Diana H. Bloomfield uses the chemistry of alternative photographic processes like gum bichromate, cyanotype and platinum palladium printing, often in combination, to create photographs with flowing gestures and rich dimensionality . . .
-Elin Spring, What Will You Remember?
I began this ongoing series of my daughter over twenty years ago. These particular images work as narratives. Alone, or in combination, they have a story to tell. As metaphorical portraits, they suggest the essence of a person, rather than offer any literal interpretation. I like to think of these as visual vignettes that suggest half-remembered, fragmented dream worlds. They borrow from the past, my ever-changing and skewed memories of that past, and fleeting moments in time.
These multi-layered prints (including the slight mis-registrations of those layers), and the frequent use of pinhole and toy cameras, offer a sense of movement and fluidity. The repeated layerings are meant to add a tonality and a saturated richness, yet each layer added also serves to remove all the hard, clearly defined edges and sharp clarity. A softness and ambiguity results-- much the way we see and remember.
The images are printed in historic processes (e.g., gum bichromate; platinum/palladium; cyanotype, and sometimes a cross combination of those processes). The layers are hand-applied (brushed) on watercolor paper, exposed to UV light, and developed. (See my How it Works page for more information on these techniques.)
Please click on each image for a larger view and additional information.
