Making Paper Negatives

March 28–29, 2009, 9 a.m.–6 p.m.
Workshop
Alan Greene, Instructor

Learn to use a nineteenth-century paper negative technique adapted from Gustave Le Gray’s 1851 dry, waxed-paper procedure. Compared with William Fox Talbot’s original calotype process—which required that the paper be exposed in a dampened state immediately after being sensitized—Le Gray’s procedure, among others of the time, was far more convenient and reliable. The negatives could be sensitized several days prior to exposure and developed several days afterward. All steps will be covered during this two-day workshop: whey-making, iodizing, sensitizing, exposure, development, and waxing, with historical contexts also considered. Participants will take home the negatives they produce and are encouraged to bring their own large format camera. The workshop fee is $350 per person and includes lunches and materials. Call 817.989.5090 for additional information or to register. Registrations will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis until March 13. Advance payment is required; no refunds for cancellations made on or after the registration deadline.

In 1998, Alan Greene took up the calotype process as a reaction to digital photography. This led him to author a technical manual on the process, Primitive Photography (2001). In 2003–04, his paper-negative photography was featured at the Palazzo Caffarelli and the Maison Européenne de la Photographie as part of their collaborative exhibition, Roma/Rome 1850. Since then, Greene has contributed to Études photographiques, the Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography, and the Vocabulaire technique de la photographie. He resides in Cambridge, Massachusetts.