Co.Lab Gallery presents

CHRIS BOND

SOMETHING CALLED CAFFENOL

FILM PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION

OPENING FRIDAY AUGUST 25TH, 2023, 7-10PM

EXHIBITION CLOSES SEPTEMBER 8TH, 2023.

Artist Chris Bond shares his eye with us through a carefully selected series of photographs taken over the past two years. All works were shot in Thunder Bay and developed using the Caffenol technique.

“Shooting film started as a hobby;

An experiment with what I had readily available to me. An old Canon AE-1 from my Dad, some Kodak Gold from the local big box store and a notion to learn anything and everything about the camera. Learning to shoot was difficult. Keeping a ‘cheat sheet’ taped to the back of the camera with the effects of aperture, film speed and shutter speed helped me get comfortable enough to take my first exposures. Satisfied with my work, I continued to scour manuals and articles about film photography and the daunting developing process. After finishing my first roll of film I began to look deeper and deeper into home film development.

This lead me to something called Caffenol.

So what is Caffenol?

Caffenol started on internet photography forums as a more easily accessible black and white film developer for the DIY photographer. In its most basic form it is a mixture of instant coffee crystals, washing soda and vitamin C Powder. The recipe I use after years of testing still uses these basic ingredients with the inclusion of a couple other goodies that I’ve added in over TIME.

With Caffenol, it is always an experiment; at least that's what I tell myself. Anytime I shoot a roll of film, I prepare myself for the chance that I might not get anything out of it. That’s just the reality of alternative film development. Thankfully though with time, patience and a lot of failures, I’ve dialled in my film development to a science through recording, testing and re-testing different variations of my caffenol developer.

This has led to the photos on display today.