COURSES
Monographic Courses
Historical Techniques I
In this course, we will practice several techniques of manual photographic printing and one to obtain images with a camera. These techniques are part of what we call historical techniques or alternative photographic processes, because they date from the 19th century in their majority, although there are some developed during the 20th century. These techniques make it possible to cover paper and other surfaces with various sensitive materials in order to print images on them through the action of light on chemicals. In these processes, the light-sensitive cover is prepared by hand and applied to different supports to then copy images by contact. You can work with images obtained with any camera, photograms or drawings. All this makes alternative processes very versatile when working on different photographic projects. The course is divided into two parts: in this first one, we will go deeper into the theory of historical techniques, we will discover how to obtain digital negatives, wet collodion positive plates and glass negatives, and we will explore two printing techniques: Van Dyke and salted paper.
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​+ 6 Sessions
+ 4 Workshops
+ 2 Meetings
+ 1 Chat with the artist to share material and answer questions
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INFORMATION
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+ Teacher: Célica Veliz
+ Dates: from April 8 to May 27
This course is repeated in September and December
+ Duration: 12 teaching hours. Each student manages their time.
The meetings have schedules but it is not mandatory to participate
+ Level: basic knowledge of analogue photography is required
​+ Modality: pre-recorded online with 2 live meetings
+ Language: English
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​+ Price: 100 €
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Starts
April 8!
Techniques:
General introduction - Digital and analogue negatives - Van Dyke Brown on paper and canvas - Wet collodion and glass negatives - Salted paper
SESSION 1: AGORA PRESENTATION MEETING
April 8, live online, ENG 19-21hs (Hora de España - GMT+2)
Meeting: Experimental photography: concepts, debates and techniques with​ Pablo Giori
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SESSION 2: INTRODUCTION: Historical Printing Photographic Techniques
April 15*
History. Historical references and current projects. Chemicals that make up light-sensitive solutions, how to prepare them and where to get them. Safety rules. Photographic negatives (analogue) of different formats. Digital negatives: graphic film and transparencies for inkjet and laser. Negative preparation in Photoshop for various techniques. The supports. Quality of the papers. Accessories for alternative processes. Sunlight and artificial light. How to build a simple artificial UV light.
SESSION 3: WET COLLODION and Glass Negatives
April 22*
Wet collodion is a photography technique that was invented in 1851. With this method, we can make negative shots on glass or metal covered with a layer of salted collodion to be immediately sensitized with a silver nitrate solution. The entire procedure must be done in a short time before the components dry out. Negatives obtained on glass can be painted black to create a positive (ambrotype) or used to make contact prints in various techniques.
SESSION 4: VAN DYKE BROWN on Paper and Canvas
May 6*
The Van Dyke Brown Process is a method of contact printing photographs and other images, using ferric ammonia citrate and silver nitrate as raw materials that produce shades of brown. This technique is named after the painter Anton Van Dyck as the resulting tones are reminiscent of his colour palette.
SESSION 5: SALTED PAPER PRINT: Technique, History and Current References
May 13*
Salted paper print is a process for making copies by contact. The chosen support is prepared with salt so that it subsequently receives a layer of silver nitrate, transforming it into light-sensitive silver chloride. The light, coming into contact through a negative with the sensitized paper, forms the image.
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SESSION 6: CLOSING OF AGORA MEETING
May 27, live online, ENG 19-21hs (Spain Time - GMT+2)
Presentations of student work, viewing of references and dynamics with questions
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* When the class is pre-recorded, it is sent on the indicated day at 8 in the morning and each student can watch it when it suits them best.
TEACHER: Célica Véliz @superficies.sensibles
Photographer, Professor of Visual Arts and Ceramist.
She was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She trained in the city of Tandil at IPAT and at the School of Ceramics. At the end of her studies, she became interested in the photographic techniques of the 19th century and began to investigate and experiment with them.
She currently coordinates experimental photography workshops and alternative photographic processes in his virtual space "Sensitive Surfaces" and in the Cooperativa de la Imagen (CABA). She has given workshops and talks in several cities in Argentina and Mexico.
She has made several individual exhibitions in museums and galleries. He also participated in collective exhibitions and festivals in Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Spain. She has been a selected artist of EXP.21 and EXP.22 to give workshops, conferences and exhibit her work. Furthermore, she has published the mini-books “MADER” (2014), “El Cuerpo Roto” (2019) and “Las Vías de Escape” (2020).
- The courses are repeated in September and December. Whenever you want to work on a personal project, you can enter the Mentorship Experimental Project course if there are places available.
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- It is possible to finance the cost of the course in instalments. Send us an email for more details
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- The contents of all the courses will be available until September 1, 2024.
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- Ágora reserves the right to modify aspects of the content if it deems it necessary.
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- The economic and administrative management of the Ágora is the responsibility of the Experimentalphotofestival non-profit association and the workshops purchased are non-refundable. All courses carry a VAT of 21% included in the price. During the payment process, you will be asked for a Passport number, NIE/NIF/CIF that must be provided solely and exclusively for accounting and tax matters.
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If you have doubts, write to us!