Alternative Photography - Chemigrams & Lumens

Explore two of the most expressive and unpredictable analogue processes in this chemigrams and lumens workshop. These techniques blend art and chemistry, inviting you to embrace chance, experimentation, and the unexpected in image-making.

Guided by practising visual artist, Simone Darcy, you will work with photographic paper, sunlight, chemical trays, and everyday household materials such as wax, honey, vaseline and many more items found in the cupboard. These substances act as resists, disrupting the development process to create intricate marks, organic textures, and atmospheric gradients.

Chemigrams involve applying resists to photographic paper and then immersing it in environmentally friendly - caffenol developer and fixer, resulting in patterns shaped by chemical reactions. Lumen prints, in contrast, rely on long exposures to sunlight, producing soft tones, colour shifts, and silhouettes with a distinctive, dreamlike quality.

Both methods offer freedom from traditional photographic rules. Instead of controlling an image through a lens, you’ll shape it through process, material choice, and experimentation. This class is perfect for creative explorers, mixed-media artists, photographers seeking new directions, or anyone curious about alternative photographic methods.

Simone will introduce foundational techniques, demonstrate safe handling of materials, and offer guidance on how to refine your approach. You’ll complete the workshop with a collection of experimental artworks and practical strategies for continuing your exploration at home.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this chemigrams and lumens course, you should be able to:

• Apply wax, honey, vaseline or other resists to photographic paper
• Create lumen prints using sunlight and organic materials
• Work safely with chemical trays to produce reactive images
• Develop expressive mark-making skills using analogue methods
• Produce a series of experimental photographic artworks

Course content

• Introduction to chemigram and lumen processes
• Preparing photographic paper with resists
• Sunlight exposure techniques
• Chemical reactions and development
• Scratching, brushing, and mark-making
• Finishing and storing experimental prints