Mordançage: The Unveiling - Elizabeth Opalenik

Elizabeth Opalenik

Mordançage: The Unveiling – Elizabeth Opalenik

The collection of photographs shows at Colour Factory were created in this French process, Mordançage. Starting with a high contrast gelatin silver print, the photographic silver emulsion is chemically lifted in the shadow area and is removed or rearranged as it clings to the highlight.

Elizabeth Opalenik is regarded as one of the most creative photographers of our time. She is known for her sensual images, including work in the Mordançage process (taught to her by the master, Jean Pierre Sudre), handpainted black and white, infrared films, Polaroid manipulations and specialized toning. With limitless creativity Elizabeth has found her voice as a photographic artist, learning that all good photographs are self-portraits that lie somewhere between imagination and dreams.

“Immediately, the silver veils of emulsion lifting off the darkroom print fascinated me. Taught to remove them, I wanted to find a way to save and use them as part of my voice in this process. Trying to save the loosened silver “skin” seemed a natural extension of my draped figure models in the past. To Jean Pierre that day, it seemed strange or appalling, but with my first successful print, he was asking for my notes and the print signed to him with love.”