Salt Printing

This series, Observations in Salt, is one that involves elements of a historical printing process, salt printing, created by English scientist, Henry Fox Talbot in the mid 1830s. Salt printing was originally used as a photographic process for printing out positive images of calotype photo negatives and it was considered the preferred form of photographic printing from its origins in the 1830s until the 1860s. Needing only a few key ingredients, a salt sensitizer solution and then silver nitrate solution are painted onto a thick water color paper under a safe light, creating a light sensitive surface on the paper. The image is then exposed to UVB light until it reaches the right exposure and then washed in a series of water and photo fix baths and hung to dry for 6 hours.

For this series to be created through such a natural and handmade process, it felt necessary for the subject matter to also be natural and timeless, so wildflowers and greenery common to Northwest Florida are the main subject for each of the six pieces. For the creation of each image, there was much experimentation and trial before honing in on the process, as there are many methods of creating salt prints. The images were first captured using a mirrorless digital camera, then turned into a digital negative to be printed on transparencies for contact printing under UVB light. After exposure, the images were then washed and set in with sodium thiosulfate as a fixing solution to make them archival and can later be toned to increase their archival quality.

This project was heavily inspired by the idea of mixing new age technology and old together to create something new. The images are meant to look timeless, while still being initially exposed on a mirrorless digital camera, creating a relationship between historic processes and newer technology.