Demonstrating her interests in both science and art, chemistry teacher Amy Greenleaf’s research on the argyrotype photographic process has been published in the second edition of Christopher James’s book The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes. In addition to her research notes, the book includes two photographs—one is a self portrait and the other depicts a snowfall near her parents’ home.

Ms. Greenleaf earned her MFA at the Art Institute of Boston, where James is chair of the Photography Department. She also studied with him during photo workshops in Maine, when she learned about the argyrotype process.

The process contrasts with black-and-white printing in a darkroom, where an enlarger projects a 35-mm negative’s image onto paper that is pre-coated with silver. The argyrotype process (pronounced “are-JY-roe-type”) takes place outside in sunlight and requires silver and iron to be coated on watercolor paper. The size of the negative dictates the size of the final print.

The artist places the negative on top of the paper, exposes the paper to sunlight—for as few as three minutes and as many as 20—and brings the paper inside for processing, where toner is used to adjust the color.

“I love the hands-on [process] and I think, with the onset of digital photography, a lot of people are going back to the idea of hand-made [art]. Instead of using the computer to control the image, you’re using chemicals and sunlight. I like the romance of the old-fashioned process, and my chemistry background goes hand-in-hand with it,” she says.



© 2008 The Pingry School