I love to print Palladium

I always find it amusing that despite being a photo major my favorite place to work is over in the printmaking department. Maybe it is my affinity for being surrounded by noxious chemicals, poisonous liquids and acids, but I really enjoy working over there.

Its a break from the hum drum world of silver prints, which frankly don't get me very excited any more. I enjoy the hands on nature of working in non-silver, the lack of an enlarger, cutting your paper to any format, and the freedom it allows. I can paint on the emulsion however I like, the brush strokes add to feel of the final piece.

Like this image for example I coated to emphasize the brush, and then sought an appropriate image to go along with it. I used a positive of a tree for the negative and it turned out quite well. One response I received was that it resembled the wrinkles of the brain. I'd like to continue with that motif of trees and brains, but I've been very unmotivated as of late.

The cold weather saps my will to explore, Philly just feels so drab, and overcast days don't create exciting light. I don't feel any affinity with the city anymore. It is an environment foreign to where I came from. While I do enjoy the walking and the occasional scene, I feel I would be much happier with easier access to nature. My favorite pass time is to wander around taking photographs, but wandering the woods is far more fun than walking the grid of the city. Maybe I just need to explore more, its 1 in the morning, frankly one of my favorite times to shoot in the city, possibly because it doesn't feel like a city. At any rate I need to find a new subject. I would love to shoot more portraits, but as it is right now I usually shoot anything but that.

I am in a rut.

But recycling older images by printing them in palladium certainly makes me feel awesome.

I need to go exploring...