Photographic Slides from the 1920s and 30s

Oak in graphite and alumium foil and powder (above)

Corsican Pine, reproduced from photographic slide (left)

I've had some fabulous glass photographic slides for a while now, wondering just what to do with them. They are beautiful in their own right but have been difficult to use, in that they do not photocopy, scan or project. Of course I could use them to print photographs from in a traditional dark room, but I wanted more from them.

So I've used 48 of them to create a light box installation that is 3 metres wide and 9 cms high. I love it.

Then I've used the images, which are all negatives, to draw from. It's very different drawing these from drawing the actual trees - you notice different things about the form and space and the light is transformed. As always I am using reflective materials in some of the work - graphite, aluminium and gold foils - plus inks and anything else that occurs to me.

I photographed the slides on a makeshift light table which resulted in some fascinating images - not evenly lit, but rather enhanced by the concentration of the light source. My digital camera has settings for monochrome etc and some I photographed in black and white, and some in glowing colour, which shows as a range of sepia and gold tones. Now I can print them as they are - in amazing quality considering their provenance - and play around with them digitally.