Lumen Prints
- llatham222
- Jan 14
- 2 min read
Updated: Jan 28
In my woodcut printing recently, I have been trying to find ways to create luminosity through colour, layering and tints of white. I came across lumen printing whilst researching other forms of 'camera-less' photography. I was inspired by the artist Shaina Gates who folds black and white photographic paper into geometric forms and then exposes them to sunlight, sometimes leaving them as folded sculptural works, or opening them to reveal the facets of the fold.
I contacted John Whapham in the Photography department at Camberwell and he invited me to come and speak with him about my ideas. He told me that black and white photographic papers contain different chemicals which is why, when exposed to light, they each have a different colour tone. Older paper works best, apparently. John gave me some small samples of a variety of papers which I took home in a paper envelope so as not to expose them to the light.
I used some of the fragments from my deconstructed relic photographs to see if I could again re-make my relic-like forms within the lumen print.
I folded two of the pieces around some small objects with the idea of enclosing hidden artefacts.
The light source was natural light which came through a conservatory and windows, as well as a daylight lamp which I attached above the prints. I left them for nearly 10 hours and waited to see if they would work!
Showing the set-up of the lumen prints
It was fascinating to see how each paper changed colour throughout the process. Immediately, I could see which paper worked best in creating the light traces that I was aiming for. The first print of the bird skull and sequins had the depth that I was looking for; in particular, the skull has a strange inverse form. I was also intrigued by the print which contained the string of pearls in its folded shape. The purple-coloured matt papers, which both have a grain and resemble watercolour paper, are less precise and 'photographic' in look which makes them less successful for me. The last print is so obscured that it makes me think the paper had already been exposed to the light too much.
I scanned the two best lumen prints and printed them in larger format. Both works I will certainly keep and include in further work. In particular, the pink pearl print has a quality of luminosity and trace which captures my attention and makes me want to continue working with it in some form.
Lumen prints can capture traces of physical presence and touch. In being made from light, the prints are ephemeral and there is much ephemerality in their aesthetic. They are like the most fleeting fossils, like memories. The pink print has something of skin, of the body.
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