It was from the laboratories of Talbot and Herschel in the 1830s and 40s that the foundations of photography were laid. The early methods of hand-coating paper with solutions of gold, silver and salt saw photography into the industrial revolution, where factory processes made photographic printing widely available.
As this chapter of history is closing, eclipsed by the ease and availability of digital printing, new research by Dr. Mike Ware - a leading chemist, photohistorian and exhibiting photographer - and hours of experimentation by many dedicated practitioners has re-established a new standard of photographic printing - chiropoesis - the art of the hand-made print.
Presented in this exhibition is the work of eight artists employing gold, platinum, silver, Prussian blue, flower petals, gum and casein to produce prints of exceptional quality using contemporary wet-processing methods. The gold and platinum prints rank amongst the most archival in the world, with the flower petal prints defining fleeting impermanence.
Darren Edwards - a UK-based artist with MA & BA degrees in Fine Art. Showing chrysotype prints forming part of the "Our Infinite Day-trip" installation, an Arts Council England funded project on Sonora Island in Canada.
Tom Hawkins - a US-based artist with an MA in Landscape Architecture. Showing platinotype prints from the "Salt Harvest: Bonaire" series produced on the Dutch Antilles, as well as the original chrysotypes published in "Gold in Photography: The History and Art of Chrysotype".
Martin Helmut Reis - Born Germany, working in Canada as a photojournalist and visual artist. Showing anthotype prints made from the natural dyes found in flower petals (using his own soon to be published formula).
Nirmala Savadekar – an Indian artist with an extensive background in commercial photography. The first artist from Asia to study the chrysotype process with Mike Ware, showing chrysotype prints forming the "Polka Dots" and "Luminous" series.
Roger Vail - a California based artist on the faculty of Sacramento State University with extensive experience in alternative photographic process printmaking. Showing chrysotype and platinotype prints.
Mike Ware - Born and working in the UK with a D.Phil in Molecular Spectroscopy. The Inventor of the new cyanotype, new chrysotype and argyrotype processes will show examples of all three, including the original chrysotype prints published in "Gold in Photography: The History and Art of Chrysotype".
Lukas Werth - Born Germany, working in Pakistan with a PhD in Social Anthropology. Showing chrysotype prints from the "Mystical Islam" series, as well as gum bichromate and cyanotype prints with architectural and landscape themes.
Ellie Young - Born New Zealand, working in Australia with BA and MA degrees in Applied Science (Photography). Showing macro images printed in salt and albumen, from the original group published in her new book "The Salt Print Manual".
Chiropoesis: Foundations of Photography will offer a rare chance to look into current photographic practice from the UK, Australia, Germany, India, Canada and the United States.
Crane Kalman Brighton - "Chiropoesis: Foundations of Photography"
Crane Kalman Brighton
38 Kensington Gardens
North Laine
Brighton - East Sussex
Opens September 28th to October 11th, 2009
Crane Kalman Brighton
(c) Lukas Werth - Chiropoesis: Foundations of Photography - 2009
