Other Alchemy

For the alchemist there are not to identical experiments. He may try to repeat the steps, he would try to make the same processes but there is something that is always different. Science as we know it and practice it goes through an opposite way. Its validity is based on repetition and verification with a rigorous methodology, trying to avoid any incident that could turn aside any deviation. In fact it could be said that there is a very high percentage of chances that two results are almost indistinguishable. Almost... Because science itself managed to clarify it: the observer is part of the experiment and he exerts influence on it. Could it happen something similar in the inverse situation? Can the results exert influence and modify the emotions of the one who produced them? Could it be that the repeated manipulation of developers, fixers and toners may change the personality of those who work with them along the years? Could it be possible an inner transmutation that occurs under the influx of Silver, Sulphur, Hidroquinone, and a strange combination of some chemical substances? Could it be the Elixir composed by the effluviums of Methol? Could it be the Albedo the simple gleam of an enlarger and the Rubedo the reddish light shining in a darkroom, the place in which a whole different universe is latent? Is it possible that for somebody the legendary Stone, the Lapis Philosophorum, is made of photographic paper? The Alchemist is alone. The same happens with the artisan that creates and conducts the whole photographic process. Many people can see the results but few of them can get a glimpse of the true Work. As I said, for the alchemists there are not two identical experiments. Neither for the artisans. It is difficult to convince the observers that some kind of photographic print is a unique experiment and that everything is different once it is concluded: there is a new and rare object in the world, there is someone who understands that the Work continues, and there is also a privileged human being who is a silent witness of a unique and marvelous transformation. ……………………... Comment about the technique: Traditional photography on B&W film. I printed them on B&W FB paper. The images that you see in the screen cannot show the colors and shines of the original prints. No pigments, inks, dyes nor toners were used. I attained these colors with my formulas. This process makes each one of them unique.