As part of my photographic documentation of the projects of Biome Environmental Solutions (a Bengaluru-based design firm with a focus on sustainable architecture, ecology and water), I created a series of prints using a historical process called salted paper prints for their book, Biome Diaries.
Much like their architectural creations, which are made considering a very unique set of challenges - local materials, location, weather and client aspirations, the making of the salt prints is dependent on a variety of parameters like the room temperature, humidity, quality of paper, concentration of chemicals etc.
The prints often don’t turn out the way it is envisioned, yet yields different, but surprisingly pleasant results. What are sometimes perceived as faults are beautiful, serendipitous variations: possibilities that make working with analog processes rewarding.
Salted paper technique was created in the mid-1830s by English scientist and inventor Henry Fox Talbot. It involves two main ingredients - table salt and silver nitrate, coated over a thick, watercolour grade paper. I have been experimenting with a variety of papers (both hot and cold press) to make the salt prints with, and below are some results on locally- sourced hand made paper using photographs made for Biome.