Photography in Print: Finding Expression Summer School

Over 5 days participants will have the opportunity to realise their photographs in multiple techniques exploring intaglio, lithography and screenprinting.

This course will cover paper lithography, solar plate, photo etching and screenprint and how all of these processes can reproduce photographs in different ways.
This course is great for those already working in print or photography who wish to further develop their ideas and dedicate a week to making, or for those completely new to print who want an intensive crash course into multiple techniques.

Course Structure

Day 1 Introduction to Photography based Print – Paper lithography on A4 paper. On this first day participants will be introduced to the workshop and the goals of the whole week. The majority of the day will be an experimental and fun exercise in paper lithography/gum Arabic transfer using found images and participant’s own photographs to create collaged and distressed images. We will also look at photoshop and editing images for print.
Day 2 Printing Photos with Colour – On the second day we will work with intaglio techniques to realise our photographs beginning with solar plate. Participants will be shown how to expose plates, develop them in water, and then ink and print using colour and a la poupée techniques.
Day 3 Duotone – On the third day we will build on skills learnt on day 2 to create photoetchings on zinc plates. Participants will learn how to make, expose and develop their image. Then ink and print their plate using both intaglio and relief techniques.
Day 4 Halftones and CMYK – On the fourth day we will explore screenprinting as our final method of creating printed photographs with discussions of the CMYK process. Participants will be shown how screens are made then have the opportunity to print their own 4 colour images.
Day 5 – On the final day participants will have the opportunity to return to any of the 4 techniques explored on previous days with the intention to collate all their images into a handmade portfolio to take home.

About the Tutor

Robyn Maclennan joined Leicester Print Workshop as part of the technician team at the end of 2021, specialising in etching and photographic techniques. She uses multiple printmaking and photography processes to explore the landscape and our connections to it. Robyn holds an MA in Fine Art and is currently undertaking a PhD at London College of Communication where she is researching how ecoGothic theory can be used to re-examine our relationship with nature and how fear has permeated our perceptions of the non-human world. She is particularly interested in the links between the darkness found in the ecoGothic and the necessity of darkness to her photography and printmaking practice as well as how understanding the agency of both the natural world and the works she produces can grant us a better understanding of the world around us. She has exhibited across the UK with highlights including the ‘Withheld’ exhibition in London (2022), the Derby Print Open (2023) and being featured in Somewhere in Between’s 2021 zine ‘Hmmm…Photography and Printmaking'. You can find more of Robyn’s work here: www.robynmaclennan.com