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From: James Dietsch ([email protected])
Date: 20 Sep 2003
Time: 20:33:59 -0400
Remote Name: 129.24.166.205
Dear Mr. Bantock, I was present Thursday evening at your reading and signing in Albuquerque (I had a great time and recommend anyone reading this to attend one if you haven't yet done so). I mentioned a problem I have stemming from doing photo transfers 26 years ago and promised to write here about it in more detail. As a photography and printmaking student at UNM in 1977 I did a number of photo transfers using magazine pictures and Xylene. That summer I did a demonstration of the process to my class and got some of the solvent in a tiny cut on my finger. A few weeks later I noticed what appeared to be a wart in that area but turned out to be exzema. It spread across the whole finger as I continued to use harsh chemical materials and soon spread to other fingers. On my first visit to a medical student at the student health center I was told, "Well, it depends on how much this bothers you versus how much you want to continue to make pictures." No contest, I made pictures. When I graduated in spring of 1978 my hands (both of them) were a mess. I'd tried using rubber gloves but they just dissolved in contact with the solvents. I went to a proper hospital for a new evaluation and was given a strict regimin and a name for what I had: Contact Dermatitis. Also some ominous words, "Do this and come back next week to see if you can keep those (two) fingers." I got to keep the fingers, stopped ALL contact with harsh chemicals (including detergents, vinegar, gasoline, bath soap other than Dove, shampoos other than baby shampoo). I gave up a job interview at the Tamarind Institute lithography center and tried to find a menial job that didn't use chemicals. I also had to find a way to make pictures without chemicals. I made xerox collages on large sheets of drawing paper and colored/adjusted them with pencils. I made polaroids and shot video. I carved my own rubber stamps. I wrote a novel and a bunch of short stories. Lately I have been very happy with digital photography and PhotoShop. I adapted but am not, nor will I ever be, in the clear. As I take a break from typing I count 18 places on my hands that are recovering from recent low-grade outbreaks. Please consider this before you use or recommend contact with solvents. Thanks for your attention and the terrific reading, James Dietsch ([email protected])