I'm a painter not a photographer however I was curious if there was any way I could project an image, similar to an enlarger, on to a canvas treated with some sort of light sensitive photo chemical and get a photo-like image. I've taken a few classes in photography while I was young and I remember very little. If anyone knows of a chemical that I could spread on an assortment of surfaces that'll retain an image that's been projected onto it I'd be very grateful of your advice.

-- jared ellis (ellis_jared@hotmail.com), April 23, 2002

Answers

Yup, there are a few that can do just that.

Check out a photo supply store in you area or Freestyle in Hollywood, CA.

Try "Luquidlight". Photos on a rock if you want.

-- Steve Feldman (steve@toprinting.com), April 23, 2002.

You could also explore some of the "alternative" processes (ie., not traditional silver) such as cyanotype or van dyke brown (probably the two simplist and cheapest), which are very easy to use on cloth. The catch is that you can't enlarge directly onto the material since these processes require contact printing (because the materials are not a sensitive as silver). On the plus side, if you have large negatives, can make them yourself (either on an enlarger or computer), or can find a commercial darkroom that will make them for you, it is very easy to make prints, and you can expose in sunlight, without a darkroom. Even medium format negatives are large enough to start out with if the images are simple. Try doing a web search on "cyanotype" and "van dyke brown" and you are sure to pull up a lot of interesting information.

-- Chris Patti (cmpatti@aol.com), April 23, 2002.

Luminos has a b & w product that might interest you. It is Luminos Photo Linen, comes in 8x10, 11x14 & 16x20. It will save you the time of painting the emulsion and waiting for it to dry. A couple of tips on using Luminos Photo Linen. 1. Visually you cannot tell what side is emulsion side up, so you like your finger tips and touch a corner and the emulsion side should stick to you finger. 2. When it hits the chemicals it rolls up like a drinking straw. A Luminos service rep told me that he used the plastic edge clips used on report binders to reduce curling in the chemicals. If you use Luminos Photo Linen your hands will definitely end up in the chemicals. Good luck & happy shooting.

-- Pat Kearns (pat.kearns@coopertsmith.com), April 23, 2002.

Thanks everybody

-- jared ellis (ellis_jared@hotmail.com), April 24, 2002.