Artist Statements - Photogram and Cliché Verre
These are the Artist Statements for the projects in my Photogram & Cliché Verre Galleries.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
CONSTRUCTING SPACE, 2003 - 2010 
Constructing Space by Jo Bradford
Produced in conversation with Prof. Monica Grady, Natural History Museum, London
With funding from the Fenton Arts Trust
A key debate in photography is the question of the authenticity of the photographic image. My work takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the core notions of truth intrinsic in our perceptions of photography of space. Our idea of space is informed by images from science’s forays into the Universe via space missions and telescopes. Many of the space photos we see are initially received on earth as raw computer data, binary code distilled into monochrome images and coloured-in to emphasise visual information. My aim is to make alternative versions of authentic space images, seeking some kind of personal contact with the stars in their creation, a desire probably born out of that common adult realisation that I am not going to be an astronaut.
Initially I made work in a colour darkroom I built onsite at the Meteorite Department at London’s Natural History Museum, I had daily conversations about Astrobiology & Space science with Head Mineralogist Prof. Monica Grady. Inspired by these talks, I made art with the Museum’s meteorite collection. I eventually relocated the work back to my own darkroom in Cornwall to continue with the project in depth using my own meteorites.
Working in my darkroom, I arrange meteorite fragments onto light sensitive paper, making several exposures, one for each colour. The space-dust blocks light during the exposures to create the stars in my galaxies. The creation process is a truly revelatory experience, my visual sense entirely detached by the darkness, the olfactory sense is amplified; the powerful metallic odour of the chondrites is intensely reminiscent of blood. Meteors are commonly associated with both the wonder of planetary formation and the terror of potentially cataclysmic extinction level events. Handling this interstellar dust I am intensely aware that the alien matter in my hands forms the very building blocks of everything we know.
When this work is presented without accompanying text, I am often asked, “What kind of telescope did you use to take these photos?” In considering the authenticity of my outcomes, the realism of the subject appears validated by the inherent perception of truth conferred by the photographic medium. When all is said and done, my pictures of the stars do posses some truth, as the direct indexical trace of the stardust used in their creation.
The pictures in this gallery are cameraless in their creation. Known as photograms, they are an obscure photographic printmaking technique that predates the invention of photography.
Prof. Monica Grady is author of several books on Meteorites, Astrobiology and the Search for Life, and is currently based at the Planetary and Space Sciences Research Institute.
In May 2011, a digital copy of one of my Constructing Space photograms went into space on board Space Shuttle Endeavour. See the News Updates page for more on this story.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
NATURAL KILLERS, 2010 - 2012
Natural Killers by Jo Bradford
Produced with the scientific collaboration of Dr Alice Brown, Imperial College London
Commissioned for the Beautiful Science Exhibition by Imperial College, with funding from the Wellcome Trust
The Super Resolution Imaging equipment used to produce scientific images by Dr Alice Brown in her research into Natural Killer Cells is created using the most advanced and cutting edge imaging making equipment available today.
By contrast my artistic processes are rooted in antiquated photographic methods. I explore the effects of light on chemically sensitized paper, using experimental photographic techniques, but the work is cameraless in its creation. I create art by ‘painting’ with light onto photosensitive paper in a darkroom setting
Combing Dr Brown’s high-tech imaging techniques with my own low-tech methods makes for an interesting conflation of the history of photographic image making. After our initial meeting it was agreed that this project would be most remarkable and fascinating if the Natural Killer cells studied by Dr Brown in her work and then turned into art, were my own Natural Killer cells.
I gave blood to Dr Brown's team in order to set the project in motion. A few weeks later, I received the first of the monochrome images of my Natural Killer Cells.
From the files supplied I created photographic slides for use in my darkroom enlarger. Using my new slides I made chromogenic prints on light sensitive paper.
On her computer, Dr Brown views the cells she researches as groups of cells displayed in grids, with each of the cells coloured-in brightly to help with differentiation during her work process. These multicoloured grids of individual cells are only ever seen on her computer screen as she works. I think these grids look beautiful, and this is what I replicated for the Beautiful Science project.
I produced a number of brightly coloured photograms of my activated Natural Killer Cells. To do this I filtered the visible spectrum of white light into its separate colours. I used the filtered light to paint with the colours of the rainbow onto light sensitive paper, using a different colour for each of the individual cells. Thus creating the coloured photographic prints of the cells in the grid format seen in this exhibition.
