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FRAMES Artist-in-Residence August 2022: Kimberly Schneider

PART 1PART 2PART 3PART 4PART 5

PART 1 – AUGUST 8, 2022

W. Scott Olsen in conversation with Kimberly Schneider, introducing our next Artist-in-Residence, talking about her approach to experimental photography and her plans for the FRAMES AiR series.

Leave your questions to Kimberly in the comment section below and she will do his best to answer them all.


PART 2 – AUGUST 15, 2022

I am so grateful that Tomasz offered this residency to me, giving me the time to really learn about the work – as well as the time to make it!! When he first brought up my doing this AiR, I was a bit worried about how to shoot it live – in my (small) home darkroom, while printing, in a way that translated well, as well as more than a bit worried about finding editing help, as I didn’t know of anyone who would be affordable and available, until a friend generously offered to help.

As you now know, shooting Part 2 turned out to be even bigger of a learning curve than initially expected. Mainly due to having a major sound issue during the actual exposure and printing segments – that took at least 6 reshoots to work out (well, ok the last one was to avoid super complicated editing).

I initially thought the problem was with my wearables, but it was actually at least partially due to what seems to be the latest Zoom update, which really threw off my audio settings (as in the speaker kept switching back to the laptop on its own, no matter how many times I changed it manually).

However, the work grew tremendously during those re-shoots, as well as in prior printing sessions, so it all worked out in the end. That said, the prints in the video are really more like demo prints than anything else (to be honest, they aren’t quite up to my standards, as the paper I had left for the final recording was not the best choice for my processes), but hopefully they give you a better sense of how the work is made.

Before I move on to The Many Rings of Saturn, I want to my give my buddy Ross Sonnenberg a big shoutout for all his efforts with editing (especially given the time difference for him, as his time zone is 9 hours behind Switzerland). I know I drove him nuts with all the re-shoots, but I was determined to include exposures and printing in this video, and very glad I was able to work out a way to do that properly. (FYI – Ross is actually the photographer I mentioned in the intro interview who makes photograms with fireworks).

[I actually did this last re-shoot without his help, as he already did more far work than he signed up for, so I’m also super grateful for other friends who looked out and provided great references who were willing to help get the edits done in time, despite not having much time to work on them].

And with that, I’ll take you on to…

THE MANY RINGS OF SATURN

When I began this residency, I was only 4 (untitled) prints into The Many Rings of Saturn. While titles and orientation are tbd at moment (and some prints may be edited out in part 3), I’ve managed to pump out 20+ new photograms since then, as well as tweak some of my processes quite a bit.

This week, I’m sharing the first half of those, as if it hadn’t been for all the reshoots, I wouldn’t be quite this far along in part 2… (Maybe less than half, I did make quite a few…)

At the time of writing this, I have just finished toning and washing the majority of these brand-new photograms; By the time this goes live, these unique silver gelatin prints will be dry, flattened, and photographed (via my cell phone; I’m still working on getting an appointment to scan them, but hoping that will be do-able within the next week or two).

Given that I am still learning about the images, I am not quite ready to share a proper statement about the work yet, but I am starting to get close to titles on some of them, so that may change by next week.

This sub-series has come together so quickly, that it actually might reach a conclusion before the residency ends. That said, Fire & Ice is still ongoing and will eventually utilize some of my new/tweaked processes I come up with as this A.I.R. continues.

I’ll leave you with that and let the images speak for themselves.

As far as what’s next for part 3, I’m still debating if I’ll continue on with more prints for the aforementioned series or start to work on Haunted and circle back to photograms later in the residency. [That depends at least partially on what size paper I decide to print Haunted on and shipping turnaround time, as I can’t get Foma 16×20 locally (except for on extremely rare occasions) and was leaning towards starting with the larger sized edition (I’ll be offering the series in 2 sizes but will only print one size for now and make the other available by pre-order).  

Thank you for joining me – in my darkroom, and please stay tuned; I’m looking forward to sharing more new work (and analog processes) with you next week.

Leave your questions to Kimberly in the comment section below and she will do his best to answer them all.


PART 3 – AUGUST 22, 2022

The Many Rings of Saturn

When I picked up on printing for part 3, I was inspired to try out a new material – spinach! (Yes, a bit out there, even for me). I’m still not quite sold on it as a photogram material, as it retains more water than is ideal for some of my processes (and gets really messy fast), but there is something quite intriguing about it (so I may play around with a bit beyond this residency)…

Of course, the bulk of my materials are still ice or ice-related (and sand, glitter, and flowers); I didn’t use fresh flowers this time around (only frozen or formerly frozen ones), so some of these prints may feel a bit different than the prior ones you saw, but I also tweaked my developer ratio, so that may account for it a bit as well (those with discerning eyes might notice a slight tonal change).

At the time of writing this, my freshly toned prints are still wet, so I haven’t narrowed down which to include yet, but I think I’ll be editing at least a few out, so might not be sharing quite as many this time around, as these processes got a bit more complex than the former ones were.

