conventional photograph, a cliché-verre is a print produced by
the action of light upon a light-sensitive material (such as photographic
paper.) But, unlike a photograph created by passing light through a
camera-made film negative, the cliché-verre is made by passing
light through a (negative) drawing or painting constructed by an artist's
Hello Fred and regards from the suburbs of Vancouver, British Columbia.
I am a high school photo teacher who is somewhat familiar with the 19th Century technique of cliche verre. Presently, and among other projects, I have my students experiment with camera obscura drawings, as well as photograms. I am curious about the possibility of combining the two - which, you would probably agree, seems logical - in such a way as to involve cliche verre. That said, and having found your website and the impressive work shown on it, I cannot help but notice how photographic your images are. What can you tell me about the cliche verre technique you employ in making your images?
Thanks in advance,
an art teacher from British Columbia, Canada
Glad you asked. But where to start?
in 1980 by the Detroit Institute of Arts.
My image bias is obviously for photographic "reality" and I use various tools and equipment to accomplish my goals. I'm now more into digital than darkroom.
I found I could "trace" an image directly from the news paper
or photograph, in the negative, in pencil— starting at the top
left corner and slowly "cancelling" the image under the acetate.
(pixel by pixel or grain by grain) Applying graphite or ink to the lightest
areas, while doing nothing to the darker areas of the image. The pencil
on the matte-acetate became a very workable method of making negatives
(as opposed to my first attempts with ink and water on glass).