It’s the easiest and I found quickest way of reproducing an image that you do not have the negative for, and I had used this method for an earlier project so of course it was my first (and only shhhh...) thought!
Personally, I love this method. The scanner used was Epson V700 flatbed which I have. However because Mac decided to update its system and I silly enough clicked the update button (after years of not doing so)! The new updates weren’t compatible with the old version of Epson Scan and I had done everything I possibly could but it just wasn’t having it *insert loud screams and floods of eye waters*
Not to worry, as uni had the V750 and I was already inducted to use them.
The reason why this scanning photographs appeals to me is because you can really see the texture of the photographic paper come through. Most generic prints these days are glossy and flat (some times both texture and colour wise), in contrast to a print from 1960′s going back. This is what I had come to realise whilst going through the vast collection which my aunt had (shock horror) so badly stored in one giant plastic bag.
If the texture doesn’t call to your photo geek within, then take a closer look at your screen at the tones. Tones like this, cannot be recreated in the same way. The paper and chemicals used then have changed so much so that even digit prints (after editing) won’t have the same aesthetic. It’s a sad reality many analogue/ archive buffs come to.
Are you convinced yet? No...? Well...
Take a look at the aesthetic of the edge of these photographs. Notice how it looks as if you could just reaching down and pick it up. This is something I have not seen in photographs of photographs before. A limbo between 2D and 3D. Enticing, no! The edges in scans make these photographs pop, the slightly burnt outline helps to differentiate the object [photograph] from its background. Clearly stating that this is an object. A print/image of a photograph.
Disclaimer: all these are from my father’s family. The first image is of my granpere <3
I had shown my tutor these, and was told to consider photographing the photographs ... He had taken a quick snap of one photograph during our tutorial and I saw the glow in his eyes. So that’s what I did. It is all experimentation and tests after all!
