davidh47-blog asked: Hello Tony,I really like your work and your openness. Thank you. In part 2 of printing the negative you say that you expose and develop until you see a slight density in step 8. However in part 3 you expose and develop for slight density in step 3. How do you measure this if you have previously fully exposed that step (or am I being stupid :?) ) . Once again, thank you for sharing. David
Excellent question. While the print is developing and still wet, I hang the print from one corner and inspect the step tablet. In areas of exposed gum, the print is glossy and where the print releases the gum the print has a more matte surface (usually within about 30 second–be careful not to let the print dry too much until you’re ready to finish developing). I look at the print from an angle where I can see the light reflected. Hope this helps. Tony
Tony Gonzalez is an artist currently living in New York City. He received his BFA from the Cooper Union School of Art and his MFA from Yale University. In addition to working as a fine art photographer, Gonzalez has taught photography for 30 years including at The Cooper Union, Pratt Institute and New York University. Since 2002, Gonzalez has been teaching full-time at Queens College, CUNY and is currently a Tenured Professor and Deputy Chair of the Photography & Imaging program. Gonzalez is a contributing author for The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes, Second Edition and Third Edition by Christopher James and is featured most recently in the news book Gum Printing, A Step-by-Step Manual Highlighting Artists and Their Creative Practice by Christina Z. Anderson and Alternate Processes in Photography by Brian Arnold.
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