Santina Velo

Shooting analogue photography and making my own silver gelatin prints is a great passion of mine. I shoot 35mm and 120mm film formats. I have my own darkroom. I experiment with and explore the 1840’s photographic alternative printing process of ‘Cyanotypes’ and apply it to my own analogue images. The cyanotype process uses a mixture of iron compounds, which when exposed to UV light & washed in water oxidise to create Prussian Blue images. I love the range of blue colours, that can be created with this process and the nostalgic look and feeling that it gives to my images. I reprint my analogue images as Cyanotype contact prints by making ‘digital negatives’ from the scans of the 35mm and 120mm negatives, place them onto cold pressed watercolour paper that I have coated with a Cyanotype chemical mix, then expose this out in the sun for the UV rays to cause a chemical reaction, then wash the prints and let them dry. Each Cyanotype print that I make is unique and a one of a kind reprint of its original image. These three 35mm images were all taken in 2021, as part of a Project 365, shooting with a Minolta SLR 303b, a 50 mm lens and HP5 Plus film. I photographed an image daily for the whole year. I have also documented my personal story and family history through photographing various locations in the CBD, Brunswick and Coburg. These three images are trigger points for my early experiences and memories. Specifically playing around these train stations, visiting the city and being intrigued by the shapes that I could see in my environment around me growing up. I’m a Melbourne Camera Club member and actively involved with the Analogue Photography interest group. I have exhibited annually with the MCC since 2017 in their APG, IWD and Senior Exhibitions. Also, I have exhibited in group exhibitions with the following: 2019 Noir Darkroom, 2020 CCP Salon, 2020 Mossman Awards, 2022 Focal Point darkroom and Gallery, 2022 Photo Access, 2023 Hillvale and the 2022 and 2023 Somers Art Fair.