MARGARET LANSINK – MASTER PRINTER

"The liquid light process is an alternative photographic printing process where I apply with a Japanese brush a silver-based light-sensitive liquid emulsion on a paper with a nice tactility. This has to be done in the darkroom under minimal light conditions. Therefore it’s very difficult to see if the outlines are good. This is where the beauty of perfection comes on board. Sometimes, out of five prints, only one works quite well. After I’ve let this inked paper dry, I’ll process it in the darkroom as usual, i.e. using an enlarger, a negative and conventional chemistry. After this process I scan or photograph this “mother” image and send it to a professional photo lab, where they print it in large scale on Torinoko washi paper.

 

In addition to the above techniques, I have also been making my own Platinum Palladium prints for a year now. Platinum Palladium printing is a traditional photographic printmaking technique dating back to a period in photographic history that predates silver gelatin prints. To create a print, I start by hand coating platinum palladium emulsion onto a cotton rag paper using a special glass rod. The Platinum-Palladium mixture is sensitive to ultraviolet light and the process requires a contact print; the negative must be the same size as the desired print. During the development part of the process, the Platinum and Palladium becomes embedded within the fibers of the paper, which results in an image that is as permanent as the paper itself. The final color tonality can range from warm black, to reddish brown, with a range of grays in the midtones. After the development under UV light, the prints have to be washed for 1.5 hours per print."

Margaret Lansink