Gallery
I’m an amateur photographer.
I’ve had a passion for photography for many years, a passion that predates my passion for botanical dyeing, when photography was practiced with hand-held cameras and film that had to be developed before being printed on paper.
The links between botanical dyes and photography
Recently, a disturbing parallel occurred to me.
In natural dyeing, as in photography, it’s all about revealing colors: yellow, pink, blue, violet and others:
- by plants in dye baths,
- by light on film.
In natural dyeing as in photography, the aim is to fix these colors:
- on animal or plant fibers (links in french),
- on film during development, then on paper during printing.
In botanical dyeing as in photography, mordanting is :
- a step often necessary to fix the colors,
- an ancient process that “goes beyond reality” (link in french).
In botanical dyeing, as in photography, it’s all about looking, touching, trying, experimenting, making mistakes, taking your time…
As with dyeing, my photography is as natural as possible.
Today, I’ve given up film photography for digital.
The parallel is less obvious, but in both cases, the aim is to reveal colors.
And I’ve kept my film-era reflexes, using my digital camera in manual mode with a single, non-auto-focus lens (i.e. sharpening is done manually).
When I’m leaning over my bath, certain shades of plant color are a real source of emotion that I try to prolong and share through photography.
