Paper and Peppercorn
Basically, it’s about a special photo paper that I’ve used for years for certain pictures. A photo paper with a very special image tone and a very unique way the grain builds up in the dark areas of the image. Here “grain” is not the film grain that many analog photographers see as a charming characteristic of analog photography, but a grain that builds up on the paper during Lith Printing - with large differences on different papers. The areas look almost peppered, sometimes referred to as “peppercorn”.
Over the years, I have used the grain more and more specifically for certain areas of the image, imagining when taking the picture how the area might look with this or that grain characteristic. In the process, I also got to know several other papers with beautiful grain. And I began to think about what this grain in the image actually does to the perception of the image, what it signals to me as a viewer. And I’d like to present this comparative study here and invite you to dive into this.
Grain Comparison
The subject probably doesn’t immediately open up to you if you haven’t worked in analog yourself and if you haven’t seen grain like this before. That’s why the exhibition not only shows series on one of my favorite papers, the Fomabrom Variant IV 123 FB, but also a Diptych and a Triptych with direct paper comparisons, through which you can find the visual key to what this is all about.
The Secret Star of the Exhibition: The Paper Fomabrom 123
The exhibition is also my farewell to this particular paper, the Fomabrom Variant IV 123 FB. Long kept in my basement, I decided last year to use it now and finally in a few weeks to bring all images on this paper which were basically intended for it. All those images are now banned on paper and can be seen and purchased in the exhibition. They are partly unique pieces to save paper for another motif. At max I have made 3 prints of one motif. If resources are scarce, prints won’t pile up.
A small farewell, but also a good feeling to have the paper no longer in the dark basement, but on a wall as a carrier of a picture. That’s what it’s meant for.
Short Description of the Exhibition for External Use
The exhibition features 19 works that explore how image grain affects our perception of a lighting situation and how it affects the character of an image. The images are all original analog prints from the traditional darkroom, all on vintage papers that have long since ceased to be commercially available new. For 13 of his works, the artist used a photographic paper that was one of his favorites in terms of image tone and grain. 6 other works invite the viewer to compare them. They were created on other photographic papers and show partly very different characteristics.
2 motifs can be seen in direct comparison on several different papers, in order to get a visual impression of the core of the exhibition.
About Oliver Pera
Oliver nutzt die Fotografie, um über die Wahrnehmung von Wirklichkeit und das Wirken von Lichtsituationen zu “sprechen”. Er sieht Fotografie als Ausdrucksmittel und visuelle Sprache, mit der er über Gefühle, Erinnerungen, Träume und Deutungen spricht. Und Oliver mag den Moment. Seine Bilder mögen manchmal kontextlos erscheinen, doch sie sind mit dem Moment verbunden, in dem aus einem Eindruck oder Gefühl eine Bildidee entsprang, die mit dem Bild zu einer Bildäußerung wurde.
Er nutzt zumeist analoge Aufnahme- und Printtechniken, seit 10 Jahren fast ausschließlich die Technik des Lith Printings. Oliver lebt und arbeitet in Nürnberg.