Alchemist Photography
Artist Statement
All of these photographs are unique, one of a kind silver prints. The process begins with a finished photograph (all darkroom manipulations, burning, dodging etc. complete). Next, they are moved through many solutions. In the end, they achieve tonalities that are expressive of my emotional response to the subjects I am compelled to photograph.
Ocean water is at the core of this process. What occurs is an exchange of halides that takes place after stripping open the silver via bleach and then introducing different salts occurring in ocean water. The process chemically alters the silver of that photograph. The first ocean water that I used was from Long Port, NJ. As a child, this was the ocean where I first swam, and for me, an obvious starting point. Since then, I’ve used water from Point Lobos, Bandon, OR, the California coast above Morrow Bay and from the ocean off of Venice CA.
Fortunate to attend the final Owens Valley Photography Workshop in the fall of 1990 and participating in various workshops throughout the years, what has become clear to me was that the photographs I was most moved by were executed with a pallet truly personal to the photographer.
Over the years I’ve been on a journey in search of my own pallet. This journey is ongoing. As materials change I, continue to change as well. Insights provided to me while engaged in this process give me a greater understanding, not only for the photographic, but also of relationships and reactions occurring daily throughout my life.
Edmund Simmons
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This is like going into another world to me. And with Ed’s stuff, it’s always a dynamic, powerful place. I really like the scale and the way all the objects he shoots work together- it’s a complete picture. All his shots show a sense of purpose. Great stuff.