Solid Photography
August 6, 2011 8:27 AM Subscribe
Wrapped in Light -- Using the deep field of pinhole photography, objects painted with a photoemulsion can be illuminated with a panoramic view of their surroundings, then developed and fixed.
That's pretty sweet stuff. I wish that the images were a little bigger so that I could get more of a sense of the subjects.
posted by klangklangston at 10:20 AM on August 6, 2011
posted by klangklangston at 10:20 AM on August 6, 2011
This is giving me ideas - silkscreen in a box with a pinhole, and an old-skool halftone filter. Finding a physical halftone filter could be a roadblock, but it still sounds like an interesting way to make prints.
posted by Devils Rancher at 10:39 AM on August 6, 2011
posted by Devils Rancher at 10:39 AM on August 6, 2011
Please let them find a way to apply this to human skin.
posted by Conductor71 at 10:39 AM on August 6, 2011
posted by Conductor71 at 10:39 AM on August 6, 2011
Hmm... For me, both Safari and Chrome complain about too many redirects when I try to look at that first link.
posted by JiBB at 10:46 AM on August 6, 2011
posted by JiBB at 10:46 AM on August 6, 2011
Link to Vimeo video, which shows only one example but demonstrates the process. Looks neat, I'd like to see more finished pieces....
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:03 AM on August 6, 2011
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:03 AM on August 6, 2011
I want to make a mold of someone's face, coat the inside of the mold with this liquid light, and put it inside the camera, and take a photo of the same face, giving it the Hollow-Face Illusion.
posted by chambers at 11:50 AM on August 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by chambers at 11:50 AM on August 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
Conductor71: Please let them find a way to apply this to human skin.
That was my first thought as well. I wonder if it's possible to make tattoo ink photoemulsive. IIRC, the ink is ensconced beneath a few layers of skin - would light penetrate deeply enough to affect it?
posted by troll at 12:23 PM on August 6, 2011
That was my first thought as well. I wonder if it's possible to make tattoo ink photoemulsive. IIRC, the ink is ensconced beneath a few layers of skin - would light penetrate deeply enough to affect it?
posted by troll at 12:23 PM on August 6, 2011
Tattoo ink too deep for visible light to penetrate to would be kind of pointless, no?
posted by flabdablet at 8:04 PM on August 6, 2011
posted by flabdablet at 8:04 PM on August 6, 2011
But if you leave the ink photosensitive you'd have to stay in the dark. Treating the tattoo with fixative chemicals after it's under your skin seems harder/less healthy.
posted by JiBB at 8:28 PM on August 6, 2011
posted by JiBB at 8:28 PM on August 6, 2011
Tattoo ink too deep for visible light to penetrate to would be kind of pointless, no?
Indeed. Hence my question.
But if you leave the ink photosensitive you'd have to stay in the dark. Treating the tattoo with fixative chemicals after it's under your skin seems harder/less healthy.
Yeah, there are problems with the idea. A new substance would have to be invented; photoemulsions have light-reactive metals suspended in solution (which can't be good for you) and, as you say, require processing agents to set the image. Presumably the new ink would have a period of "activity" before automatically setting. The person receiving the tattoo would have to get inked in immersive darkness, be transported to the site inside of a giant pinhole camera, stand perfectly still for the duration of the exposure, and return to darkness until the ink has set.
posted by troll at 8:50 PM on August 6, 2011
Indeed. Hence my question.
But if you leave the ink photosensitive you'd have to stay in the dark. Treating the tattoo with fixative chemicals after it's under your skin seems harder/less healthy.
Yeah, there are problems with the idea. A new substance would have to be invented; photoemulsions have light-reactive metals suspended in solution (which can't be good for you) and, as you say, require processing agents to set the image. Presumably the new ink would have a period of "activity" before automatically setting. The person receiving the tattoo would have to get inked in immersive darkness, be transported to the site inside of a giant pinhole camera, stand perfectly still for the duration of the exposure, and return to darkness until the ink has set.
posted by troll at 8:50 PM on August 6, 2011
Photoemulsions are fun and tough to fix. The average age of my photoemulsion experiments is around six months, after which they show signs of degradation.
This is based on many factors of course. The brand of photoemulsion used, the chemistry used to develop and fix, and the surface that receives the emulsion. Unlike photosensitive paper, which has been standardized thanks to factory-scale manufacturing processes, the essentially unlimited number of surfaces you can slap emulsion on makes it hard to predict longevity. For instance, some resin-coated papers have been estimated to last 200 years. There is no such equivalent for wood, or fabric coated with emulsion.
I find Tseng's photoobjects to lack a certain depth. They are pretty, of course. However, they stop short of interrogating the technique.
For a interesting book on similar experiments, look at Pinhole Photography: From Historic Technique to Digital Application by Eric and Nancy Renner.
posted by beshtya at 4:28 AM on August 7, 2011
This is based on many factors of course. The brand of photoemulsion used, the chemistry used to develop and fix, and the surface that receives the emulsion. Unlike photosensitive paper, which has been standardized thanks to factory-scale manufacturing processes, the essentially unlimited number of surfaces you can slap emulsion on makes it hard to predict longevity. For instance, some resin-coated papers have been estimated to last 200 years. There is no such equivalent for wood, or fabric coated with emulsion.
I find Tseng's photoobjects to lack a certain depth. They are pretty, of course. However, they stop short of interrogating the technique.
For a interesting book on similar experiments, look at Pinhole Photography: From Historic Technique to Digital Application by Eric and Nancy Renner.
posted by beshtya at 4:28 AM on August 7, 2011
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posted by twoleftfeet at 9:02 AM on August 6, 2011