The Gallery
A Return to Handmade Photography
For a time, the photographs offered through this gallery were produced by a professional photography lab.
The prints were beautiful. The materials were excellent. The color, detail, and quality were everything I could have asked for.
But something about the arrangement never sat quite right with me.
I made the photographs.
But part of it - the print itself - was being made somewhere else.
(by someone else)
Over time, that began to feel like a missing piece.
A Question of Process
Cult of Bees has always been guided by a simple question: what happens when we move closer to things?
Bee products are responsibly harvested from our own hives. The balms we make are made to order. Much of the floral material we use is grown here. Oil infusions are made in our studio. Wherever possible, we choose participation over outsourcing.
The gallery should reflect that same philosophy.
For that reason, future photographic prints offered here will be produced by me, by hand, using the platinum and palladium printing process.
From Light to Paper
Platinum and palladium printing is one of photography’s oldest printing processes.
A sheet of cotton paper, similar to that used for watercolor painting, is coated by hand with a light-sensitive solution. A photographic negative is placed in direct contact with the paper, and the image is exposed to sunlight.
(how cool is that)
The print is then developed, cleared, washed, and dried.
It's that combination of paper, chemistry, and sunlight that first drew me to this process years ago and continues to fascinate me today.
And because many of my photographs begin in my wildflower meadow, I'm particularly drawn to the continuity this process creates.
Sunlight grows the flower.
Sunlight illuminates the subject.
Sunlight makes the print.
Platinum prints are made one at a time and no two prints are identical. Slight variations in tone, surface, and character are part of the process and reflect the handmade nature of the work.
The resulting image is not merely printed on the paper. Platinum becomes part of the paper itself, creating a richness and permanence in the image that has captivated photographers for generations.
Why Make the Change
The change wasn't made because the previous prints were lacking.
It was made because I believe the process matters.
It appears in the choices, the materials, the time invested, and the willingness to remain connected to a thing from beginning to end.
In a culture increasingly built around convenience, distance, and endless reproduction, I find myself drawn in the opposite direction.
Closer to the work.
Closer to the materials.
Closer to the sunlight.
Returning to a Love
This is not an entirely new journey for me.
Years ago, I studied the platinum and palladium printing process and made prints by hand. What stayed with me was not only the beauty of the finished image, but the experience of making it. I loved coating the paper myself. I loved the subtle evidence of the brushwork around the edges of the image. I loved the way the photograph seemed to become part of the paper rather than simply sit on top of it.
Most of all, I loved the feeling that every print was an object with its own character.
For some time, that process remained in the background while life moved in other directions. The photographs continued. The meadow grew. Cult of Bees took shape.
Now those paths are beginning to converge again.
And I'm excited.
What Comes Next
A new printing workspace is currently being assembled. And like most worthwhile things, it will take time.
The goal is not simply to offer photographs for sale.
The goal is to create prints whose method of making reflects the same values that guide everything else produced through Cult of Bees: attention, participation, material honesty, and a willingness to remain connected to the work from beginning to end.
The gallery is currently in transition.
Over the coming months, I will be building a new platinum and palladium printing workspace, testing papers, refining negatives, and re-establishing a process I first learned years ago.
The goal is to create a small collection of handcrafted photographic prints drawn from the wildflower meadow and surrounding landscape.
Rather than offering unlimited reproductions, future releases will be produced in small editions.
The work is not quite ready.
But the flowers are blooming and the sun is shining.
Thank you for your patience while the next chapter of the gallery takes shape.
— Len