Experiments on expired film
A series of photographs made using a 6x9 pinhole camera, on expired or ruined 120mm film.
Hand-developed using photo-chemistry made from plants foraged from each location.
The Pacific Ocean on expired Kodak Ektar. Processed with we’wey (Chumash), also known as romerillo or california sagebrush. A powerful medicinal shrub said to reduce pain from sprains and broken bones within twenty minutes, we’wey thrives in full sun and provides shelter for a variety of small animal species along the coastline.
omapan 100 processed with rosemary, which is currently taking over my parent’s yard in Ojai. Rosemary is native to the Mediterranean and arrived in the Americas alongside European colonizers in the 17th century. The plant is thought to ward off evil spirts, however, in California, it is highly flammable and a danger to our shifting climate. My dad driving to work, on fogged Fomapan film. Developed using rosemary, which is taking over my parent’s yard in Ojai. Rosemary arrived in the Americas alongside European colonizers in the 17th century. The plant is thought to ward off evil spirits and is also very flammable. Lenapehoking territory, also known as New York City. Processed with leftover coffee grounds. The global coffee industry is characterized by intensive labor exploitation. Coffee harvests are concentrated and require workers to migrate for short term work, often without employment contracts, leaving them vulnerable to long hours, illegal deductions from pay, and incomplete or non-payment for their efforts. Redwoods on the central coast of California. Developed using a handful of leaves from a nearby California bay laurel. Bay leaves can be pickled, cooked, used for digestive aid or wound care. The leaves used to process this roll also flavored a posole that fed five people over the course of a week. Heavily exposed film processed with wild fennel, which is an especially invasive plant along the California coastline. In many areas of Europe and Asia, fennel is cultivated and used for a variety of culinary and medicinal purposes, but here it has escaped cultivation. It is exceptionally drought-tolerant, unpalatable to animals, and skilled at inhibiting the germination of other plants. However, fennel is rich in polyphenolic content, a key characteristic of effective plant developers. Pilar and Christie in Corona Heights, San Francisco. Triple exposure developed with california coffeeberry leaves, known as puruuriS in the Mutsun (Ohlone) language. The Ohlone use the inner bark of coffeeberry as a laxative and treatment for poison oak rashes. In the late summer, coffeeberry plants become full of red and purple berries, which they give to animals, who spread the seeds in return. Processing this film in late summer would produce an entirely different stain, meaning different developers can be built from the same plant source.