Gum Printing, Then and Now
with Christina Z. Anderson
August 3-August 8, 2008

Christina Anderson “wrote the book,” on experimental and alternative photographic processes. She teaches at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana, and is author of “ Alternative Processes, Condensed: A Manual of Gum Dichromate and Other Contact Printing Processes,” and will be teaching the Gum Printing, Then and Now workshop this summer at the Photographers’ Formulary. Gum prints are photographically controlled watercolors made by a 19th Century process called gum bichromate.

It’s an alternative process with infinite ways to express any image. Liquid Gum Arabic is mixed with watercolor paint and a photosensitive substance called ammonium dichromate. This is used to coat watercolor paper. An enlarged negative is contact printed by exposure to sunlight or to a UV source, causing the Gum Arabic to harden into an image that is “developed” in plain water. As with film, where the least light strikes the paper the gum and pigment wash away, leaving the highlights of the image. The finished prints are completely archival.

This will be a week of creativity as Chris begins simply, then moves to more complexity. If you’re interested in this process, from low tech to high tech, from monochrome to tricolor, from historical to contemporary, this is the class for you.

Christina will guide you through the pleasures (and pitfalls) of the gum process from 1839 to today’s digital era. Bring a digital camera to use in the field, or bring digital photos you’d like to translate into gum prints (your own laptop would be best!). There’s no need to bring large format negatives. We’ll be making contact printing negatives digitally. Prepare for an intensive, creative week that will probably turn you into another “gum bichromaniac”!

Call 1-800-922-5255 to reserve your space Tuition: $ 725.00