Silvia Poldaru

Memories of the last summer

Memories of the last summer

Essay research on Roger Ballen and his constructed realities. Looks to me like the ramblings of a crazy person, in other words a genius!

“Photography has a hundred and fifty years of history behind it, in which it has been considered mainly a documenting device. People tend to see photography as a portrayal of reality. But images can’t be just objectified realities, they are necessarily transformed realities, which depend on the eye behind the lens.” Roger Ballen

Cuckmere Valley, Sussex, England

Cuckmere Valley, Sussex, England

Friston Forest - manmade forest in Cuckmere Valley, Sussex, England

#fristonforest #cuckmere #sussex #trees #B&W #mediumformat #filmphotography

alchemistsworkshop: The Alchemist’s Workshop The Alchemist’s quest to turn base metals into gold alone has resonance with photography. Photography, like alchemy is a transformative process. Like Alchemists, photographers use chemicals to transform raw materials into objects of beauty.The techniques, materials and process, the cross over from art to science and the very goal of the Alchemist’s quest, the creation of gold and silver, metals photographers use, all connect the crafts.  Part of the Alchemist’s process for creating the Philosopher’s Stone, the elusive ingredient for the transformation of base metal into gold or silver, was a series of colour changes known as the Magnum Opus, a term now sometimes applied to an artist’s master work. There were four stages to the Magnum Opus, blackening or melanosis, whitening or leucosis, yellowing or xanthosis and reddening, purpling, or iosis. All very similar to some of the colourings black and white photographic printers achieve with toners such as selenium, gold and sulphide. The Philosoper’s Stone was also believed to hold the secret to the elixir of life. If, along the way to creating the Philosopher’s Stone, the Alchemist had discovered how to fix an image made from the coloration of silver. Would he have accepted that as the elixir of life?  The Alchemist’s Workshop at Grizedale Forest, in The English Lake District, will be a gallery of gelatin silver prints made by fine art photographer Steven Taylor. It will also be a facility for the teaching and preservation of black and white film photography.  Throughout the year courses and workshops on film photography and traditional darkroom practice will be offered. To join my mailing list please E mail your contact details, name, address, telephone…to  talk@steventaylorphotography.co.uk Wonderful print from Steven Taylor.

alchemistsworkshop:

The Alchemist’s Workshop

The Alchemist’s quest to turn base metals into gold alone has resonance with photography. Photography, like alchemy is a transformative process. Like Alchemists, photographers use chemicals to transform raw materials into objects of beauty.The techniques, materials and process, the cross over from art to science and the very goal of the Alchemist’s quest, the creation of gold and silver, metals photographers use, all connect the crafts. 

Part of the Alchemist’s process for creating the Philosopher’s Stone, the elusive ingredient for the transformation of base metal into gold or silver, was a series of colour changes known as the Magnum Opus, a term now sometimes applied to an artist’s master work. There were four stages to the Magnum Opus, blackening or melanosis, whitening or leucosis, yellowing or xanthosis and reddening, purpling, or iosis. All very similar to some of the colourings black and white photographic printers achieve with toners such as selenium, gold and sulphide.

The Philosoper’s Stone was also believed to hold the secret to the elixir of life. If, along the way to creating the Philosopher’s Stone, the Alchemist had discovered how to fix an image made from the coloration of silver. Would he have accepted that as the elixir of life? 

The Alchemist’s Workshop at Grizedale Forest, in The English Lake District, will be a gallery of gelatin silver prints made by fine art photographer Steven Taylor. It will also be a facility for the teaching and preservation of black and white film photography. 

Throughout the year courses and workshops on film photography and traditional darkroom practice will be offered.

To join my mailing list please E mail your contact details, name, address, telephone…to 

talk@steventaylorphotography.co.uk

Wonderful print from Steven Taylor.

“The ruin is a site not of melancholy or mourning but of radical potential - its fragmentary, unfinished nature is an invitation to fulfil the as yet unexplored temporality that it contains.” Brian Dillon

Idris Khan “Every…Bernd and Hilla Becher…”

Keith Arnatt’s Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty might just be my new favourite piece of work. Documentation of the natural world with hints of human elements in it. Almost like a “behind-the-scenes” photos of natural beauty.

Keith Arnatt’s Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty might just be my new favourite piece of work. Documentation of the natural world with hints of human elements in it. Almost like a “behind-the-scenes” photos of natural beauty.