Anna Yeroshenko talks about her work in the platinum/palladium process and shows some pt/pd prints.
About Anna Yeroshenko
Anna Yeroshenko is a Russian photographer based in Boston, MA. Her interest in alternative photographic processes brought her to the US where she studied photography under Christopher James at Lesley University College of Art and Design (the former Art Institute of Boston). Working primarily with the platinum/palladium process, she has been interested not only in mastering her printing skills but also in investigating ways to employ the historic process in contemporary art practice. In her own work, a photograph is an object where its material qualities often become a part of the image and play an important role in the concept of the work.
Anna received her MFA in photography in 2015 and began to work as a printing assistant at Renaissance Press, where she continues to deepen her knowledge about various photographic processes under the direction of Paul Taylor.
The platinum/palladium process
I don’t have a favorite process. Each process is unique and worth exploring. For every project, I choose the process that best suits the concept of the work. However, I find the platinum/palladium an outstanding, one of the most beautiful, luxurious processes of photography. The noble metals make an image a treasure.
The work presented here Strong Equilibrium is a series of Platinum/Palladium prints on gampi silk tissue paper. These project is about the elusive, intimate balance that may occur between model and artist if they are partners. This balance is hard to achieve and so easy to break, but if it happens it can make the resulting art precious. I add one drop of platinum to each print. Even though it doesn’t make a huge visual difference, it does highlight the value of the moment captured.
The tissue paper is a subtle, fragile, and almost transparent substance, akin to the nature of relationships, and deserving of delicate care. The tissue is like skin – it lives, breathes, changes over time. Paper wrinkles travel from my hands to my partner’s face creating tactile experience that amplifies my ideas behind the images.
To take a photograph is only a part of the work. When my concepts take the shape of photographic prints, where the printing method and materials become an integral part of the images I can consider the work complete.