Foggy Morning

Portfolio: www.brittahershman.com

Blog: brittahershman.blogspot.com

Twitter: @Brittography

For photos and stories of my Italian-European adventure, see:

brittastravelblog.blogspot.com

About me:

I love seeing the world through monochromatic eyes, and I believe that things don't have to be perfect in order to be perfect photographic subjects. I can't help noticing light and shadow, contours, shapes, and textures, and I feel compelled to capture them: digitally or on film, using anything from modern digital equipment to antique cameras with film that expired decades ago.

I love shooting with plastic cameras. The Holga and Diana's controls are limited, but that limitation can also be liberating and exhilarating. With a single shutter speed and with aperture settings reduced to "sunny" or various gradations of "cloudy," they force me to be creative, thoughtful, and willing to take risks.

My favorite developer is caffenol-c, a stain developer made from instant coffee, vitamin c, and soda ash. Caffenol-c is what gives my film images their espresso brown tones, and I couldn't be happier with it: it's simple, eco-friendly, and it smells good, too.

I've also been studying alternative printing methods, especially cyanotypes. Here again, coffee is useful. I've found that a fresh, warm batch of coffee is an excellent toner, transforming the Prussian blue of the original cyanotype into shades of brown and gray.

When it comes to photography, I like to follow my whims and learn as much as I can about the processes of yesterday and today. These techniques, along with whatever I may discover tomorrow, make up my own take on photography... Brittography.