Mike Hipsman makes visual magic from household chemicals

One might think that to achieve these images, photographer Mike Hipsman has a very specific soup formula, but actually a lot of it is applying the chemicals and hoping for the best. This risk taking approach works out spectacularly as you can see from the resulting images below.

You can see more of Mike's work on instagram at @mikehip00

ALTER/ANALOG:  These images are incredible. How did you create them?

MH: Thank you so much. I used a few different ways to get the results I was looking for. After I develop them, I mainly dip the negatives in cleaning chemicals from around the house and dry them. I also did an acrylic inkjet transfer and just burnt the edges before I pasted it down. Another I just splashed the edges and photo with water after I printed it. Little bit of everything.

ALTER/ANALOG:  How much of the finished product is intentional and how much is chance?

MH: When I'm doing a film soak a lot of it is by chance. I can control more things if I soak the film after I develop it. Most of the time, mainly its luck if it turns out the way I like it. Splash some chemicals on it and hope for the best ha.

ALTER/ANALOG:  What attracted you to alternative processes?

MH: I was getting bored with my photography and wanted to try something new. I saw the film destroyers group on flickr and saw what some people were doing and I thought I have got to try this. I started experimenting with different ways to manipulate film and prints and been doing it ever since.

ALTER/ANALOG:  What inspires you?

MH: I'm a big photography geek so pretty much anything that has to do with photography. I'm always trying something new to keep it interesting. I also check out other photographers work all the time. People are doing awesome things and it's pretty cool to see.