I’ve also opted to share a little (unedited) bleaching and toning video, since I sometimes do selective bleaching, and always tone post-printing. Have a look:

Those of you who do not have experience in wet printing might be surprised to learn how long it takes from start to finish to make prints. From printing to washing to dry-down, to making decisions about selective bleaching and toning, to doing those processes, washing the prints, waiting for them to dry, then flattening, and making sure they are flat enough to at least get cell shots of in my case (and later scans or proper photographs of larger prints), before showing them publicly in most cases.

The best way to see the prints is of course in person but thankfully Zoom and Tomasz have made it possible to give you quite a bit of insight into my process, and at least a general idea of how the final prints will look. Please stay tuned for the scans, as these cell shots really don’t do the work justice.

Coming up

Part 4 will begin with Haunted (as soon as my darkroom gets a serious cleaning!) but – depending on if there’s time for a part 5 the following week, may also include a conclusion of where I left off with The Many Rings of Saturn. [Meaning, I plan to edit the work down to just the prints that will remain part of the series, and will be working out orientation and titles, as I do that]. And where I plan on continuing on with Haunted.

I should hopefully at least have scans of all the 11×14 prints by the time part 4 goes live (Am still waiting on confirmation that I can get in this week, but it will be after part 3 goes live for sure).

Thanks for tuning in and taking the time to read this – and many thanks to Tomasz for the support. It’s been amazing watching the work grow so fast during this residency, and I can’t wait to see how that translates once I switch over to film-based work!

Leave your questions to Kimberly in the comment section below and she will do his best to answer them all.


PART 4 – AUGUST 29, 2022
A return to “Haunted”
(and a plumbing debacle)

As you now know if you’ve just watched the video, my process for putting together a new film-based series, as well as for making film-based images, takes a lot longer than my process(es) for photograms.

I was psyched to get back to film-based work – and had planned on getting started on the prints for part 4 right after cleaning up the remaining photogram disaster… [It was bad enough that I didn’t think I could wait any longer to set up the multi-unit attachment my former darkroom guy sent me months ago (so I could set up a kitchen sprayer, to get all the gunk stuck between the dri-dek and underneath)].

Well, that started out ok, but I should have known better. Let’s just say, I’m not the best at
getting things off neatly with pliers. But I did follow the instructions I was given… After that, my original – not quite finished pre-covid, set-up for running water, was no longer usable, so I had to figure out how to set up the multi-unit thing, in order to use the darkroom again… [YES, I really do need a darkroom guy!!] Since I literally couldn’t use running water in the darkroom until Friday night, which left me with less than 2 days to work on the prints for part 4, I opted to test out images, rather than worry about final prints of images that I wasn’t quite sold on yet or had run out of time to print to completion.

I’m still working out which images to start out with, for inclusion in the series – picking up from where I left off in 2020 (am a stickler for cohesive bodies of work) but am leaning towards two images that have been haunting me for quite some time. I actually just pulled the newest work prints of those, among some others, out of the print washer, and realized that I had cell shots of prior work prints of those two images, so have opted to include them, even though I normally don’t like to show work prints publicly. [I also thought it might help to see the first 2 prints of this body of work – which grew out of my Awakenings: Point Lobos & Beyond series, so opted to include those as well].

Kimberly SchneiderAfterglow
Kimberly Schneider – Confliction

The process of shooting silver gelatin prints requires first that they are 100% dry and second that they are flat (usually weighted overnight), so they are hours away from being ready. However, they were the last (potential) Haunted images to haunt me, so even if they don’t end up in part 5, they will likely end up being part of the series at some point (it’s all about timing, I’m not sure if the work is ready for those particular images yet, but have lots of other contenders.)

Work Print: Leo Rising (working title) – in progress, printed last night
Work Print: Slowly Swept Away (working title) – in progress, printed last night

Please stay tuned for the conclusion of this series. I look forward to picking up where I left off (as soon as I replenish paper and chemistry) on Haunted and should hopefully (fingers crossed) be able to get in for scans of The Many Rings of Saturn in the next few days.

Leave your questions to Kimberly in the comment section below and she will do his best to answer them all.


PART 5 – SEPTEMBER 8, 2022

My initial plan for the conclusion was a bit overly ambitious… Combining the next parts of 2 bodies of work in a week’s time, would be ambitious on its own, but attempting to do so upon learning last minute that I would have to find another place to scan my prints, did cause some hiccups. So, I’ve modified things a bit…

I ended up finding a place that only charged by the hour and spent a good chunk of Friday scanning The Many Rings of Saturn – in its entirety (minus a print or few that I ran out of time to scan). I did scan a few work prints from Haunted, but they aren’t quite up to my standards, so opted to leave those out of the residency. I am so happy that I was able to make the aforementioned sub-series during my Artist-in-Residence – and can’t wait to show you the prints!

