Charles-Frederik Hollemeersch is a photographer located in Ghent Belgium. Artistically, he’s interested in acquiring images using alternative processes and techniques. His works are created using a combination of homegrown processing tools, and historical printing processes.
Exhibitions
– a part apart: 6-7 may 2017 – Gent
– Analog Renaissance: 16-28 may 2017 – Groot Vleeshuis, Gent
Publications
– The Hand, iss. 16, march 2017 (link)
Workshops
–See this page
Below you can find a short description and some examples that illustrate the techniques used in Charles-Frederik’s work.
Photographic Techniques
These techniques are “taking” techniques used in a camera.
Wetplate Collodion
The wet-collodion process is early photographic technique invented in 1851. One of the unique aspects of this process is that the photographic plates have to be prepared just minutes before taking the photograph. The plate, while the chemistry is still wet, is then exposed in the camera. Immediate processing of the exposed plate is necessary because, after the collodion film had dried, the photographs can no longer be developed. While difficult to master and labor intensive, the process is valued and practiced to this day for the level of detail and clarity it allows.
Gelatin Dry Plate (GDP)
Discovered in the 1870s this technique is historically positioned between wet plate collodion and the first “modern” photographic films. Pictures were still taken on glass plates but the requirement of immediate wet-processing was relaxed allowing processing of pictures days or weeks after they were taken. Technological advances in preparing the Gelatin emulsions also lead to far greater sensitivity allowing shorter exposure times and low-light photography.
Reversal Processed Photographic Paper
This technique uses modern commercial photographic papers. However through alternative processing chemistry (similar to slide film processing) the paper is exposed in-camera and results in an immediate positive result. This means every photograph is a single unique positive print.
Orhtochromatic Collodion
A variation of wetplate collodion and one of the earliest techniques that allowed color photographs. By adding special sensitizers to the collodion mixture it becomes sensitive to all colors of light (normal collodion is only sensitive to blue light). By taking three separate pictures using a red, green, and blue filter a full color print can be achieved.
Printing techniques
These techniques are exposed from a negative to give a final positive print. The most common support is obviously paper but glass and other materials are also possible.
Cyanotype
Discovered in 1842 this is, together with salt printing, one of the oldest techniques to make positive prints from negatives. It gives a deep blue print. Finished cyanotypes can be toned using tannin containing substances to give an wide array of color casts from a grey-black towards brown, with varying shades of blue still present. Unlike most other photographic techniques, cyanotype is not based on silver chemistry instead using iron-based chemicals. This makes it cheaper, safer and more environmentally friendly that most other techniques which is why it has seen an significant revival in recent years.
Silver Chloride Emulsion Prints
This technique gained prominence around the same time as the gelatin dry plates (GDP). Unlike GDP this technique is a printing technique used to make positive prints on paper. In common with GDP is the fact that this is a development technique offering reduced exposure times compared to the older printing-out techniques such as salt prints, albumen prints and collodion chloride prints.
Salt print
Discovered in the mid-1830s this is one of the oldest techniques used to make positive prints from negatives. One of the main ingredients in this technique is ordinary table salt, hence this technique’s name. This print gives a matte sepia brown result.
Albumen Prints
This technique was developed in 1847. Chemically very similar to salt pinting, the addition of Albumen (egg white) to the solutions used gives the print a greater clarity and a light sheen. This print gives a glossy/satin sepia brown result.
Collodion Chloride Prints
This technique was introduced in the 1860s and uses the same collodion binder as the wet plate collodion technique. However this is a printing technique and the chemistry is processed in a dry fashion. It is noted as one of the most stable printing techniques offering prints that are very resistant to deterioration over time. This print gives a high gloss sepia brown result.
Iron Gallide Prints
This technique is unique in several ways. First it uses iron salts instead of silver, secondly it is positive working, that means it gives a positive print after exposure to a positive original. A third unique aspect is that it gives deep black results, which are not readily achievable using Cyanotype (another iron based process).