Cackle, Cackle Mother Goose

A series of kallitypes with gum bichromate overlay delving into the history behind nursery rhymes.

Kallitype is a photographic process that uses an iron-silver process. The photograph (which is printed on Fabriano Artistico paper) yields a brownish-yellowish tint. I start by making a digital negative, and then I coat the paper with silver nitrate and ferric oxalate. It then goes into a light box for a couple of minutes, and then I develop it! 

Gum Bichromate is traditionally a multi-layered printing process, but I just use it to add a hint of color to my work. I mix Gum Arabic with a little bit of watercolor paint, and then add Potassium Bichromate. I then paint it over top of my Kallitype image, just in the spots I want that certain color. It then pops into the lightbox for 10 minutes, and I soak it in water for another 10 minutes. 

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