Link: Baby in dump home, THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP

Added 9 or so new photos to the website last night. Here is one.

gerryyaum.net

Baby in dump home, THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP, Mae Sot, Thailand, 2016

Dad In Salt? Platinum?

Ammonium Chloride Salt Print

 Salt Print

Did 12-15 and 18 minute exposures. This is the 18.

Ammonium Chloride 2%, Gelatin, with a 15% Silver Nitrate coating. Berggger Cot 320 paper

Photo

Brother, brother, sister, THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP, Mae Sot, Thailand, 2013

Links: Behind the Scenes Making of the Imagery Page on the Website

MAKING AN ARCHIVAL PRINT

GERRY YAUM WEBSITE

Note* Made up this page yesterday for the website. Kind of a fun behind the scenes look at things. Also shows some of the steps and places things are made. Will add to it in the years to come. Will try to make it fun, add more laid-back photos. Some of us ART FOLK, take ourselves far too seriously. Life should be fun.

Unwaxed Final Salt Prints from Tonight

 Tonight’s unwaxed Salt Print efforts. All from THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP photo series.

Tonight's Salt Print Work, Edge Problem

 Salt Print

The edge problem I experienced the last few salt printing sessions seems solved. I Salt and Silver Nitrate coated the paper more quickly. There was only a very short storage time. The stain like marks are now gone. I think they were caused by storing the unexposed paper too long.

Calcium Chloride 2%, Citric Acid, Gelatin, with a 15% Silver Nitrate coating. Berggger Cot 320 paper

Exposures of 13-15 and 18 minutes.

Photo

Baby in dump shack, THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP, Mae Sot, Thailand, 2018

2 New/Used Plastic Cases

 Picked up  2 copycat Pelican style cases for $100 CAD today. The inside measurements are large enough to carry 16x20 glass. I will use them for the AMBROTOS KANATA  project, to carry glass and Ambrotypes. They seem sturdy and relatively light.

Links: 24x24 Inch Silver Tank

Today I got my new 24x24 acrylic silver tank. When the lid is attached the tank is leak proof, hopefully! I also had a wooden stand built.Everything done by UNDER RED LIGHT.

The hope is to screw the wooden stand into the floor of the trailer then place the tank inside it. I might be able to travel without removing the silver from the tank. Dangerous! Imagine spilling a 24x24 inch tank of silver!! If not, I will remove most of the silver into bottles that are then placed in a large cooler and then travel with the empty tank mounted to the trailer floor.

I will rework the interior of the trailer this season to accommodate this new silver tank gear and also the new 2 large wash tables I bought earlier.

I will put away the 8x10 camera this season and shoot 11x14 and 14x14 ambrotypes along with a few 24x24 plates. 35x35 inch plates are getting closer!

Note* IF I travel with silver in it I might also build a top plywood cover of some kind. So double duty plywood protection. I will probably store the silver in the cooler but there might be certain  situations where I have to travel quickly and leave it in the tank. 

For those interested check out the links.

24x24 Silver Tank Video

Stand Video

Wash Table

11x14 Chamonix Camera

24x24 Chamonix Camera

24x24 inch acrylic Silver Tank

Link: RAK

From the series RAK. Pong, Bangkok in 2015

RAK Photography Series 

Quote: Aristotle

 

Epson P800 Inks, So Bloody Expensive!

Gosh I just paid $680 CAD for a set of inks for my Epson P800. So expensive but I needed the inks so I can make more digital negs for Platinum-Palladium and Salt printing. I was going to buy the cheaper copycat inks that supposedly work but was afraid to. So got the real thing. Hope this leads to some good strong digital negs and some outstanding prints.

Note* There is now a P900 printer. Will have to buy that in a few years as well!

We Are All One

Nations, religions, races, genders, languages, money and cultures, all divide. We are the same, we are all one, we are all equal, we all share a common humanity.

Quote: Carl Sagan (Harvard Professor, Scientist)

 

Getting Ready To Shoot!

Wet plate season is fast approaching. Am sunning and filtering my silver! I should be on the road in early May, working on AMBROTOS KANATA.

Salt Print, Photo Story and Video Link: Young Girl Waiting

Un waxed salt print. Calcium Chloride 2%, Silver Nitrate 15%, Hahnemuhle Platinum Rag Fine Art Paper 

8 ply mat 

Young girl waiting for her mother to finish working in the dump,THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP, Mae Sot, Thailand, 2016

She sat in a shelter on the edge of the dump. I was on my way to some homes in a far corner of the garbage. I was carrying 2 bags of food, including heavy rice. Eager to get rid of the weight, that was pulling me down in the oppressive heat, I almost walked by her. Instead I walked the distance to the shelter and made a series of photos with my Rolleiflex. 

