Paper Negatives

The photographs shown here represent the latest - and the last - series in a multi-year project on composting and recycling. I collected envelopes from my recycling bin and photographed them with a large format camera to create one-of-a-kind paper negatives. Producing unique pieces is a way to clearly proclaim the importance of my subjects and showcase their intrinsic value and beauty. In addition to photographing recycled paper, I used donated expired B&W photo paper to create the photographs. After exposure the images were developed in Caffenol, a homemade developer made with readily available household items. This allowed me to minimize the footprint associated with the production of the series.