TriColor Gum Alternative Process
with Mohan Bhasker
September 19 – 21, 2025
Course Description
The 19th-century photographic process, TriColor Gum Bichromate printing allows the artist to expose multiple layers of cyan, yellow, magenta, and black to create a full-color, hand-made photograph. Printmakers that embark on this alternative process consider themselves artists, “pictorialists,” working as they do in complex intricacies and harnessing the delicate interactions between colors. The process requires meticulous attention to detail and an intimate understanding of the materials, resulting in a depth and subtlety that is almost painterly.
Over the course of three days in Los Angeles, participants join renowned printmaker Mohan Bhasker on a creative journey to master the gum bichromate process. You are invited directly into Mohan’s studio and working darkroom, where you have the unique opportunity to learn from his experience, benefit from hands-on demonstrations and guidance, and receive feedback in real time.
Mohan guides you through his refined workflow from start to finish. You witness and practice each step of the process in sequence: a UV light-sensitive emulsion is created by combining gum Arabic, ammonium dichromate, and watercolor pigments. The emulsion is coated onto cotton paper and exposed under a digital negative to UV light, allowing the image to come to life.
Each step allows for discussion and analysis. We begin by identifying the different properties of the chemistry, and learn how each pigment color differs from the others. From there, we discuss paper choice and practice paper coating and brushing techniques. Mohan provides you with the CMYK digital negatives printed from the images that you provide him. The digital negatives are used for the CMYK separations, and we view our digital negatives on the lightbox. This is a contact printing process, so your image is as big as the negative being used. Finally, we move on to registration, the development process, and creating multiple layers of emulsion to produce a full-color image.
This workshop is designed for photographers seeking a hands-on experience that combines analog mastery with digital tools, technical refinement with creative play, and an appreciation of both art history and contemporary advancements. Join us for a long weekend in Los Angeles for this unique opportunity to learn from a printmaking master and expand the boundaries of your creative practice.
Additional Information
WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
What You Should Know:
Basic knowledge of photography and Adobe Photoshop is helpful but not required.
Special Notes:
This workshop will be hosted at Mohan’s darkroom studio in Rolling Hills, California. Because of the nature of the space, this special program will be limited to 8 students.
Activity Level:
Due to the nature of this unique program, participants can expect long days in the studio.
Policies:
View Payment, Refund, Withdrawal, and Transfer Policies for Pop-up workshops.
Package Price INFO:
$1,795 includes instruction, all materials, daily beverage service and lunch each day. Does not include other meals, local transportation, or accommodations (if needed).
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about
Mohan Bhasker is a photographer, alternative process printer, workshop instructor, photography tour instructor, and author based in Los Angeles, California. He has created two books, instructed at numerous workshops, and has had success in selling many of his images to galleries and art collectors across the globe. He conducts photography tours worldwide.
Mohan shoots both black & white as well as color images for his landscapes and portrait work, utilizing his large & medium format cameras, panorama medium format 6 x 17 Horseman camera and Leica M series for his 35mm images. He has worked professionally as a photographer since the late 1990s and for the last 15 years truly enjoys teaching the craft of the historic alternative processes in his studio.
Mohan specializes in TriColor Gum, Platinum Palladium and silver gelatin processes. This required building two new darkrooms, separate from his conventional darkroom where he does all his own film and print processing and enjoys experimenting to fine tune his techniques.
Website: mohanbhaskerphotography.com
