Empty
The steep sides of the Pennine valleys are dissected by tracks winding slowly uphill. This image is from one such road that crosses the floor of the Calder valley then climbs towards Warland Reservoir. When I passed this section a couple of years ago, the track was broken in several places, leaving a series of hollows, lined with grit and hard-core, with some hinting at its more usual state.
Warland Road 28 April 2017 14:30 Photo-etching 2020
This plate required several sessions of printing to get right. It took a while to realise that plate itself needed attention. Grinding one side of the plate made for a section of narrower tonal range, which then made under-printing possible.
Warland Road 28 April 2017 14:31 Photo-etching and monoprint 2020
Warland Road28 April 2017 14:31 Photo-etching and monoprint 2019
An afterthought- this series might be seen as a plea for road repairs in a particular place. It is not, rather it draws attention to the way we interact with landscapes. These interactions are not stable. Perhaps to underscore this point, the last time I passed this spot, I can here record this section of track had undergone extensive repair.
Transparent
Section from positive used for Calderbrook series
I have promised an extended piece on method, which isn’t ready. But a question came up that gives me the opportunity to explain parts of the process. The question is about what I print on and whether I can print on transparent media.
Here the answer is both yes and no. Yes, one of the preliminary stages requires transparent media: to transfer the computer manipulated image back into a physical photographic process. The image comes back into the real world on on acetate film using an inject printer. A section from the acetate used to produce the Calderbrook series is today’s picture. Here, it is laid obliquely over my metal ruler against a white background. In case you are struggling to decipher it- the spray-painted arrow here top right.
But the answer to the original question is also no, the final print from a photo-etching is achieved from the ink held in a pitted copper plate. This needs soft damp paper, usually specialist printing paper. The pressure applied is also intense, sufficient to embed the plate in the paper.
Hope that answers the question and illuminates a little.
