Darkroom Alchemy: Lith Printing
Adult Workshop | Available
Want to create one-of-a-kind and (mostly) unpredictable darkroom prints with aesthetics anywhere from haunted forgotten media to sketched in charcoal to etched in stone? Tired of printing endless test strips in the darkroom? Dive right in with the magical process of lith printing in this workshop! With the use of an alternate darkroom developer and shockingly old paper, lith printing creates darkroom prints that can look unlike anything else. Some things students can expect from prints are any combination of: intense contrast, visible grain, unexpected colors, dark or light speckling, funky vignetting, stunning highlight tonality, spooky shadow delineation, and so much more.
This workshop will give students the tools and knowledge to make entirely unique prints! Students will also get one-on-one guidance to work towards the aesthetic vision and story you might have in mind for your images. For students less familiar with darkroom printing, there will be a quick refresh on the basics of printing from a negative with an enlarger. This technique is experimental and unpredictable–be ready for unexpected outcomes, happy accidents you can't replicate, and the alchemy of the lith developer to decide your fate!
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Note: this class utilizes photo negatives and not photos printed on paper from a phone
What You Will Learn:
- Technical overview of the alternative darkroom print developing technique–lith bromide printing–and the range of its aesthetic results
- Basic refresher of how to print images in the darkrooom
- How to manipulate contrast and and control tonality in lith printing
- Experimenting with negative and paper selections to dramatically impact lith printing results
- Fun and (totally safe) chaos in the darkroom!
Accessibility Note: This studio has partial stair access. The main workspace is reachable via an alternate entrance, but some areas require stairs. Please contact adulteducation@fleisher.org to discuss accommodations.
• Negatives (B&W or color; 35mm, 120, 4x5, or even larger negatives/transparencies for contact printing!)
• Dry hand towel
• All other supplies are included