Come fare foto con la carta fotografica di Christine Cora

You have a leftover box of photo paper from Photo 101, and it's been

taunting you from your shelf. You could swear you once heard it wimper

into the cold, dark night, "Make photos with me!" But, alas, you have no

dark room or chemicals with which to make prints!

What you need

1, Objects that you can use to make an image.

2, The sun or a lamp Any size black & white photo paper.

3, A dark room (any room where you can completely block out light).

4, A light proof box big enough to fit your photo paper - an old photo

paper box.

5, A sheet of glass that fits over your photo paper (optional).

STEP 1: Plan Your Photo

Decide what you want your photo to look like. Think about how

photograms work - if your object is opaque, then your image will look like

a solid shape. If it's a little transparent, the image will have texture.

We used leaves, flowers, and our hand, but you can pretty much use

anything - paper cut-outs, confetti, plastic toys, ribbon … yep, anything!

You can even make tiny prints out of film negatives. The bigger the

negative, the bigger the print. You can also add drawings or text to your

photogram by using mylar (a clear plastic sheet) or transparency sheets

and markers.

STEP 2: Light Proof Your Paper

Find the darkest room in your house. Closets or bathrooms without

windows work best. You can also block out windows with dark fabric.

Just make sure it's dark enough that you can't see your hand in front of

your face. You're working with photo paper, and it's very sensitive to light.

Gather your photo paper (we used 5″ x 7″ Ilford Multigrade RC in Satin,

but any kind should work), your photo subjects, and your light-proof box.

Take them into your chamber o' photo-makery a.k.a. the dark room you just prepared.

Before you turn out the lights, memorize where you've placed everything

on your work surface. You'll be using them in the dark.

STEP 3: Prepare Your Paper

When you're set, turn off the lights.

Now that it's pitch-black, it's safe to open up your box of photo paper. Take out one sheet and

place it inside your light proof box.

Compose your photo subjects onto the page. This is what's going to make

up your image! Once you're done, close your lightproof box again.

Before you turn the lights on again, double check that your box of photo

paper is closed, as well as your lightproof box with your single sheet of

photo paper in it (so you don't expose all that paper!).

STEP 4: Prepare Your Light

You can choose between exposing your photo with the sun or with a lamp.

Your exposure time will vary depending on which you go with, so keep that

in mind.

Take your lightproof box with your one photo sheet in it to where you'll be

exposing your photo. If you're using the sun, you can take it directly

outside or you can set it by a window that gets direct sunlight.

If you're using a lamp, you'll be placing it right under that lamp where

the light evenly hits the entire sheet.

Open your lightproof box, and double check that your composition is just

how you want it.

TIP!: You might want to use a sheet of glass to flatten your objects. This

makes the edges of your image sharper. An easy way to get a sheet of glass

is by using the glass that comes in a photo frame.

STEP 5: Make an Exposure

Now that you have everything in place, you'll wait for the photo to expose!

In bright midday sunlight, 30 minutes to an hour should give you a decent

image.

STEP 6: Scan It Before It Disappears!

STEP 7: Edit As You Please