Delve deeper into the world of sustainable gelatin silver developing with plants by making darkroom prints using plant-based developers. In this workshop, participants will have the opportunity to make prints from their negatives. They will have the option of bringing their own plant brews and/or choosing from a selection. Participants will also learn to mix printing chemistry and observe how their negatives respond to different developers. 

The workshop will include a presentation, demo of chemistry mixing, and test printing. Previous printing experience is not required to participate. Fiber-based paper will be provided.

Considering which plants to use as developers can be as essential to the creative process as making your prints. Plants add another layer of meaning to your concept—they can appear in the negative you print from but they can be symbolic in other ways tied to memory or specific emotions or events.

Because plant-developed negatives can differ so widely in density from film developed with traditional chemistry, participants can also gain experience working with contrast filters.  Developing times can be longer depending on the strength of the developer brews and their levels of antioxidant compounds. That said, participants should also bring curiosity, patience, and a mind open to chance. In thinking about which negatives to print from, it is recommended that participants choose images with the highest levels of contrast. That said, contrast filters and longer exposure times can do wonders. Instructions and suggestions for making plant brews will be sent out a couple weeks before the workshop.