Zeno Gill's "Inked"

At first glance, the colors in Zeno Gill's photos look like lights but actually, it is dye. That he was able to apply it so skillfully and compose it so well is a testament to his amazing talent as an artist. Zeno is the creator of Fuzz Magazine and Film Without Frontiers.

View more of Zeno's work on instagram at @zenopox and on his website at zenogillphotography.com

Fuzz Magazine is at fuzzmagazine.com and Film Without Frontiers is at filmwithoutfrontiers.com

Model Jarry Lee is on instagram at @jarrylee

ALTER/ANALOG: We've featured a series of yours before that had dye applied to photos post process. These photos look different. What did you do differently this time?

ZG: The big difference is that I shot on black-and-white film. I scanned them as color negatives, so the base image has a sepia effect, but I wanted the bulk of the color to come from the dye. I also did not dilute the dye this time. I dripped it onto the emulsion side of the negatives. On some of them, I intentionally let it run. On others, I let the beads dry for a while. Once the negatives were dry, I scanned one of the most dyed ones and discovered that there was too much dye, so I rinsed all of the negatives in warm water to remove some dye.

ALTER/ANALOG: What camera and film were used for this series?

ZG: I used my Canon AE1 and Ilford XP2 400.

ALTER/ANALOG: In both of your series, there is such a strong urban feeling. Is NYC a huge inspiration to you?

ZG: Yes! I love to shoot here. The city provides endless locations and inspirations.

ALTER/ANALOG: The die looks like colored lights at first. It looks like you had a lot of control over the results. How much control did you actually have?

ZG: I chose to apply the dye randomly, but I think that one could strategically drip the dye onto negatives in specific spots with decent accuracy. I may have to try that!