish, toothpaste, and honey.
Method:
Take a piece of photo paper and place it down, emulsion side up.
Apply your choice of resist in whatever way you want. This could be with a brush, a sponge, your fingers, a spray bottle, anything!
Allow your resist to dry if you want to.
Apply one of the chemicals to your paper (developer or fixer, your choice) and/or submerge your paper in the tray. Leave for as short or long a period as you want.
Apply the other chemical to your paper (fixer or developer) and/or submerge your paper in the tray. Leave for as short or long a period as you want.
Manipulate the resist if you want to. If it's hard and dry (like dried varnish) you could crack it or scrape at it with a knife. If it's soft, you could wipe it away or allow it to loosen or dissolve in the chemistry.
Repeat steps 4-6 as much as you want to, in any order you fancy.
Leave your print to dry - you may want to wash it in running water first to remove the chemicals, or you may want to leave the chemicals on to see how it changes over time!
I know this method is quite vague, but there really is no right or wrong way to create a chemigram. You can take steps in any order, miss steps out, or add new steps in as you see fit. Experiment. Play. Make it your own. I'd love to see what you create, so please share your chemigram adventures in the comments!
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