This year, the Leigh Art Trail will be celebrating 25 years! I’m taking part with SEVEN Collective, where we will be exhibiting sketchbooks inspired by the theme ‘Silver’.
Each artist has chosen a different ‘silver’ theme and created a handmade sketchbook.
My theme is black and white photography.
“When exposed to sunlight silver became darker”
Britannica
Silver is the main element in b&w photography due to its light-sensitive properties. Photography paper is coated with an emulsion made from silver salts and gelatin. When exposed to light, an image is formed on the paper, which is then developed using darkroom chemicals.
I have always enjoyed developing prints in a darkroom and I have long been inspired by the ‘Art in Nature’ photographs of Karl Blossfeldt and the cameraless photograms of Laslo Moholy-Nagy and Man Ray.
My book is comprised of five sections, each with five pages developed from a different workshop run by SEVEN, focusing on collage, print, text, lyrics and drawing. Cultural and technical references to photography are loosely woven throughout the pages. Each section closes with a digitally enhanced lumen print (a cameraless technique using direct sunlight to develop photographic paper). The book has been bound in a recovered vintage hardback book cover.
When: 3-11 September 2022
Where: Venu 13, The Refill Room, Leigh-on-sea, Essex, UK
Visit www.leigharttrail.com for all the details.