With the invention of photography in the 19th century, photographers opened the spectacle of the natural world to the scientific community and to an awestruck public. After the introduction of faster dry plate emulsions, photography as a tool for research of unseen realities extended scientific knowledge beyond the observable, and photography routinely presented the previously…
Tag: experimental photography
St. Kilda—Nature, the Sublime, the Picturesque
The term nature evokes mountains, waterfalls, deep forests, and Ansel Adam’s landscape photographs. This popular association of nature with beautiful outdoor splendor began in the 16th and 17th centuries. The landscaped gardens of the British and French aristocracy, which emphasized the precise control of nature, were an early expression of burgeoning nature and landscape consciousness. The rise…
At Lacock Abbey: Talbot’s Latticed Window
In early June 2022, I toured Lacock Abbey, the large ancestral home of William Henry Fox Talbot, the inventor of the negative-positive photographic process. The highlight of the tour was the opportunity to look through the latticed window in the south gallery of Lacock Abbey, the subject of one of the world’s first camera-generated photographs….
Lumen Prints: Wildflowers
Camera-less photographs occupy an important yet underappreciated place in the history of photography. While still considered an experimental medium, the photogram, or camera-less image is a photograph produced by the action of light on a light-sensitive surface without the aid of a camera and lens. Camera-less photographs engage the core of the photographic process —…
Varanasi Streets | the ProCam App
The cameraphone merges the most important communication devices in the history of the planet—the telephone, the camera, and the internet. The camera phone or smartphone concept has dramatically reshaped expectations of photography and the look and feel of the camera. Camera phone conventions appeared in 1988, and the first wireless camera phone prototype appeared in…
At Spenceville, Reflections in an Ephemeral Pond
In early January 2022, I had a chance to experiment with photographing reflections in an ephemeral pond in the Spenceville Wildlife Refuge in the Sierra Nevada Foothills of Northern California. After heavy December and January rains, seasonal streams were flowing and ponds were full. I was treated to a still morning and clear skies, perfect…
Found Photograph, Varanasi, a Story.
Experimental photography asks questions: What is it? What process was used? But most importantly, what is a photograph? Some of the first responses to photography spoke of the magical powers of the photograph to capture traces of the world with unbelievable accuracy. Something of the divine seemed to appear in the first photographs, and early…
The Little Brown Dog, Chewed Film, Man Ray.
So I have a little brown dog (Elliot). Eliot is a great dog, my constant companion, a great photo-buddy who jumps to attention whenever I pick up a camera or tripod. However, sometimes he reverts to his puppy personality and chews up clothing, shoes, blankets. Several years ago, he grabbed a roll of 120mm film…
Death Valley, Painted Landscapes
The mediums of painting and photography have intersected at many times. With the invention of photography, painters began to work from photographs. Eugene Delacroix created nude studies based on daguerreotype photographs by Eugene Durieu. Praising the effects of photography, Delacroix wrote in 1850 “A daguerreotype is the mirror of the object, certain details almost always…
The Lego Camera: the Theory of Constraints For Creativity
The Lego Digital Camera Creativity is defined as the creation of something new, useful, or generative.[1] The theory of constraints for creativity asserts the contradictory notion that limits engender creative problem-solving. Creativity involves constraints, which can hinder as well as stimulate problem-solving. For example, in an overly structured problem, little room is left for creativity,…
Morning Glories: Lumen Print Making
Morning Glories, a series of lumen prints Lumen printmaking is one of the most fascinating camera-less photographic processes. Lumen prints begin with silver gelatin photographic papers, the traditional photographic paper used in the making of black and white prints since the late 1870s. Silver gelatin photographic papers are conventionally used in a darkroom under safelight…
Borrowed Sources
Thoughts on Walter Benjamin, Appropriation, Technology and Landscape Walter Benjamin Published in 1936, Walter Benjamin’s The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction is the first commentary on the ways in which technology changes the conditions of art. Benjamin’s tightly written essay continues to generate debate and has spawned thousands of critical interpretations. In…
Experimenting with Box Cameras: Brownies at Mono Lake
In 1888, the Eastman Dry Plate and Film Company headed by George Eastman, introduced the Kodak camera, a wooden box “neatly covered in black leather”[1] which became the most significant event in the history of the medium since the invention of photography. The camera was loaded with a 100-exposure roll of silver gelatin film attached…
Cross Processing and the Lomo LC-A
The Lomo LC-A is a wonderful little camera. With a sleek black design, and ease of use, and the unique Minitar 1 wide-angle 32mm f/2.8 lens, the Lomo LC-A inspires play and experimentation. First introduced into mass production in 1984 during the last decade of the Soviet Union, the Lomo LC-A was designed as a…
At Chimney Beach: Using a Freezer Bag as a Waterproof Housing
Chimney Beach, a narrow band of sand on the east shore of Lake Tahoe, is accessed by a trail from Nevada Highway 28. The beach is managed by the Nevada State Parks Department and is named for the lone chimney nestled at the top of a small cove, the only structure of any kind found…
On Bokeh—the Red Tree
Early references to the Chinese Pistache tree (Pistacia Chinensis) appear in Ernest Henry Wilson’s A Naturalist in Western China. Wilson notes that the hardwood of Chinese Pistache forms “a natural “fork” at one end and is in general use for the balanced rudder on all the larger boats.” [1]The tree is drought and insect resistant…
A Point of Historical Interest—Toys Left for Julius.
About 7 miles east of Nevada City, California, and just off Highway 20 is a Point of Historical Interest, the burial site of Julius Albert Apperson, a two-year-old boy who died on May 6, 1858. In 1971, the Native Sons of the Golden West erected a monument at the site for “A pioneer who crossed…
Experimenting with Infrared Digital Capture
Constructed in 1955, MS Aurora was the first ship wholly made in German shipyards following World War II. MS Aurora began service as a day cruiser named the MV Wappen Von Hamburg, serving the ports of Hamburg, Cuxhaven, Heligoland, and Hornum in the North Sea. Later the ship was sold to new owners who converted…
Experimenting with a Telephoto Lens
Depth of field or the area of acceptable focus within a photograph is influenced by three factors: the aperture of the lens, the subject to camera distance, and the focal length of the lens. Our expectations for photographs are that they transparently represent the subject of the photograph. Each of the three components of the…
Using the Vest Pocket Kodak as an Experimental Lens
By introducing a camera that could be taken anywhere, and used by anyone, George Eastman revolutionized photography. I recently discovered a Vest Pocket Kodak Model B, a very popular Kodak camera manufactured from 1925-1934 [1], and began to explore experimental options with this beautifully designed camera. Touted by Kodak’s marketing as “You Don’t Carry…
About The Experimental Condition
First launched in 2013, The Experimental Condition is dedicated to presenting new approaches to the medium of photography. Photographic experimentation, the blending of unlikely materials to produce new photographic processes and new photographic devices is a permanent feature in photography’s history. The tradition of experimentations continues into the present day with computer programs, silicon, and…