DOCUMENTATION
Chemigrams are produced by applying a liquid like deodorant or spit to photographic paper (similar method to photograms only using liquids instead of objects) and taking it through the process of exposure, developing, and placing it in the fix and stop. With this method when you apply your liquid to the photographic paper, the two can sometimes chemically react with each other which can create some really nice final outcomes. to the developer which will develop the photo and help the chemicals in the liquid you apply react with the photographic paper. Then when your happy with the amount of development you remove it and place it in the stop, which prevents the photo from developing any further, letting you keep your desired amount of development. After this the last step before drying is placing the photographic paper in the fix, which is optional, not placing it in the fix can sometimes allow the colours on the chemigram to change, which can look quite nice. This process is exactly the same in the dark room however the light and exposure conditions are much more controlled, unlike outside of the dark room where the photographic paper is constantly being exposed as soon as you remove it from the packaging.
For my chemigrams i experimented with deodorant spray, red ink, spray and spit, lip balm, spray and ink and spit, spray and hair gel.
For the ones that I did outside of the dark room I applied the deodorant, spit or whatever to the photographic paper, to expose it i would either walk over to the window or if i wanted an even higher exposure i would use the flashlight on my phone. moving through the developing stage the first chemigram i did i left it in the developer for slightly too long, causing the final outcome to be really dark with not much detail or depth. I learned from this mistake and made sure to properly monitor my photographic paper whilst developing it.
I feel that the best chemigrams that I made this session were the ones where i used ink and spit, and just ink. The effect of the ink on the photographic paper was really nice, with the deep bright red smudges really contrasting the dark background, the ink also fades out in to a nice purple as it crosses over with the black textured backgrounds.
For the ones that I did outside of the dark room I applied the deodorant, spit or whatever to the photographic paper, to expose it i would either walk over to the window or if i wanted an even higher exposure i would use the flashlight on my phone. moving through the developing stage the first chemigram i did i left it in the developer for slightly too long, causing the final outcome to be really dark with not much detail or depth. I learned from this mistake and made sure to properly monitor my photographic paper whilst developing it.
I feel that the best chemigrams that I made this session were the ones where i used ink and spit, and just ink. The effect of the ink on the photographic paper was really nice, with the deep bright red smudges really contrasting the dark background, the ink also fades out in to a nice purple as it crosses over with the black textured backgrounds.
PIERRE CORDIER
Pierre Codier is a Belgian artist who is popularly known as the father of chemigrams, and is considered a pioneer for them. He helped to establish chemigrams as being an art form or artistic expression. He first came across chemigrams whilst writing to a young German girl when he wanted to make her a card. He simply wrote on some photographic paper with nail varnish, and developed it. the technique he uses combines painting (varnish, wax, oil) with the chemistry of photography.