Experiments: Film + Glass
After decades of viewing film as a means to an end, I’ve begun to reinterpret film and other primary photographic materials as subjects in themselves. This gallery includes some of my recent experiments: images rendered from physical glass or film negatives, 4” glass slides and filmstrips.
Some of these images are created from my own 35mm negatives. Others are derived/reinterpreted from disused media (preferably damaged and weird) that I’ve collected over time. Processing varies from image to image, but it always begins with photographing the original on a light table. To capture as much data as possible—and maximize the chance of obtaining a usable file—I shoot the original in sections. I then stitch the best of those parts together in Photoshop and season to taste. The experiment often fails, but the images here are at least interesting to me.
I’m fan of history—and attribution—and try to learn what I can about the material I dig up. Any available info is provided with the images, but in most cases, the provenance remains a mystery. Most of this stuff passed through many hands, homes, and decades before I found it. Sometimes, slides or film arrive in the same box that Aunt Mimi used to store them in the barn after Uncle Willard got the barrel fever. In general, I believe the glass slides date from 1900-1910, and that most of this material originally had an educational intent.
