Artist statement: Since 1998 I have explored the possibilities of a modified plastic camera to photograph gardens, cities and staged images. Due to its dubious materials and poor manufacture it produces effects like vignetting, fogging and the confounding swirl of an ‘image circle’. This is the first of a new series of black-and-white portraits using the camera, showing my partner Nanette who I have been photographing for over thirty years. In addition to exploring the camera’s faults I was interested in recuperating the use of grain as part of the palette of my work. As someone who began using analogue cameras and film, I have chosen once more to use aspects of the traditional craft of black-and-white photography.
www.christopherkoller.net
Also known as Giclee prints or bubble-jet prints, pigment ink-jet prints are generated by computer printers from digital or scanned files using dye-based or pigment-based inks. A series of nozzles spray tiny droplets of ink onto the paper surface in a precise pattern that corresponds to the digital image file. In dye-based prints the ink soaks into the paper, whereas in pigment-based prints the ink rests and dries on top of the paper surface.
Whilst the term is broad, pigment ink-jet prints have come to be associated with prints produced on fine art papers. They are the most versatile and archival method of printing available to photographers today. A wide variety of material on which an image can be printed with such inks are available, including various textures and finishes such as matte photo paper, watercolour paper, cotton canvas or pre-coated canvas.