For more information about this project and to view the sketchbook and notebook entries for the work in progress, please visit the Beautiful Science Website, a link can be found on my links page
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
LENSLESS MOLECULAR IMAGING, 2010 - 2012
Lensless Molecular Imaging by Jo Bradford
Produced with the scientific collaboration of Rhiannon Holmes, Imperial College London
Commissioned for the Beautiful Science Exhibition by Imperial College, with funding from the Wellcome Trust
Rhiannon Holmes uses loosely the same sort of cameraless photography techniques in her scientific research into a parasitic worm called Trichinella spiralis, as I use in the creation of my cameraless art. She visualises proteins in her work using lensless photographic imaging techniques.
My artistic practice explores the effects of light on chemically sensitized paper, using experimental photography. I create art by ‘painting’ with light onto photosensitive paper in a darkroom. The process is also rooted in antiquated photographic methods but the work is cameraless in its creation. By splitting the visible spectrum I paint with the different colours of the rainbow. In making my photograms, I use physical objects, etchings, stencils and drawings to make unmediated indexical traces onto chemically sensitised paper.
I made negatives using the protein gels that Rhiannon supplied, from these I created chromogenic prints in my darkroom, using light sensitive paper. I knew that I wanted to make the most beautiful art I could from the scientific data that Rhiannon had generated, so we decided they would look most visually pleasing if they were multicoloured. I therefore made each protein band a different colour of the rainbow. The resulting photograms were enlarged to enhance their detail and accentuate their interesting beauty.
For more information about this project and to view the sketchbook and notebook entries for the work in progress, please visit the Beautiful Science Website, a link can be found on my links page
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
AFTER ANNA, 2004 - 2009
The pictures in this gallery are photograms, a photographic printmaking technique that predates the invention of lens based photography. The series is inspired by the early female practitioner of this technique, Anna Atkins
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
HEAVENLY BODIES, 2004 - 2010
Inspired by my work on my series 'Constructing Space", in this side project I used hand drawn elements and meteorites to create hybrid Photogram and Cliché Verre pictures. Also space themed, exploring the antiquated process in a graphic art style.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
URBAN ILLUMINATIONS, 2007
The pictures in the Urban Illuminations series are Cliché Verre prints, an obscure photographic printmaking technique. Made in a colour darkroom, the process involves the preparation of suspended glass plates, through which several exposures are made onto light sensitive paper. Developing and printing in a chemical process reveals the latent picture.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
ABSTRACT CLICHE´ VERRE, 2003 - 2010
Cliché Verre prints are an a photographic printmaking technique that predates the invention of lens based photography.
Working in total darkness in a colour darkroom, the process involves making cameraless pictures using suspended glass plates. Developing and printing in a chemical process achieves the end result.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Constructing Space by Jo Bradford
Produced in conversation with Prof. Monica Grady, Natural History Museum, London
With funding from the Fenton Arts Trust
A key debate in photography is the question of the authenticity of the photographic image. My work takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the core notions of truth intrinsic in our perceptions of photography of space. Our idea of space is informed by images from science’s forays into the Universe via space missions and telescopes. Many of the space photos we see are initially received on earth as raw computer data, binary code distilled into monochrome images and coloured-in to emphasise visual information. My aim is to make alternative versions of authentic space images, seeking some kind of personal contact with the stars in their creation, a desire probably born out of that common adult realisation that I am not going to be an astronaut.
Initially I made work in a colour darkroom I built onsite at the Meteorite Department at London’s Natural History Museum, I had daily conversations about Astrobiology & Space science with Head Mineralogist Prof. Monica Grady. Inspired by these talks, I made art with the Museum’s meteorite collection. I eventually relocated the work back to my own darkroom in Cornwall to continue with the project in depth using my own meteorites.
Working in my darkroom, I arrange meteorite fragments onto light sensitive paper, making several exposures, one for each colour. The space-dust blocks light during the exposures to create the stars in my galaxies. The creation process is a truly revelatory experience, my visual sense entirely detached by the darkness, the olfactory sense is amplified; the powerful metallic odour of the chondrites is intensely reminiscent of blood. Meteors are commonly associated with both the wonder of planetary formation and the terror of potentially cataclysmic extinction level events. Handling this interstellar dust I am intensely aware that the alien matter in my hands forms the very building blocks of everything we know.
When this work is presented without accompanying text, I am often asked, “What kind of telescope did you use to take these photos?” In considering the authenticity of my outcomes, the realism of the subject appears validated by the inherent perception of truth conferred by the photographic medium. When all is said and done, my pictures of the stars do posses some truth, as the direct indexical trace of the stardust used in their creation.
The pictures in this gallery are cameraless in their creation. Known as photograms, they are an obscure photographic printmaking technique that predates the invention of photography.
Prof. Monica Grady is author of several books on Meteorites, Astrobiology and the Search for Life, and is currently based at the Planetary and Space Sciences Research Institute.
