Kalós
Calotype from the Greek “Kalós + type” meaning “beautiful picture” are also known as Talbotypes, named for their inventor William Henry Fox Talbot who announced the invention in 1840 and later secured a patent in England on February 8, 1841. Calotype refers to the paper negative image exposed in the Camera Obscura, (Latin- Dark Chamber), and later developing out the Latent Image.
Although I am working with modern chemistry and equipment, quite different from Talbot, my Calotype paper negatives are unique one-of-a-kind images. They are exposed on paper in an 8x10” view camera, chemically developed, and then toned for both permanence and effect. The larger prints are archivally made from digital scans of these negatives and are printed in an edition of three.
For me my photography has always been an attempt to produce works that are a marriage between technique and visualization. Photographing in a time where the photographic process and equipment have gotten more complex and focused on technical capabilities, I have been striving for the simplicity in image making. Without ignoring the advances of digital technologies, it has been artistically freeing for me to return to my 8x10 camera and explore one of the earliest and basic photographic inventions.
