Alison Rossiter makes photographs without using a camera. Captivated by the mechanics and materials of pre-digital photography, she collects decades-expired photographic paper—the oldest dating to 1900—which she develops in her darkroom, coaxing out of each sheet the gorgeous composition of lights and shades it holds within. Though Rossiter has used a camera, and has made photograms of books and light drawings of horses, she focuses on her experiments with expired paper. Her intimate compositions often resemble moody landscapes or Abstract Expressionist paintings. With titles like Eastern Kodak Royal Bromide, expired March 1919, processed in 2010, Rossiter documents the paper she uses and its expiration and processing dates, emphasizing its history. “It’s time travelling,” she explains. “I can hold a Fuji paper that I know was made between the wars and I’m transported to pre-World War II Japan.”
Alison Rossiter makes photographs without using a camera. Captivated by the mechanics and materials of pre-digital photography, she collects decades-expired photographic paper—the oldest dating to 1900—which she develops in her darkroom, coaxing out of each sheet the gorgeous composition of lights and shades it holds within. Though Rossiter has used a camera, and has made photograms of books and light drawings of horses, she focuses on her experiments with expired paper. Her intimate compositions often resemble moody landscapes or Abstract Expressionist paintings. With titles like Eastern Kodak Royal Bromide, expired March 1919, processed in 2010, Rossiter documents the paper she uses and its expiration and processing dates, emphasizing its history. “It’s time travelling,” she explains. “I can hold a Fuji paper that I know was made between the wars and I’m transported to pre-World War II Japan.”