In May 2011, a digital copy of one of my Constructing Space photograms went into space on board Space Shuttle Endeavour. See the News Updates page for more on this story.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
NATURAL KILLERS, 2010 - 2012
Natural Killers by Jo Bradford
Produced with the scientific collaboration of Dr Alice Brown, Imperial College London
Commissioned for the Beautiful Science Exhibition by Imperial College, with funding from the Wellcome Trust
The Super Resolution Imaging equipment used to produce scientific images by Dr Alice Brown in her research into Natural Killer Cells is created using the most advanced and cutting edge imaging making equipment available today.
By contrast my artistic processes are rooted in antiquated photographic methods. I explore the effects of light on chemically sensitized paper, using experimental photographic techniques, but the work is cameraless in its creation. I create art by ‘painting’ with light onto photosensitive paper in a darkroom setting
Combing Dr Brown’s high-tech imaging techniques with my own low-tech methods makes for an interesting conflation of the history of photographic image making. After our initial meeting it was agreed that this project would be most remarkable and fascinating if the Natural Killer cells studied by Dr Brown in her work and then turned into art, were my own Natural Killer cells.
I gave blood to Dr Brown's team in order to set the project in motion. A few weeks later, I received the first of the monochrome images of my Natural Killer Cells.
From the files supplied I created photographic slides for use in my darkroom enlarger. Using my new slides I made chromogenic prints on light sensitive paper.
On her computer, Dr Brown views the cells she researches as groups of cells displayed in grids, with each of the cells coloured-in brightly to help with differentiation during her work process. These multicoloured grids of individual cells are only ever seen on her computer screen as she works. I think these grids look beautiful, and this is what I replicated for the Beautiful Science project.
I produced a number of brightly coloured photograms of my activated Natural Killer Cells. To do this I filtered the visible spectrum of white light into its separate colours. I used the filtered light to paint with the colours of the rainbow onto light sensitive paper, using a different colour for each of the individual cells. Thus creating the coloured photographic prints of the cells in the grid format seen in this exhibition.
For more information about this project and to view the sketchbook and notebook entries for the work in progress, please visit the Beautiful Science Website, a link can be found on my links page
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
LENSLESS MOLECULAR IMAGING, 2010 - 2012
Lensless Molecular Imaging by Jo Bradford
Produced with the scientific collaboration of Rhiannon Holmes, Imperial College London
Commissioned for the Beautiful Science Exhibition by Imperial College, with funding from the Wellcome Trust
Rhiannon Holmes uses loosely the same sort of cameraless photography techniques in her scientific research into a parasitic worm called Trichinella spiralis, as I use in the creation of my cameraless art. She visualises proteins in her work using lensless photographic imaging techniques.
My artistic practice explores the effects of light on chemically sensitized paper, using experimental photography. I create art by ‘painting’ with light onto photosensitive paper in a darkroom. The process is also rooted in antiquated photographic methods but the work is cameraless in its creation. By splitting the visible spectrum I paint with the different colours of the rainbow. In making my photograms, I use physical objects, etchings, stencils and drawings to make unmediated indexical traces onto chemically sensitised paper.
I made negatives using the protein gels that Rhiannon supplied, from these I created chromogenic prints in my darkroom, using light sensitive paper. I knew that I wanted to make the most beautiful art I could from the scientific data that Rhiannon had generated, so we decided they would look most visually pleasing if they were multicoloured. I therefore made each protein band a different colour of the rainbow. The resulting photograms were enlarged to enhance their detail and accentuate their interesting beauty.
For more information about this project and to view the sketchbook and notebook entries for the work in progress, please visit the Beautiful Science Website, a link can be found on my links page
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
AFTER ANNA, 2004 - 2009
The pictures in this gallery are photograms, a photographic printmaking technique that predates the invention of lens based photography. The series is inspired by the early female practitioner of this technique, Anna Atkins
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
HEAVENLY BODIES, 2004 - 2010
Inspired by my work on my series 'Constructing Space", in this side project I used hand drawn elements and meteorites to create hybrid Photogram and Cliché Verre pictures. Also space themed, exploring the antiquated process in a graphic art style.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
URBAN ILLUMINATIONS, 2007
The pictures in the Urban Illuminations series are Cliché Verre prints, an obscure photographic printmaking technique. Made in a colour darkroom, the process involves the preparation of suspended glass plates, through which several exposures are made onto light sensitive paper. Developing and printing in a chemical process reveals the latent picture.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
ABSTRACT CLICHE´ VERRE, 2003 - 2010
Cliché Verre prints are an a photographic printmaking technique that predates the invention of lens based photography.
Working in total darkness in a colour darkroom, the process involves making cameraless pictures using suspended glass plates. Developing and printing in a chemical process achieves the end result.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________