inkjet image transfer II

Here is the second inkjet/printer image transfer I made. It is done exactly the same way the previous image transfer was done except this time I didn’t print the image on a standard contact sheet.
Instead I printed it on a clear sheet protector that has pockets; I believed they are used to hold baseball cards or something like that.
Anyway, this is just another approach to image transfer.
So what did we learn today? We learned that the great thing about image transfer is that it allows countless ways of doing it.
Go ahead, give it a try; I’m sure you’ll make me so proud

One way. New York City 2004. Black and white image transfer.

Inkjet image transfer

This morning I was longing to make some good ol’ fashion image transfer, and though image transfer is not a huge production, still, I had no time to spare.
However, one little disorder I suffer from is that once I have an idea in my head I can’t get rid of it no matter how hard I try.
And then it hit me: inkjet transfer! duh!
Inkjet or printer transfer is a method I came up with a couple of years ago and as far as I know, I don’t believe anybody else is performing inkjet transfer quite the same way, which is OK, no, actually its great.
Inkjet transfer, like I mentioned before, is a really fast and a no-brainer method (no wonder this brain came up with it).
I think in a way my technique of printer transfer is so simple that it completely confuses some people; I always get lengthy emails asking me puzzling questions about this process. It definitely takes longer to write these emails than making the actual transfer
OK, so this is how it’s done:
1) Print a mirror image of your chosen image onto any kind of plastic sheet; I usually use a standard sheet protector.
2) Once the printing is done, and since this kind of a medium will not absorb the ink, the ink will remain wet. All you need to do now is transfer the image onto any type of photographic paper by pressing the print face down into your paper of choice.

So I made two transfers this morning: the one here (taken in NYC in 2000) and a second one which I made the same way but with a twist. I’ll share it with you next time. So stay tuned and don’t touch that mouse!

Inkjet printing on special paper

I don’t know much about inkjet printing, but every once in a while I like to get some special printing paper and either transfer images onto this paper or just print my latest images.
A couple of weeks ago I found a sample pack of Inkpress digital media paper.
It has 23 different print papers, such as Watercolor Rag, Cool Tone, Fiber Gloss and
Luster Duo ( I have no idea what it means).
So I chose to first try the Matte Canvas but to add a twist I printed to the wrong side.
It might be hard to tell from the scanned version but this print turned out pretty cool.
I think I’m going to frame it.

This picture was taken on Broadway in downtown Los Angeles.

The many lives of an image

For different reasons some of my photos are closer to my heart than others.
Sadly the main reason I like one picture over the other has no artistic explanation at all. in fact the reason is quite trivial; it has to do with the circumstance under which the photo was taken, mainly how I felt at the time, and hardly ever has anything to do with the actual qualities of the image.

And so I keep going back to these photos and I often pick them out to use them when I experiment with a new image process.

One of such images is this picture to the left which I took in NYC in July 2001.
I believe one of the explanations I grew attached to this photo is that I took it while, for the first time, I was completely alone in NY. It was quite a memorable day.

Same image under my infamous distress process:

This one was aged with a texture layer:

And finally a mixed-media image transfer (on canvas).

By the way the drawing above the image is a transfer of the original empire state building blueprint.

Why do you even photograph?

This was not planned or anticipated in any way when I began taking pictures, but now, I find the main benefit of photography for me is that every picture takes me flying back in time not only to the event or occasion, no, my going back in time is much deeper than the usual picture-memory association. My pictures take me into a dark forgotten locked channel of awareness that otherwise would have stayed locked forever. If you experienced it you know what I’m talking about.

But this is merely the value of photography; this is not why I photograph.
The main reason I take pictures, and will always take pictures, is that I love this place.
And because I love this place I want to illustrate and forever preserve its existence, the truth and the depth of it which I’m grateful I’ll never understand.
But don’t let big words fool you; it is a lot simpler than it sounds

And I have faith in you, my dear two readers; I have no doubt you can come up with a better explanation to an otherwise perplexing drive we have to photograph everything around us.

Downtown San Francisco. Holga. inkjet transfer