The Process:

  • The Negative.

    I convert a digital photograph into a negative image. Then the negative image is printed onto a transparency film, thus the digital negative is created.

  • The Antique Glass.

    I scour auctions in search of enchanting antique picture frames and mirrors. The mirror (or glass) is coated with a silver halide, gelatinous emulsion.

  • The Darkroom.

    The mirror (or glass) has the negative projected onto it, and is then developed in the darkroom, along with an additional hardening chemical called ‘Black Magic’.

‘Dungewood’

Silver gelatin print on mirror (approx 650x450mm)

Named after an abandoned farm on Dungewood Lane near my workshop on the Isle of Wight. The once grand house on the farm has been abandoned and is now being reclaimed by nature. I sculpted the frame using wood found in the area, fusing it to the original mirror frame (as if being reclaimed by nature). The wood has been worked and oiled to an extremely fine finish, whilst maintaining its raw beauty (there are areas of bark still in situ). The image on the mirror is a fragmented silver gelatin print from a negative of one of my own photographs.

‘Mycelium’

Silver gelatin print on mirror (approx 750x650mm)

Mycelium are incredibly tiny “threads” of the greater fungal organism that wrap around or bore into tree roots. Taken together, mycelium composes what's called a “mycorrhizal network,” which connects individual plants together to transfer water, nitrogen, carbon and other minerals.. As above, so below; the image was taken underneath a canopy of trees with the camera pointing skyward, and bears a striking resemblance to a mycelium network. Mycelium is often used a metaphor to explain Carl Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious, a network of unseen threads connecting us all - the fruiting bodies, I digress. The image on this piece in particular, is ever-changing as the ambient light changes. Framed in a beautifully distressed, incredible gilt frame.