Baltic Analog Lab opens the autumn season with a new cycle of workshops dedicated to historical photographic processes. The series will consist of four workshops led by BAL member Armands Andže.

The first workshop will focus on large-format photography, covering both image-making with a large-format camera and printing on paper using two 19th-century techniques: the warm-toned salt print and the deep-blue cyanotype.

Salt printing and cyanotype are among the most significant photographic processes of the 19th century.

Salt printing (1835), invented by William Henry Fox Talbot, is historically the most important photographic process, closely tied to the invention of photography itself. It was the first reproducible printing method, from which all silver-halide-based processes later evolved. Learning the principles of salt printing also provides a deeper understanding of the foundations of today’s analog photographic practices.

Cyanotype (1842), discovered by Sir John Herschel, is known as the most accessible and cost-effective contact printing process. Its characteristic blue tones and straightforward technique ensured it never completely lost popularity, being used for everything from postcards to reproductions of large-scale architectural drawings.

Since both processes are primarily intended for making contact prints, participants will have the opportunity to create their own large-format negatives using bellows cameras during the workshop.

Program:

- Introduction to historical printing techniques

-  Shooting and developing large-format negatives using a large-format camera

- Preparing salted papers and cyanotypes

- Exposure, contact printing, and development

Armands Andže has been a member of Baltic Analog Lab since 2018. He has been working with analog photography for 12 years and, through self-study, has mastered several historical photographic techniques. He studied photography at the Culture College, got his Master’s degree in the Graphics Department at the Art Academy of Latvia where he is currently doing his PhD.

Practical information:

Number of participants is limited to 10

To apply, please send an email to: balticanaloglab@gmail.com

Participation fee: 70 EUR

The workshop will be held in Latvian and/or English (depending on participants)

11–12 October– Kuprotype process and large-format photography 

1–2 November– Shooting and toning 16mm film (with Ieva Balode) 

22–23 November– Bichromate process and large-format photography

Supported by Latvian State Culture Capital Foundation