THE GREAT NORTH AMERICAN ALBUMEN TOUR
Between August and November, 2018, I travelled by car across the United States. Over the course of these three months, I visited and photographed sacred places, using a 4x5 view camera. These places included those that were sacred to me as well as those that were sacred to other individual people and cultures. From Rochester, NY, to the Black Hills of South Dakota, to Mt. Saint Helen’s, I lugged my 25lb camera to capture images of the landscape. I traveled down the PCH, photographing the Oregon Coast, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. I spent time in the desert, photographing Las Vegas and the only remaining oasis in the Mojave Desert. I plugged away up the Rockies to photograph natural hot springs and my childhood playground. Along the way, I processed film in the bathrooms of hotels and made site-specific albumen prints.
Find a longer Artist Statement HERE.
What the hell is an albumen print??
Albumen printing is a historic photographic process that was popular between 1850 -1900. It involves coating paper (ideally 100% cotton) with egg whites, followed by silver nitrate. The silver reacts with the egg whites, resulting in a light sensitive surface. A negative can then be contact printed onto the paper. It should be noted that each print takes about 12 hours from beginning to end.