I’ve now scanned approximately 33 photograms and started the process of editing out/sequencing the 26 remainders. I had hoped to have more time to work out orientation/sequencing/titles, which was already a bit of a daunting task with so many prints, but did the best I could with the time I had. Orientation of the photograms with titles or at least working titles, is fixed for the most part. However, titles are just starting to come to me, so orientation of the others may change a bit by the time I debut them elsewhere.

Sequencing and editing down further will take a bit longer.

As far as Haunted, I’ve come to realize that I really need more time to just focus on this series to make much headway. As it turned out, my 16×20 paper – which I order from Freestyle in California, since no one keeps it in stock locally, didn’t arrive until Sunday. And I did spend the majority of Sunday and a good chunk of Monday working on new Haunted images, but the exposures were just too long to really rush finals. (I do have plenty of work prints and test strips from the 11x14s I was testing out but would rather hold off on sharing them until I have proper scans or photographs of final prints).

However, I am making one exception by refreshing your memory on Leo Rising with a work print (either scanned or cell shot, there was some color shift with the scans, so the cell shot is actually closer to the original, but I’ll leave it to Tomasz to decide which to include), along with the poem that I’m 90% sure will eventually be displayed with the final print (I get really nervous about sharing personal poems, and this one is a doozy, so I need to be sure about it before I make any commitments).

Leo Raising, Work print (in progress)
Leo Rising

The willow gently weeps for you
For even he misses your light
But when the sun shines
His leaves remind me of your hair

All these years later
Still wish I could have saved you
Even though you wouldn’t let me
Too afraid of labels
Too afraid for it to be real
You trusted the wrong people
Suddenly it all came crashing down

Across the country
Trying to convince those responsible
To prevent
What we knew would be your demise

We were too late
For they had already forgotten how to be people
For they had already forgotten how to care

Left your gentle soul
All alone
Until you were gone
Broken beyond repair

I still believe she died of loneliness
We all knew she was more fragile than she thought she was
She found out too late
Wish I hadn’t been so far away

Trapped in isolation
The fear swallowed her
Before the starvation
I didn’t want to see it
But the evidence was all there

If she were still here today
She never would have survived
This length of isolation

Revisiting Beverly Cemetery
Still not quite ready to face it
But it’s time
To let your spirit rise again

Beautiful Leo
Wish we could have saved you
Your beauty is eternal
Your heart was just too big

Yet, no matter how much we failed you
Your star cannot be dimmed

As far as what’s next, I plan on continuing on with Haunted and focusing on that series for a while (at least when I’m between remote photogram students/the darkroom isn’t a complete mess). I’ve actually learned a lot about the body of work over the past couple weeks and look forward to printing as much of it as I can in September. I will also resume work on the 16×20 Fire & Ice prints before long, but probably not until after I make more headway on Haunted (or sell a few more prints, as 16×20 Foma is not cheap). At some stage, I will need to have 16x20s digitized, but I will share teasers and cell shots of prints via my Instagram stories, as the work progresses.

I am also working on funding for my first post-covid (film) shooting trip, which will hopefully get me back to California, as well as give me time to explore New Mexico, and perhaps some other neighboring states.

I’d like to close by thanking Tomasz for this amazing opportunity. And to thank all of you for tuning in/reading/viewing my work. I would love your thoughts on my residency and the work. And hope you will continue to follow along beyond the residency, to see where Haunted takes me next.

[Btw, since some of you have reached out asking if I might be interested in taking on new students, I just wanted to let everyone know that I am always happy to work with those who genuinely want to learn, so please do reach out if this applies to you. (Regardless of which time zone you live in, for Zooms.)]

Kimberly Schneider

Leave your questions to Kimberly in the comment section below and she will do his best to answer them all.

Comments (6):

  1. Lynne Daley

    August 8, 2022 at 14:39

    Do you creat e any tintypes? I enjoyed your talk every much!

    Reply
    • Kimberly Schneider

      August 8, 2022 at 18:30

      Hi Lynne. Not yet (so many processes I still want to learn!). Have several friends who do though. Thank you! I appreciate you taking the time to watch it and to let me know. Can’t wait to show you what I’ve been working on for part 2!! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Brian

    August 9, 2022 at 17:57

    Really enjoyed this interview, looking forward to the next instalments 👍

    Reply
  3. David Lang

    August 16, 2022 at 17:04

    I’m looking forward to your darkroom work in part 2. When I studied photography many years ago I enjoyed alternative processes the most. If you look at my current iPhone work it’s not evident. That saied I’m planning a series using a Diana camera and possibly hand coloring.

    Reply
    • Kimberly Schneider

      August 16, 2022 at 20:26

      Glad to hear! 🙂 It wasn’t easy to work out the shooting part, but I think you’ll really enjoy this video – which is now live. Nice, very cool. Feel free to message my privately once you do, would love to see how that works out.

      Reply

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