Negative Series

Printing a negative image in the darkroom is simple. Develop a positive print and expose that print over an unexposed sheet. This results in a negative exposure of that positive print. For this series, I decided to shoot a variety of models, poses, and lighting to explore any effects that could be applicable to this printing process. Within each photo shoot, I wanted to capture the personalities of my models, give life to the series, and complement the added effect. During the printing process, I discovered laying the positive print top side down in a contact proofer resulted in the most clarity and detail. I also explored many types of printing manipulations such as adding ink washes, cutting prints, bleaching the prints, and double exposures. The result varied, from sharp high-contrast compositions to gray blurred frames to show the range of applications of this printing process. The images are silver gelatin prints shot on 35 mm film.