Lately I have been working on making images that test the limits of the emulsion. “Souping” film is the process of intentionally damaging the emulsion before or after the exposures are made. 

I started tinkering with souped film and emulsion manipulation just as a distraction from my usual style of photography — carefully lit, zone system method studio portraits. The more weird things I did the to film, the more I loved the wild and unpredictable results.

I begin by boiling the film, then letting it soak in a “soup” of various substances. Though I can never be certain what specific effects the soup will have on the image, I do know how certain substances can generally affect the film at its various layers. Some of my favorite combinations are baking soda and vinegar, Pop Rocks and Sprite, Diet Coke and Mentos, and a potassium iodide solution. 

After the film has souped for about a week, I dump the soup and let it cure for a few days. Then I carefully wash and dry the film in the darkroom and re-spool it. After the film sits for at least two weeks to ensure that it is completely dry, it is ready to be exposed.

Because there is always some residue that could damage a more complex camera, I shoot all of my souped film in so-called “toy” cameras. These are simple cameras, usually plastic, sometimes metal, but generally have a fixed aperture and minimal control. My preferred cameras for souped film are a pair of Holga 135s, a Bilora Bella 127 that I modded to take 35mm film, and a Blackbird Fly 35mm TLR.

The end result is never really certain. Sometimes the images are dreamy. Other times they are  almost violently colorful. And, if everything lines up just so, I am able to make an image that is both abstract and familiar, strange and comfortable.

-Ruby Berry

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