Process
Project Workflow
1.
Shoot on Film
Everything begins with film. Shooting primarily on 35mm, Leah builds libraries of street photographs, portraits, and urban texture. The grain, light leaks, unpredictability aren't flaws to correct but qualities to preserve.
2.
Draw and Collage
Free hand simple lines, pen and ink, and stencils create the new worlds in which the photographic characters will live. Drawings by Leah's step father, Marc Diament, and her Oma, Irene Poll, have been graciously donated to be used in this series. The drawings are scanned and the search for photographic characters begins.
3.
Develop & Select
Negatives are developed in a traditional darkroom (her kitchen) and scanned into the computer. Minimal curve correcting edits are made before the character is removed from it's background, turned back into negatives, and transported into hand drawn elements. Blending analog and digital together.
4.
Coat the Substrate
Cyanotype chemistry: a solution of ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide is mixed and brushed onto paper, fabric, or mixed-media substrates by hand in subdued light. Each coating is slightly different.
5.
UV Expose
The coated substrate is placed in contact with a film negative and exposed to UV light. Timing, temperature, and UV intensity all affect the depth and tone of the final Prussian blue, the most variable step.
6.
Wash in Water
After exposure, the print is washed in water. The image emerges as unexposed chemistry rinses away. The characteristic Prussian blue forms during this stage through oxidation. Each print is unique.
7. Embellish & Assemble
Augmented Reality
The deveoped print becomes a base for further work, shaping it into it's own individual exression. Embelishments such as dired flowers, gold leaf, colored pencil, or water color are added as finishing touches.
I have Words
Fabric is stitched together, while prints are handed off to artists for collaborations for poetry and color.
Video/ Animation
The prints are assembled in sequential order and scanned back into the computer to be animated as stop motion films.
Following the rabbit hole
ABOUT LEAH
Leah Diament is a Denver-based photographer and printmaker with a passion for street photography, portraiture, and alternative print processes. Her work highlights the ridiculousness and beauty of day-to-day life.
She specializes in Cyanotype printing using primarily her own 35mm photographs, with an ongoing focus on multiples and experimental substrates. "I am most proud of my ability to push past mental barriers. Trying new things that may fail is terrifying and rewarding simultaneously."
Follow me on Instagram to see new work, experiments, and general curiosities.