Pictorialism?!
The last roll of film I developed had a substantial amount of base fog, and on top of that, especially when I screwed up and overexposed. The result is that the negatives were so dark that my scanner had issues getting a picture out of it. For those shots, some of the shots were super grainy, and had very little dynamic range. The results are... interesting.
Some thing about these shots though reminded me of Pictorialism, a movement from the later 19th and early 20th centuries. The limited dynamic range, and de-emphasis on detail in favor of form and shape.
I don't know if I like it, but it's definitely a vibe. I kinda feel like if someone were trying to do this intentionally, it could be done to great artistic effect, but I also feel like I'm very much not that person.
Something about it feels kinda surreal, and sometimes it works. Most of the time, though, it's an unbearable mess.
That's it! I thought this was a little cool and hope someone finds this interesting.
I love it! Makes each photo feel historical.
Wow! I actually really enjoy the lo-fi effect this gives. It really counters the whole sharpness and anti-noise movements of digital photography these days. I like that because it embraces more of the art of composition and subject and rejects the modern pixel peeping. So often I feel like zooming in on digital photos I see online to try and spot details way in the distance but on these shots I just want to sit back at the normal distance and just admire what's being captured at an obvious level. Front-and-center.
Well you gave it a look. Willing it or not, you just did gave the photos a special look.
Well done 🙂
These are so cool! Definitely have an early 1900s late 1800s vibe, but with modern subjects. Kinda trippy actually. The first picture that is really hard to see with the person walking is awesome, and my second favorite is with the bike. If you could reproduce this look it could be it's own thing...
I like these! The good thing about film is that even if the exposure is all off, there's still a layer of grain that's "sharp" which automatically makes it a lot better than a messy digital image. Way easier to pass off as intentional artistic vision 😉
So I found an old enlarger someone was selling (with a bunch of other stuff) for 35$, and I used the stand to use as a copy stand, and the enlarger itself as a light box and slide holder, which it actually ended up being brilliant at. I wanted to rescan the first image, the super fried one, since the light source now is a 150w equiv bulb rather than the Epson v600, and I could also leave the shutter open as long as I need to.
The result is this! Still super grainy and "pictorial", but much more of a picture.
Woah! That's a sick DIY setup! I guess I've never seen an enlarger that looks like that (or maybe what I think an enlarger looks like is actually something else...) is that bulb part of it or did you DIY that part into it as well? And is it just a reflective box inside?
Quote from James Warner on April 1, 2022, 1:03 amWoah! That's a sick DIY setup! I guess I've never seen an enlarger that looks like that (or maybe what I think an enlarger looks like is actually something else...) is that bulb part of it or did you DIY that part into it as well? And is it just a reflective box inside?
So the wire you see there is just the power cable going into the enlarger head. On the opposite side (the side sitting on the table), is the bulb. The original bulb was a 50w incandescent, and if I ran it for like two minutes. I'd forgotten how much incandescent bulbs suck. It was too hot to touch! I replaced it with a 23w LED, and not only has it been much, much brighter, I can also run it for long periods of time.
This particular enlarger is a Durst 606. I haven't modified it in anyway besides taking out the lens board and flipping it upside down!
