My First Accordion Style Handmade Book

A few months ago, I joined the local branch of the Puget Sound Book Artists organization [https://pugetsoundbookartists.wildapricot.org] I had a vague idea in mind of a book I wanted to make comprised of small photogravures along with supporting text about the images. My book is titled RELICS.

In joining the organization, I had an additional goal of making a book to exhibit along with many others at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma this June. From there, the book will go to Evergreen College to be on display in December. Having a goal with a deadline made sure I wouldn’t let the idea go — and it gave me a group of people (well, mostly women) who could inspire and teach. Luckily for me, Debbi Commodore, a longtime member who also teaches bookarts attended the February meeting when I went to share my thoughts about making RELICS. With her help, I was able to learn how to structure an accordion style book appropriate for my work.

RELICS: Something kept as a remembrance or treasured for its past associations; keepsake

RELICS honors fifteen cherished things my family inherited along with other memorabilia gathered during our lives. The objects date as far back as the early 1900s through the 1990s. Rendering them as photogravures resonates with the process itself which originated in the 1800s, thus giving them a vintage physicality. In RELICS, I think about myself growing older. I want to leave a small documentation of these keepsakes and memories for the time when I will leave them behind.

I recently finished the book. The book making was fun and crafty and took longer to put together than I had imagined. Here is a 1+ minute slideshow of the result:

https://youtu.be/VPhALkhpTR4 If you want to read the text, just press pause.

More information about Photogravure: history, past and current photogravure artists, brief description of the process, and links to resources below.

The book cover with leather wrap-around cord. The Buffalo nickel was living in my button jar for years.

PHOTOGRAVURE: a fine-art photographic printing process

Photogravure, a fine-art photography printing process, has its roots in the early 1800s. Historically, photogravure printers used copper plates and toxic chemicals to undergo a complicated, time-consuming process to etch a photographic image on the plate. Two well-known photographers who had their images printed in this process are Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Curtis. Photogravure printing lost favor because of its arduous requirements. But, the beauty of the resulting images, their velvety tonal gradations and depth of the embossing process along with archival qualities, compelled photographers to explore alternative ways to make photogravures.

Twenty-first century tweaks to this historical process now combine analogue and digital techniques to produce a photographic image etched or engraved by UV light on a light-sensitive, polymer-coated steel plate. The exposed plate is developed in water then dried to harden the polymer which leaves etched areas of varying depth in the polymer corresponding to the light and dark tones of the photo image. Like a painter, the photographer blends long-lasting inks to achieve a desired color, applies the ink to the plate, and then carefully wipes and buffs the plate. More ink is left in the deeper recesses of the plate (corresponding to the image’s dark tones) than in the more superficial recesses (corresponding to the lighter values). The plate is now ready to be placed inked side up on the bed of an etching press. Dampened art paper is carefully centered over the plate and covered by felt blankets. The print-maker cranks or turns the wheel connected to the cylindrical rollers of the press which moves the press bed forward, exerting great pressure on the ink-embedded plate into the paper. A successful print results in a stunning, unique image.

Links:

Photogravure -  https://photogravure.com/story-of-photogravure/

Alfred Stieglitz - https://archive.artic.edu/stieglitz/

Edward Curtis - https://edwardcurtis.com

Alternative Photographic Processes - https://www.alternativephotography.com/processes/

Current Photogravure printmakers:

Clay Harmon, book on Polymer Photogravure -  www.amazon.com/Polymer-Photogravure-Step-Step-Highlighting/dp/0815366043

Ray Bidegain, Cascabel Press in Portland, OR. - Photographer, Printmaker, Mentor -  https://cascabelpress.com/

Silvi Glattauer, Australian photographer and printmaker -  https://www.silvi.com.au/photopolymer-photogravure-art

Prison Nursery Project attracts Hebammenforum!

Several months ago, I was asked by Johanna Heller for permission to publish my prison nursery portraits in Hebammenforum, a monthly magazine for midwives in Germany. Ms. Heller, a midwife and journalist, would write an article about the program.

After I checked on the authenticity of the journal, I was happy to contribute to this important and rarely discussed social issue. I had volunteered to do photography at the prison nursery for 16 years, determined to educate the public about the importance of such programs. I have been a strong advocate that this vulnerable population of mothers and babies be treated humanely during their prison sentences, stressing the importance of healthy attachment especially considering the prison sentences of these mothers is fewer than two and a half years. Otherwise, the babies would be reunited with their mothers after a prolonged separation at a neurologically important time for both. I hoped that the jounalist’s article would spark interest and discussion amongst colleagues far across the world from Washington State.

The journal came out in printed form in April 2024. One of my portraits was on the cover! Although I have taken many images of the mothers expressing joy and love, the 3 that were printed out of the 16 submitted showed despondency. But I still feel gratified that my long years of work on this project is still circulating.

Hebammenforum cover, April 2024

She Shoots Film! December 2017 issue, MOTHER

Another end of the year piece of exciting news for me is that my December 2017 issue of She Shoots Film arrived and featured two images I made around 1974. I submitted these last year but didn't hear back for a long time. I was notified several months ago that two images were selected for publication. So, although getting this journal right before Christmas wasn't a complete surprise, it is always fun to see an actual print journal featuring one's work. (Merry Christmas to ME!) She Shoots Film has only published two journals but this Australian-based journal publication feels very promising.

My Statement: 
I came of age in the days of homes for unwed mothers, back-alley abortions, and shotgun weddings, and emerged into early feminism and reliable contraceptives. I was gratefully unburdened by unwanted pregnancy - the thought of which made me feel confined, trapped, imprisoned, and adult.

I used my camera to experience the lives of other people, several who were mothers my age. They fascinated me with their motherliness.

It wasn't until my early thirties, after I became a midwife, that I was ready to embrace motherhood for myself. 

THANKS, She Shoots Film!

MOTHERING On-Line Magazine: interest in incarcerated pregnant women grows! →

I love how the conversation about incarcerated pregnant women and mothering in a prison nursery keeps spreading. Thanks to writer, Sheramy Tsai for doing such a thorough write-up.

This mother told me the story about getting her tattoo at a point in her life where she had hit rock bottom. Shortly afterwards, she learned she was not only pregnant but sentenced to prison. She explained, "After the birth of my daughter, I now know I have everything to lose." The prison nursery program has helped her discover another side of her self involving the love and care of her child.