joe ramos  from beneath a Far Western Wind

Joe Ramos’ photographic record of his personal pilgrimage across the western region of America echoes the journey of brave men and women lost to history, all but erased, marked only by small historical markers or relegated to the oral history of remaining ancestors. The landscape remains a silent witness: a testimony to time and a reminder that we are all sojourners on this earth.

Ramos makes photographs utilizing a salt print process invented by William Henry Fox Talbot in 1839. The salted paper print was the first type of paper print used in photography, and remained the most popular paper print until the introduction of the albumen in the 1850’s.

Ramos uses the same materials and techniques that were used in the mid-nineteenth century. Carefully selected fine paper is made light-sensitive, and is then exposed to light in contact with a negative. An image of pure silver is formed directly by the action of light, and the print is then processed to make the image permanent. A salt print must be made entirely by hand, and may take a day or more to complete. Because each print is hand made individually, no two are ever identical. A salt print does not look or feel like a modern photograph - it reveals the texture of the paper, along with irregularities and brushstrokes that make each print unique.