A Systematic Redscale Review by Lena Schaack

Intro

Not so much a book review, but a background on an interesting book project titled, “a systematic redscale review’ by Lena Schaack. The project was a labor of love that she did over the span of two years (2020-2022). She reviewed 50 different films in rescale and shot them in varying degrees of exposures…essentially showing what you can achieve with different films and different exposures.

Redscale

It is a bit of niche and for those not familiar, redscale is an experimental technique in analog photography. The film is exposed through the backside which produces a different color effect. The name itself stems from the red color shift this technique produces in color film. She includes a step by step guide on the process and scanning after development.

In fact, the systematic aspect is very evident when viewing the book, appropriately it includes everything one would expect. There is an about page, an explanation on the layers in color negative film, how to redscale, ISO and stops, film scanning, color palette, and the actual pages of reviewed scale film. Each film gets a two page spread featuring the name of the film and a picture of the canister. A location is given with 8-10 photos and the given scales.

Film

The film categories are as follows: color negative film ISO 800-400-200-100, slide film, Lomochrome, Revolog, Kono & dubblefilm, Yodica, black & white film, pre-loaded redscale film, and general redscale experiments (expired film etc). So all very easy understand and quick to reference.