working on more Earth Magic photographs

Photograph of myself preparing a glass plate by Ayse Idil Idil.

books, projects, life..

Nearly a year ago I thought I would pick this up as a way to document all of the things that I'm working on.  Apparently I'm not very good at this.  Besides being busy, I also don't seem to like showing things before they are finished.

In March I finished a handmade book, Vitriol.  It's something of a minor work in my long-running Alchemical book cycle.  Here is a video where I discuss it a bit:


A month ago today, I got engaged.  It's true.  Jane and I are going to get married next summer.

After working on my Symbiosis series for nearly a year and a half, I finally put some of images online.  I've spent the past month or two preparing a series of handmade Symbiosis books which contain 14 images.  The pages themselves I've printed on Hahnemuhle smooth rag 308 gm paper - archival, no optical brighteners.  It's a nice, thick paper that closely resembles the watercolor paper that I like to use for some of my handmade book projects.  The book contains a wonderful introduction written by Danielle Ezzo (http://www.danielleezzo.com/), which typographical assistance by Howard Forbes (http://www.misanthrope.com/).  The pages are bound with a soft pink cover, and the whole series is limited to only 24 copies.  The books will be released on the summer solstice (this Tuesday).  I've been offering an advance order until then.  On Tuesday I will release more information, and then the price rises just a bit.  For more information, visit:  http://www.rikgarrett.com/symbiosis.php

Last week I finally put some more images from my Earth Magic series online.  Here is one of them:

The rest are on my website:  http://www.rikgarrett.com

A couple of weeks ago, I found this camera from around 1915 at an antique store:

It's undergoing minor surgery to prepare for the trek out to the woods.  Soon!

Also, there are always more regular updates here:  http://www.facebook.com/rikgarrettphotography

Codex Maleficarum - handmade book

I hadn't mentioned it here, but I spent some time working on a new handmade book.  Completely unrelated to my Alchemical book series, this is called Codex Maleficarum, a work regarding witches and witchcraft.  The title is a reference to earlier books on the subject, including Malleus Maleficarum (from the 15th century) and Compendium Maleficarum (from the 17th).  Continuing in this tradition, I've treated the material similarly by compiling information from other sources and editing it to fit my own beliefs and biases.

The book is 96 pages and hardbound (approximately 11x11 inches).  It includes quite a few original photographs from my series "Earth Magic" (most of which I've not shown publicly yet), along with text and images collected from numerous sources. 

Please forgive the varying quality of these snapshots.

wet plate witchcraft in the woods

Yesterday I hauled a ridiculous amount of equipment and chemistry into a wooded area so that I could take some wet plate photographs for the "Earth Magic" series.  This involved me going across town with an 8x10 camera, tripod and other heavy and cumbersome gear.

And a cardboard box, to serve as a makeshift darkroom.

Things came along surprisingly well and I was able to take a lot of photographs without any major mishaps.  Not bad, considering it was my first time doing wet plates without the safety of running water or a nearby darkroom.  The location was beautiful and perfect for the photographs.  If you ignore the gang of ten year old boys on bicycles.

On the way home I realized that I'd officially made the transition into "functional hobo":  a pushcart loaded with bags and a cardboard box, hands blackened from a run-in with the silver nitrate bath that the plates are dipped in, and a container full of wine and alcohol bottles (used to hold chemistry).  Maybe I should make an attempt to look a little less sketchy next time.

I'll post some images from yesterday soon.