Hummingbird
David Marsh

Media: Gold Toned Salt Print
Size: 17"x21" frame
Price: $400

Artist Statement:
“As a digital artist from a young age, I always felt like my creative pursuits were lacking a physical element. Finding photography was a spark that got me out from behind the computer and into the world.
Printing my images onto paper using historic, alternative and traditional processes seems like magic. My work is a marriage of modern photographic technology with classic techniques.
Through my photographic journey I hope my images spark interest in this combination and the doors that it opens.”

Artist Bio:
Born in San Diego, California - David Marsh was a 20 year veteran of the video game industry before switching his creative focus to photography during the pandemic. He is self-taught in numerous printmaking methods and currently resides in Escondido, California.

Process:
I start with a sheet of 100% cotton rag paper, trim it to size and mark the edges of the desired image area with a pencil. Then, using a glass rod I do two separate coats of a salt solution with a sizing agent. Next a solution of silver nitrate is spread onto the paper using a smaller glass rod. This step will define where the image will be shown on the paper. The salt and silver nitrate combine to form crystals in the paper which are sensitive to ultraviolet light.
A specially prepared digital negative is placed against the sensitized paper and held tight with a piece of acrylic. It is then exposed for 30 minutes under an artificial uv light source. Once exposed, the print is washed several times with salt water. Then I tone it in a bath of gold toner.
The gold in the toner combines with the silver in the print to greatly enhance its archival properties. Once toned, the print is again washed thoroughly before being fixed in a normal photographic fixer. Now the image is permanently set into the fibers of the paper. The print then gets washed for 1 hour to ensure all remaining processing chemicals have been removed.
Once dried, I flatten the print overnight and the next day I give it a light buffing with some beeswax and lavender oil.