The girl looked so sickly. I gave her a donated Barbie doll and some donated pink boots. All the children we gave toys to would laugh with joy but this girl just stared back at me wit the same distressed expression. Years later in 2022 I learned that she had survived. I have her name in a video, need to find it.

Her mom and pink boots

Salt Print, Photo Story and Video Link: Win Brothers

Un waxed salt print. Calcium Chloride 2%, Silver Nitrate 15%, Citric Acid, Hahnemuhle Platinum Rag Fine Paper

8 ply mat 

Win brothers in dump shack, THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP, Mae Sot, Thailand, 2013

I have photographed the Win brothers, their  3 sisters and mom and dad for a decade 2013-2022. Their mother had been sickly for many years and passed away during Covid. They are soft spoken, hard working young men, like the rest of their family.

Lay-Auh (one of the brothers) working the garbage 2017

Quote: Unknown

 

It is Just, Figuring Stuff Out

AMBROTOS KANATA, my cross Canada wet plate project, is a lot of this.

Salt Print: Khun Anapon in Front of His Home With Flower, 2018

Un waxed salt print. Calcium Chloride 2%, Silver Nitrate 15%, Citric Acid, Bergger COT 320

8 ply mat 

Khun Anapon in front of his home with flower, THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE INDER THE FREEWAY, Klong Toey Slum, Bangkok, Thailand, 2018

Khun Anapon had found the flower and decorated the entrance to his one room home with it.

Salt Print: Dump Homes and Dogs, 2017

Un waxed salt print. Calcium Chloride 2%, Silver Nitrate 15%, Citric Acid, Bergger COT 320

8 ply mat board.

Dump homes and dogs, THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP, Mae Sot, 2017

The dogs can be wild and bite, these were timid. I had to move very slowly while setting up my 5x7 camera and large tripod.

Salt Print: Father with Little Chemeeko, 2015

Un waxed salt print. Calcium Chloride 2%, Silver Nitrate 15%, Citric Acid, Bergger COT 320

8 ply mat board.

Father with little Chemeeko, THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP, Mae Sot, Thailand, 2015

I photographed the family for 5 years including their wedding day.

Bergger COT Paper Order

Ordered $278.78 USD of paper today from B&H in New York, free shipping. I got a variety of sized Bergger COT 160 and 320. Will use the paper for making salt prints. I tested it last night and quite liked the look!

Here's hoping I can sell some work to make some money back.

Falling Garbage Salt Print

Salt print. Ammonium Chloride 2%, 15% Silver Nitrate. Bergger COT 320 paper.

Photo story:

Falling garbage, THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP, Mae Sot, Thailand, 2018

I had to climb a mountain of garbage behind where the families worked to get the photo. It was completely dark and as I stumbled up the garbage mountain backwards my rubber boots slipping, squishing and almost overflowing. I stepped on a mound of sleeping flies. They suddenly came to life, buzzing loudly. It felt like hundreds swept up past me and under my shirt, into my face and ears. A startling rather gruesomely memorable moment.

Quote: Benjamin Franklin

After 25 most people live an average life (marriage, work, kids, grand kids), then die and are forgotten. Maybe he is referring to the end of unique, dreams and achievements after 25. 50 years of mediocrity. Being dead before you’re dead.

Printing on Bergger 320 COT Paper

 I am nearing my standard way to print warm tone salt prints. I am trying a second paper today. The paper, Bergger COT, was recommended to me by a Facebook friend (gotta love Facebook!).  I am experimenting with both the 160 thickness and 320 thickness versions. The paper is quite a bit cheaper than Hahnemuhle Platinum Rag Fine Art Paper.

Note* I wonder if I can use the thinner cheaper 160 paper for tests, and the 320 for the final print?

From B&H photo:

Hahnemuhle Platinum Rag-25 sheets of 8x10 - $39.95 USD

Bergger COT 320-25 sheets of 8x10 - $24.95 USD

Bergger COT 160-25 sheets of 8x10 - $14.95 USD

Is 

Fun in the Dark

Just spent over coating salted paper with a 15% Silver Nitrate solution. While I worked I listened to a wonderful new $2 Goodwill buy of Beethoven, nothing better!!! I love the darkroom, always have. 

I look forward to my retirement when I can print my life’s work on a daily basis.

Note* I will be salt printing all night tonight. Tomorrow I am back to security nights.

Note** The Beethoven album was previously owned by a blind person. 6 of the records I purchased, 5 classical, have brail taped onto the covers for identification. That person took meticulous care of the albums. I will try to do the same.

Mr Beethoven!