Chuck Kelton

 I am choosing to write about Chuck Kelton. Kelton is a photographer and a professional in chemograms. What he does is transform light, chemistry, and paper into abstract paintings and landscapes. All of his photos are made without the use of negatives and cameras. All of the processes happen in the darkroom. Kelton was a master at black and white printing which eventually led him to exploring with chemicals to expand on those colors. 

One of his photos that really caught my attention was well, really all of them. They all are done very similar but I will pick two to talk about. The first one I will talk about is the one shown below: 

  I like this photo because it looks like an explosion in the air. When I first took a glance at this photo I thought it was an actual photograph of an explosion, but it is really just manipulation of chemicals in a darkroom. The photo or chemogram also looks like it was a photograph that could have been manipulated after chemicals, but that is not the case. Kelton knows how to handle the chemicals so well that he can control them in a small sense to where he can make it look like a landscape. I really enjoy this photograph because of the simple fact that it looks like something it now and that is talent. It looks like a photograph, but it is just manipulation of chemicals. 

Another on of Kelton's photos that I like is the one pictured below:

I enjoy this photo again because it looks like a landscape photograph, but it is not. This photo or chemogram looks like a cloudy sky with a horizon straight across in the background with a pond that shows water right in front. I like this photo because Kelton really shows his control with the chemicals to make it look like water is there. He also really knows how to work the chemicals so much to a point to where they flow really well together. This chemogram is one of my favorites because I know a typical person would think this is a real photograph, but it is not.

I really enjoy exploring and looking through Kelton's work because it is something I see myself trying to accomplish. I enjoy his work and I think it is something I want to try for my chemical painting photos.

-Bronwen Lewis