Hello everyone!
At last, I have free time to dedicate to writing posts again, and this time I want to tell you about my experience in the chemical photography laboratory.

I just finished my last semester in college, and I had one of the most liked courses of my entire career at the university called Chemical Photography.

So what is chemical photography?

They are all the chemical processes that are carried out inside a photographic laboratory or room of photography, they are the photographic revelations, the enlargements, the photograms, among others.
Part of these practices have been left behind by the advent of digital photography, but for those who have not experienced it, it is very exciting to have direct contact with the material, the photosensitive paper, and the chemists who, as if by magic, make the image.

Some of the processes that I put into practice are photograms, chemograms, and blueprints. All these arose totally from the experimentation. I could compare the experience of painting something abstract on a piece of paper when you let yourself go and just start creating something.

Photogram

It is a technique where an image is created without the use of a camera. It consists of placing objects on top of the photosensitive paper and exposing it to light. The shadow of the objects will be marked on the paper and the parts exposed to light will burn which will produce a stamp effect, just like when we wet an object in paint and we stamp it on paper. This process is also known as rayogram invented by Man Ray in 1922.

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Chemogram

This experimental technique is best known as a pictorial technique since photography materials are used to create images without using a camera. This process can be carried out in a lighted environment as well. The results are similar to a painting, but they are made with chemicals such as photographic developer, photographic fixer and you can even experiment with other different materials.

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Blueprint

This technique is the same as the photogram but with a blue dye as indicated by its name. The old process was done with some vapors and chemicals to reach the monochrome tone. The interesting thing about this technique is that it was perfected by Anna Atkins in 1843 when she published her botanical book which contained impressions of plants carried out with this technique, thus becoming the first female photographer in history.

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My experience with chemical photography

This is a selection of the photographs that I made.

Photogram

Photogram

Photogram

Photogram

Chemograms

Chemograms and blueprints

Blueprint

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