Mulberry paper and lomographs

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Writer and photography / Helen Stead

Helen Stead shows us a genius – and surprisingly simple – way to make your Lomographic prints even more beautiful!


Helen Stead

You will need:

  • Scanner
  • Inkjet Printer
  • A sheet of A4 Mulberry or Handmade Paper
  • Glue Stick
  • Printer Paper

Why I love it:

One of the best things about shooting with a Lomo camera is sometimes not the subject of the photograph but the mood or atmosphere is captures with its quirky features: light leaks and dreamy imagery. I’ve found that printing on to mulberry paper preserves the magical essence of the lomo image and the delicate and soft texture of the paper produces a much more ethereal quality as opposed to printing on to regular glossy photo paper.

Another great thing about this technique is that anybody can do it!

The process

Helen Stead LomographyFirstly scan your image into the computer and save it as a digital file.

Next, using a glue stick lightly glue a piece of normal printer paper to the back of your A4 mulberry or handmade paper (Both work nicely)

Print the image as you would normally but so that it prints on to the sheet of mulberry paper.

And lastly carefully peel the backing paper off and you will be left with your image on a lovely semi translucent sheet of mulberry paper. If you’re feeling really adventurous you could even add stitch or use it as part of a college. I also really like layering images or text underneath it to add another element to the piece. The possibilities are endless!

Experiment and have fun experimenting with printing your photographs on to different surfaces!

Helen Stead is a visual artist based in Manchester, U.K. She specialises in mixed media, textiles and alternative photography processes. For more of her work and tutorials you can visit her website The Creative Diarist.

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