Jaana and Lorenzö of the studio Cahute have put a spin on the digital age of instant viewing by taking a step back into the past with a classic process of portraits on paper. They created a market for themselves that is so micro-niched they have yet to find another studio specializing solely in this process.
Cahute is dedicated to portrait photography on paper. “We believe in photography as an object. We make photographs that will last, and can be passed on,” Lorenzö said over a phone conversation. The business has been around since October 2015 and is located in the historical Pasilan Konepaja district in Helsinki, Finland. The team speaks Finnish, English, French, Spanish, and Italian.
Utilizing their large format, 8x10 camera, they photograph the image directly on paper. The processing of the images is done in Caffenol, which is a mixture of vitamin C, washing soda, and, as the name suggests, coffee.
Image Courtesy of Lauri Pietarinen
8×10 Calumet C1
Image Courtesy of Ella Karttunen
Image Courtesy of Cahute
Image Courtesy of Cahute
Products and Processes
They were looking for an option to shoot in large format along with eco-friendly advantages. Due to the nature of this type of processing, the team can travel utilizing local items and products to create the images. They use ISO 9001:2008, FSC-certified paper (certified by the Forest Stewardship Council). The developer is 100-percent biodegradable, and the used fixer is collected and recycled at a Helsinki Region Environmental Services location.
The processor is made by Ilford, a company located in England, and allows prints to last 100 years. This type of process does not use film. Instead, it involves exposing directly onto direct positive paper to create an image that is not to be worked in post-production. The only time it is copied is to scan it to their own website for presentation and marketing purposes. The paper is loaded into the camera and given directly to the customer because they believe in the art of physical products. Customers can see and touch the capture in the immediate moments following.
Image Courtesy of Lauri_Pietarinen
Image Courtesy of Cahute
Image Courtesy of Cahute
Image Courtesy of Cahute
What Lies Ahead
While the local market is small (with Helsinki having a population of approximately 1.5 million) the response to this work has been large. People are coming from out of the area specifically to shoot with the team for this process. It is unique, and the clients are starting to flow in due to this niche. The team is also working to build a 20X24 large format camera to produce larger image options for their clients.
Lorenzö stated that while there is an active community on social media for this type of process, it seems that they have not been able to locate another studio using Caffenol as their only source of shooting. This specialty is difficult to master, and maintaining consistent results is also a challenge, which could be the reasoning behind the lack of more portrait studios in this area of expertise according to the team. The duo is always very open to sharing their techniques and are looking to meet new photographers using this process as a way to connect with the community.
Why are you so bitter, my god. And why do you hate so much an ideology that a) do not hurt you. b) is aiming to be a lot less dangerous for the environment?
"the clients flow in from out of the area"
"this is not successful photography".
For one, I really like those portraits. Let's see yours.
this is fucking fstoppers, dude, not art forum. There are sport cars, naked women and photography is as trivial as it comes. Do you go to a wwe event to talk about Freedberg?
That large format intrinsically carries detail and your inherently biased personal view of the poses do not serve as a failsafe standard or even an objective measure of the success of a piece of art. Paintbrushes carry an intrinsic ability to create broad two-dimensional strokes, yet Pollack used them to fling three-dimensional chunks of paint onto canvases. Technical capabilities and personal expectations in the viewer are neither sentient nor obligations on behalf of the artist to fulfill, so the idea that they're "insulted" is incorrect at best and nonsensical at worst. Furthermore, considering these are being shot on 8x10 film, I hardly subscribe to the idea that the photography is being made less worthwhile "through technology." These weren't shot on a Phase One.
That you label this a "gimmick or fad" without basis is your set of labels and makes your post about you. Stravinsky's treatment of pitch and rhythm was a "fad." Picasso's cubism was a "gimmick." Simply put, you have demonstrated neither the requisite qualifications nor the subtlety of an objective eye to substantiate your dismissal of this project. Your only justification was "large format intrinsically carries detail" with the implication that this doesn't and "the poses are ordinary," which stated in much less verbose and flowery terms boils down to "they're not sharp and I don't like the poses." If you think such comments are more insightful than the standard litany heaped upon every image that has ever graced the Internet, well, I'd suggest you reevaluate such "amateurish" critiques.
C.K., why can't you be open to people giving new meaning to old technology? The fact that their clients appreciate the unique results and the slow process to me gives enough justification to what they do. I am personally interested in trying portraits like this myself, as a "fun" way of using my large format camera apart from more serious projects. Doing that could inspire others to use large format cameras and ultimately explore the more serious aspects you advocate so loudly. I think it's about how you see things (pessimistic / optimistic). I mean c'mon, they are making people happy, they promote old technology and they are taking care of the environment.
Also: "Caffenol Processing for Micro-Niche Photography". MICRO-NICHE: The title clearly states that this is an experimental, niche topic for enthusiasts of this kind.
I like these portraits, and I think people would love something like this on their wall. Good on them for trying to take the toxicity out of traditional printing, be more environmentally conscious, and offer a modern take on a centuries old craft. Thanks for the article
C.K. — this is like arguing with a pig in the sty: the pig is enjoying it and you're just getting muddy ... Don't worry, I'm on your side on this ...
Cahute has been getting their 15 minutes of fame; the title here is very misleading. As someone who uses large format AND caffenol, this really isn't the best presentation of the two.
The article could have at least provided a link to some of the fine sites dedicated to use of Caffenol (I mean, come on: THE TITLE OF THE ARTICLE IS "CAFFENOL PROCESSING" for cryin' out loud!). The passing mention is insulting.
The portraits are weak, they do not show what is possible with large format, and they really don't show any reason for using caffenol other than the "green" aspect of it (and I'm not minimizing that by any means — it's one of the reasons I started using it for my film. But there are other reasons for using it as well).