Will Clarke's otherworldly abstract images
Will Clarke was kind enough to send Alter/Analog a copy of his magazine, Lux In Tenebris, filled with amazing abstract photographs bursting with color and motion. I asked Will about the magazine.
Get a copy here: willclarke.info/editions
"Regarding the objectives of the project, I'd seen a number of instances where artists had used a painting with lights technique in the darkroom on photographic paper and wanted to see if I could push the idea a little further. It seemed there was a potential with it to get other worldly abstract results that broke convention, a pursuit I'd hit a dead end with using paint and digital effects, this was a field of alternative photography in my eyes that hadn't been thoroughly been explored yet.
If I'm making work I want the results to blow my mind, which is quite a big ask but one I am prepared to go to extreme lengths to achieve."
Will's instagram is @in_phase_chrominance
See Will's website at willclarke.info
A/A:What processes did you use to create these images?
WC: The work was created in a homemade darkroom using a 50-metre roll of Kodak photographic paper, the paper was exposed to LED optic fibre lights and other light emitting devices, I also used a colour 35mm enlarger sometimes to add a base layer image onto the paper before working into it with the lights. Most of the prints are large 100cm x 80cm ( I worked on this scale so I could get really intricate markings and details) these were all hand developed in large developing trays using a RA-4 developing kit all with different timings and differing strengths of chemicals. The prints were then scanned on an extra wide scanner. I used to approach artists that were using similar techniques to this and ask them if they could advise me how to do it, none of them were keen to help me out and were protective over their recipe so I figured it out for myself, I thought I'd be protective over this too, but I'd actually be very keen to see other people's results if they wanted to have a go. I do get why artists withhold information about process though, I've seen similar work and been amazed by it as I simply could not figure out how it was made, so that mystery was part of the art. A/A: What is your photographic background?
WC: I've used mainly found slides and 35mm film to experiment on for my photographic work, working into them with chemicals and processes, the image is a means to an end, it's all about the process, in this book though I did use my own work on occasion, a box of 20 year old negatives of mine I found. A previous project I did was the product of 500 random slides I bought off ebay in a joblot that I painted acid onto, I predominantly make mixed media print collage work so I'm always reusing the imagery in that as well. I hope one day though to make a serious photobook of straight, really nice shots I've taken myself, but there's enough of those already at the moment.
A/A: What attracts you to abstraction?
WC: It's the idea that an abstract image can be an otherworldly, completely new experience that your mind can't register or fathom, and then the next week you're bored of it, so it then becomes a challenge to create one that keeps on delivering that experience time after time, so a very basic primal desire really.