Hello! My name is Caroline Fudala,
and I am a Chemistry and Forensic Science double major with a Photography
minor. My research project combines my passions for chemistry and photography
through exploring the chemistry of mordançage, a historic photographic process.
The mordançage process dramatically changes black and white photographs,
creating ethereal veils that deposit on the print in interesting ways. And,
although having used by artists since the 1960s, the mechanism and kinetics
have not been examined from a chemical perspective.
Each week of the project is
different, but a typical week starts with me making some prints in the darkroom
to use in upcoming experiments. Then I’ll meet with my mentor and run trials on
the prints in the chemistry lab. I’ll also typically scan my images after they
dry, perform additional analysis, and interpret results. I have also been very
fortunate to collaborate with other researches who have access to equipment
that I do not, and they have assisted with performing different analytical
analysis.
I am very grateful for the
opportunity to pursue this research project, and I believe it has been beneficial
for preparing me for graduate school research. Also, I plan on continuing
experimenting with other alternative photographic processes, and this research has
opened the door for many other creative processes.One thing I have learned this
semester is how often research doesn’t go as planned! Many of my experiments
ended up with completely different results than I anticipated, but this has led
to many more unanswered questions that I am looking forward to pursuing.
