Artist of the Month

June 2008

Claudia Wornum

San Francisco, CA

TAL: How and when did you start creating art?

CW : I was a figure painter in the 80's and needed more control over my subject matter. I decided to learn how to shoot my own photos as reference material. However once I started exploring alternative photo processes, painting became a sideline.

TAL: What media and genres do you work in?

CW : I'm primarily an analog photographer. I love working with Ortho Litho film. I have a huge array of expired films, all formats. I develop black and white as well as color chemistry in my darkroom so I can conduct all sorts of experiments in the film processing. I shoot with Holga and Pinhole cameras. I usually print my color work on type-C RA-4 color paper. My imagery is landscapes. Once I learned to backpack, the world just opened up before me. I do use my scanner, digital printer and photoshop to present images or organize my work but I see these as post production tools. They are amazing and helpful but not the center of my art making.

TAL: Who or what are your influences?

CW : Since I've begun the Lumen series, I've been very inspired by Jerry Burchfield. I've always loved Starn Twins as well as the great large format landscape imagery of the late 19th and early 20th century photographers and pretty much every artist profiled in Christopher James's wonderful book of Alternative Photographic Processes.

TAL: What was your inspiration for ""?

CW : Solarized Tree Series - I wanted the fluids in the developing chemistry to somehow mirror or at least reference the way the fluids move in the tree. I also wanted to see how much color I could get out of a black and white medium.

TAL: Describe your creative process.

CW : Once I've made an exposure in my pinhole camera, I duplicate the negative on another piece of Ortho Litho film. I then solarize this copy and print it on color paper. The panoramic pinholes are cross processed in a method called 'film acceleration', that is: the color slide film is processed with black and white chemistry, bleached and then developed as a color negative. It's a fussy process but when it works, it's well worth the effort.

TAL: What are you working on currently?

CW : At the moment, I'm working on a series of 'Lumens'. These are essentially photograms exposed in the sunlight, then developed and fixed. It's completely camerless photography.

TAL: What are your near/long term goals as an artist?

CW : I'm assembling different bodies of my work into a series of hand made books. I'm starting a new series of pinhole and Holga landscape panoramas as well as the Lumens. I would love to show in a gallery.

TAL: Where can people view/purchase your work?

CW : My website is www.claudiawornum.com. I have work in the galleries on www.pinhole.com and www.alternativephotography.com.