{but in the meantime, click any image to enlarge!}

… which reminds me: although it’s always fun to see my photographs in print, this is maybe my favorite “press” ever—front page of the Smyth County (VA) and neighboring county newspapers, with a larger-than-life full color print made from a bleached out Fuji 100c negative.  This image of Jennifer looks somehow just right on newsprint paper.

photographs: Gia Canali

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Some of you might wonder where I’ve been, and the answer—at least in part—is that I’ve been locked up in my studio cooking up new things. (I’ve also been fixing my computer, hence the blog-neglect, but that is another story altogether).  Anyway,  I have been drunkenly in love with encaustic painting (and the idea of encaustic painting over photographs) since I first heard the word “encaustic” two years ago in an oil painting class, and even more so since I’ve seen them in real life.  Then I saw some pieces by the ever-innovative Starn twins, I knew I had to figure out how to incorporate encaustic into my commissioned work. Over the summer I finally got a chance to take a workshop in encaustic painting and planned to get working on a series of encaustic photographs right away.  But summer and wedding season are what they are, so refining the process and presentation has taken longer than I’d hoped.  Encaustic paint is made from beeswax and resin, and because it can be both clear and cloudy in places, it’s very dreamy.  I am not the only wedding photographer experimenting in this medium; both Elizabeth Messina and One Love Photo are also working in wax.  I think these luminous little paintings are going to be one of the next big trends in handmade photographic prints.  The tactile quality of the prints shows best in person, but I couldn’t resist sharing a few images anyway.  And I promise to share more soon, as I complete new pieces.

{click any image to enlarge}

♥

photographs by Gia Canali

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One of the things I have always loved about this art is that it is technical and that in many ways, it relies (as it always has) on the ingenuity of mad scientist photographers in their kitchens and darkrooms.  Folks like Edward Land who invented instant photography (Polaroids, if you will) in the first place because his daughter wondered why she couldn’t see the photo he’d just taken of her by the family Christmas tree.  What we take for granted now because of digital photography was preposterous, even impossible, back then.  And I still love the very real magic of pulling apart a Polaroid.  Er. Fuji instant print.

It is no news that plenty of analog photographers are mourning the loss of Polaroid.  We are excited one minute about The Impossible Project and freaked out the next about our emptying refrigerators (since nobody is trying to make our most treasured instant films).  We have mixed feelings about Fuji film.  But in the last two days, I’ve gotten word that emulsion lifts and transfers are actually possible with Fuji instant film and that it is also possible to create a transparent negative from the throw-away side of Fuji instant film.  I spent the whole day yesterday in my studio, cooking and bleaching and washing and drying these fragile little first experiments, following and not following and adjusting everybody else’s recipes.  It’s different with Fuji, but it’s really exciting, too.  I was careful to keep notes and am happy to share them with anyone who asks.  Thank you, mad scientist photographers. Let’s keep cooking things up!

Above: a transparent negative, made from the throw-away side of Fuji instant film. Click image to enlarge. Below: a Fuji emulsion lift.  A few months ago, I posted its Polaroid sister. What do you think?

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There’s so much pressure these days to fit it all in—even in the face of the so called non-traditional wedding—folks are going for every possible potentially meaningful moment and kitschy tradition (and diy detail!) they can think of.  It is like having an all-you-can-eat-buffet mentality to planning your wedding.  I say: let’s take it easy.  Do a few things well.  Make your wedding one where you can enjoy good food and the company of good friends and family. After all, that’s why you’re having a wedding with people attending.

Congratulations, Tom & Kimberly!

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polaroid transfer: Gia Canali

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