Technology that blends film and digital photography

Combining craft and engineering

In the previous 5 times, the Noirfotocontest project (a community, non-commercial project, launched in 2020) was implemented by Noirfoto, with the goal of developing art in Vietnam in a sustainable way through photography, almost exclusively for film photographers, because the final result created by Noirfoto is silver gelatin prints (handmade silver prints in the darkroom).

The difference in this year's contest that attracted public attention was the combination of digital photography and film photography. Specifically, the authors participating in the contest do not necessarily have to take photos with film and send the physical negatives to Noirfoto for development as before. Instead, the authors can take digital photos by any means, then send high-resolution files to the organizers. Of course, according to the regulations from the first day of the contest, all photos submitted, regardless of format, must be black and white.

Noirfoto then takes this image file and converts it into a negative, then prints the negative digitally using a printer. Next, use that negative to print again, becoming a positive for silver gelatin material. That is, taking a much more expensive and complicated detour, but to get the result that the print material is on silver paper (silver gelatin paper) and ensures detailed image quality so that the sharpness, light and dark can be as beautiful as projecting directly from a film negative or as a digital original file.

Photographer Pham Tuan Ngoc (founder of Noirfoto) shared: “This technology is not new, because many places in the world have done it. There are even many other more advanced technologies such as using lasers to directly print digital images onto negative film. However, the technology that Noirfoto is applying is still the first time it has appeared in Vietnam, bringing very impressive results.”

Freedom to choose creative equipment and materials

Visually, the work using this photo printing technology is probably no different from printing directly from a digital file using a printer. The difference here lies in the material, which is also a black and white photo. If printed using a conventional digital machine, the image is created from ink particles that are sprayed or heated by a laser to adhere to the printing paper. As for printing using manual techniques on silver gelatin paper, in fact, it is quite similar to projecting a photo in a darkroom, the image will be slowly recreated on a background of silver crystals. This is a technique that is appreciated by photographers and collectors around the world, because of its ability to reproduce deep tones, exquisite details and timeless durability.

Due to the nature of printing photos on silver gelatin paper (previously this form of printing required the use of film), but with new technologies, it is possible to use digital photos while still producing manual prints. Photographer Pham Tuan Ngoc analyzed: “In my opinion, with the combination of film and digital photos, creators are freer than ever. They can start with anything and can also finish their work with any material they want and that is the important thing. Because for creators, they do not want to be tied to a certain medium.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Duong Do, founder of Toong Co-working Space, the venue sponsor for the exhibition, expressed: “Being able to turn digital photos into manually developed photos has given photographers the opportunity to satisfy their creativity. Because in photography, everyone knows that manually developed photos are always a symbol of creativity, where technique blends with the photographer's ingenuity. The subtle tones, rich textures and moving depth of manually developed photos bring a visual experience that is difficult to replace.”

The black and white art photography exhibition with the theme “CONNECT” is taking place at Toong space (No. 2, Thi Sach Street, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City). The exhibition displays 30 photos selected from more than 3,000 works participating in the Noirfotocontest 2024 photography contest.

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Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/cong-nghe-hoa-quyen-anh-phim-va-anh-ky-thuat-so-post789902.html