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  Home Page » A&E » Rediscovering A Lost Art

Rediscovering a lost art

Photo exhibit explores ways, means of process

by Ted Holteen
Arts & Entertainment Editor

The digital age has, for better or worse, made photography an easily accessible hobby or profession for anyone willing and able to point a camera and push a button. But for purists, photography remains an art form, where mysterious chemicals and darkrooms – and not a USB cable – are still the tools of the trade.

Both the means and the ends of photography as art are the subject of the Open Shutter gallery’s new exhibit, “The Alternative Process,” which opens tonight. The show was born of gallery manager Brandon Donahue’s curiosity with the work of Dutch photographer Henk Thijs and the Florida husband-and-wife team of Robert and Shiiko Alexander, but “The Alternative Process” didn’t come into focus until local photo-artist Heather Leavitt gave Donahue and gallery owner Margy Dudley a firsthand look at the ziatype process during a private workshop last summer.

“If it was my idea, it was inspired by Heather,” Donahue said.

“She’s the local talent and the star of the show: She’s so innovative, especially with her colors.”

To fully understand the science behind the photos in “The Alternative Process” would require college level chemistry courses for the uninitiated. Leavitt’s processes, for example, include cyanotypes and ziatypes, both which trace their origins to the 19th century. Both are contact-printing methods that use ultraviolet light, whether from the sun or a specially designed light box, to expose the finished image onto a surface. She uses low-fidelity cameras, including the Chinese designed Holga, and because of hand-applied emulsions and quirks in the film and equipment, each image is unique and nearly irreproducible. Some don’t turn out at all, but the hit-and-miss factor and personal touch is what makes the processes art and not science.

“You don’t see the total composition until it’s finished; you just take a chance,” Leavitt said.

With typical exposure times between 10 minutes and an hour, Leavitt’s 30 or so entries in the show consumed a lot of time in recent weeks. But Donohue said that’s nothing compared to Thijs’ work. Using the antiquated Bromoil and Gum Bichromate methods, Thijs’ photos take hours or even days to produce.

“It’s a mystery to me how they work,” he said.

“It’s a long process that drives people insane because only like one in 20 turn out like they should. It’s a miracle they even work, but the results are this amazing, dark, moody effect that looks painterly.”

Thijs, who lives in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, won’t be in attendance, but samples of his work will. Likewise, the Alexanders will remain in Florida for the duration of “The Alternative Process,” although the couple is planning to relocate to Durango in the near future. Their work is more modern in technique than the other featured photographers; Shiiko Alexander uses her skills as a painter and graphic artist to alter her husband’s photographs on a computer. The results are photos that have a vintage look that belies the technology used to produce them.

Leavitt will be at tonight’s opening reception, and she’ll also give a workshop and free lecture about some of the processes in November for the truly curious. The scale and duration of “The Alternative Process” is a first for Leavitt, who hasn’t shown such a large collection of her work before in Durango.

“I’m looking forward to getting local feedback about my work and how it will be received,” she said.

ted@durangoherald.com