This Film Is Still an Experiment — I Printed It Anyway

This film is still an experiment — in the most literal sense. Igor Polyakov, who makes photographic film in his garage in Ukraine from silver, gelatin, and considerable stubbornness, has coated his first-ever 4x5 sheets and sent them to me. The summer heat made the emulsion difficult: it peels from the base during development. Igor knows the cause and the fix. But these first sheets exist now, with a character all their own, and I wanted to print them rather than wait for perfection. A word to those of you who have ordered — or are thinking of ordering — Igor's film: please understand what you are buying. This is not industrial-grade film. It is hand-made in small batches, and things go wrong: emulsion can peel, spots and defects appear, results vary from batch to batch. If you expect the consistency of Ilford or Kodak, you will be disappointed — and you should not order it. This film is for photographers who want to work with an experiment, accept the failures, and find the character in them. So: I photograph my favorite forks and knives (yes, I have favorite forks and knives), develop the sheets under red light on plates borrowed from our kitchen — don't tell my wife — and make the first prints ever pulled from this film, on two very different papers: Fomabrom 112 and Ilford MG Art 300. Then spotting, signing, framing. Because a photograph is not a photograph until it is printed. To find out more about Polyfilm:    • He Makes Film From Scratch — In a Garage i...   https://polyfilms.pp.ua/ Igor's Instagram:   / polyakovusko   Igor's Patreon:   / polyfilm