Christina Z. Anderson uses various methods to create her stunning photos. A method that Christina uses which really interests me is called gum bichromate printing. Explanation taken from Christina's website. Gum prints are essentially photographically controlled watercolors.The prints are made in a 19th Century process called gum bichromate or dichromate, or gum printing for simplification.Even though the image resembles a color photograph, it is only a fabrication of pigment and hardened gum Arabic.Gum Arabic is mixed with watercolor paint and a photosensitive substance called ammonium dichromate, and painted onto watercolor paper.When exposed to sunlight in contact with an enlarged negative, the gum Arabic hardens into an image that is “developed” in plain water.Where the light hits the most, the gum hardens the most and creates the shadow areas of the image. Where the light hits the least, the gum and pigment wash away proportionately, leaving the highlights of the image.
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