Barbara Smith + Blog

Ah, Murphy’s Law.

So, I have been working on Platinum/Palladium prints for my book project through the IAC for the past 2 weeks. First, I ran out of Platinum solution #3 and had to order more…Not to be deterred, I spent all day Friday, yesterday and today in the photo lab working on my prints. Every day I was getting closer…

When I got to work this morning, I had decided that 3 of my 6 prints were pretty much perfect. Good tone, good contrast, good everything. So, I set to work figuring out how to tweak the other 3, which consisted of adding one drop of solution #2 (which controls contrast) to make the image pop a little bit more. Initially, I was very excited to see that by adding this one drop of solution all 3 prints were really looking nice. So, I set to work coating paper for platinum printing, which should require the same drop #’s and exposure time as its palladium counterpart.

As I am working, I start to notice that 2 of my digital negatives have been scratched! Well, crap. I would have just printed out new ones, but for that I would need a lab monitor to print them and also to pay for them…and this week there aren’t any lab monitors to be found anywhere. So, I used a trick I’ve heard Tim talked about before to fix said scratches: nose grease. Yep, thats right. For just today, I was wishing that my skin was more oily than it had ever been before. (that might be the only time I ever say that) I was skeptical, but after wiping my facial oils on the scratches and doing a test strip, the scratches were no more. Disaster (#1) averted.

So, I go ahead and start my platinum prints…boy am I nervous since I just dropped $150 on this solution. I expose them and stick them in the developer only to see something that did not look anything like my palladium print. Crap, again. Apparently, even though in theory the drop #’s and exposure times should be the same, they aren’t!! The platinum prints came out incredibly contrasty even though I had done nothing different. So, because I do not have time to try to figure this out AGAIN for platinum printing, I decided that it would be best to just go with palladium and try to use the platinum with some smaller negatives. Only one catch: I’m out of palladium.

So, I frantically call Bostich and Sullivan and order 25 ml more of palladium solution #3 and drop about $75. I think in all I’ve spent about $300 trying to make 6 prints, which is pretty close to a month’s salary from Ivy Tech. (sad, but true) I can’t say that I haven’t learned quite a bit doing this and that I could probably get a job as a professional paper coater, but please Murphy, give me a break! Nothing like being creatively frustrated and technically challenged at all times.

I won’t get my chemicals until Friday, so I drug myself out to ask Joe (photo technician) if I could possibly come in on Monday to do my final prints. I must have had an excellent mix of exaspiration and neediness in my voice, since he did agree to let me come back in as long as I helped him with his year end clean up of the lab I’ve been using. Fair enough. I just have to get this done!

I can’t say I’m abnormally frustrated with this because after all, I did promise myself that this summer would be devoted to making new work and dang it, I’ve been putting in the hours. Being frustrated with something you like to do is a bit different than just being frustrated over some random event or your lovely, low paying job.

So, Monday is it for me. Hopefully all goes well, I make 2 sets of final prints, and then clean. The trifecta, right there.