Charles Hedgcock

Sobre el Proceso

For more than 37 years I have been a professional photographer, exploring the biodiversity of the South West and Sonora Mexico. Influenced by such masters as Karl Blossfeldt and Edward Weston, my subject has always been the natural world and my tools have always been cameras; 4x5 view cameras, 35mm film cameras and the latest digital SLRs. Working in the field, alone, or with biologists and activists, collecting images, creating art. The latest digital technology notwithstanding, I am always drawn back to the darkroom, the process performed by hand, and the traditional tools of my trade; film and archival gelatin silver prints. A few years ago, adrift on the internet, in that tangential way that the web can get us lost, I discovered lumen prints. With conversations and encouragement from fellow photographic artist, Kathleen Velo, I began experimenting with the process, and found it to be an amazing mix of alchemy and serendipity. An extremely experimental process that uses only sunlight and expired photographic paper. Many hours of solar exposure cause the paper's gelatin silver emulsion to gradually change color. After fixing and toning the paper in my darkroom, I am left with a subtle negative image. I have been experimenting with lumen print images of plants, feathers, and even insect parts, anything translucent enough to pass light. Combining silver gelatin paper with sunlight and the juices of herbaceous plants, creates subtle, pastel colors, in a paper designed to render only shades of gray. These unique, one of a kind images help me share the story of the natural world.