The black art: wet plate collodion photography – video

[Keith (M)]

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In The Guardian - The black art: wet plate collodion photography – video

 

Anyone tempted?  

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[pgk]

Anyone tempted?  

 

No, no, no, no, no! There was a very good reason wet plate photography was superseded and its still a good reason. I know someone who has a wet plate camera and uses it, though last time we spoke he was considering moving onwards.

[leica dream]

Absolutely fascinating, Keith. I still have a very old plate camera but to get just the negative images. I have not used for years since I disbanded my darkroom.

I can relate to that guy's logic for wanting a challenge after digital which is exactly why I acquired my R6.2 recently. I am finding a real re-learning is necessary getting back to the film mindset which is very stimulating. I really need to get to grips with searching out image opportunities so I can improve my composition. As far as 35mm technique is concerned I am a lone practitioner in this neck of the woods. One Society even replied to me that they had searched competition rules and there is nothing in there which says images cannot have been captured on film - how small minded is that.

Richard

[Gibbo]

I'd have to park closer to the camera 

[250swb]

No, no, no, no, no! There was a very good reason wet plate photography was superseded and its still a good reason. I know someone who has a wet plate camera and uses it, though last time we spoke he was considering moving onwards.

 

Personally I think the photographs of Sally Mann and other esteemed wet plate users show what has been lost to the world of art and expression by 'moving onwards'. 

[250swb]

For photographers in the UK who may be interested in workshops John Brewer's studio in Manchester would be a good start

 

http://www.thevictorianphotographer.com/

[pgk]

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Personally I think the photographs of Sally Mann and other esteemed wet plate users show what has been lost to the world of art and expression by 'moving onwards'. 

 

Problem with it is that its usually more about the process than a valid end result - there are obviously exceptions but in most cases its not. Fine if you enjoy the process but I all too often see poor images produced by old processes and at the end of the day, regardless of how they are made, they are poor images.

[wizard]

... and at the end of the day, regardless of how they are made, they are poor images.

 

Spot-on. And I might add that this rationale also applies to using ridiculously expensive photo equipment like ..., ahh, shortly before Xmas, I just can't think of any photo equipment being ridiculously expensive  .

[willeica]

Problem with it is that its usually more about the process than a valid end result - there are obviously exceptions but in most cases its not. Fine if you enjoy the process but I all too often see poor images produced by old processes and at the end of the day, regardless of how they are made, they are poor images.

 

Whether or not an image is poor is entirely a matter for subjective judgement and you are entitled to your view. There are, however, no absolute rules about what constitutes a good image and the decision on that must lie with the eye of the beholder. Although they were much later than the wet plate process, I always point to Ponting and Hurley in the Antarctic over 100 years ago. The challenge for today's photographers would be not alone to produce similar images from the equipment which they used over 100 years ago, but to come close with one of today's digital wonders.

 

An excellent photographer that I know is touring Scotland with his portable wet plate lab over Christmas. He has my full admiration for doing this.

 

William

[AlanT]

Keith - thanks for the link. I really enjoyed watching it and admire his commitment to his craft.

Alan

[pgk]

Whether or not an image is poor is entirely a matter for subjective judgement and you are entitled to your view.

My point was/is that its very easy to see the process as the goal rather than the image. I have no problem when someone wants to use a process to create images but all too often I've seen the process become dominant. Same can be sad for digital of course, but its a bit easier!

[Keith (M)]

The Oz chap with his caravan/darkroom is a modern-day version of the likes of Timothy O'Sullivan and William Henry Jackson, who used horse-drawn wagons containing their darkrooms in their forays into the wilds of the US Western territories in the late 1800's.

[willeica]

My point was/is that its very easy to see the process as the goal rather than the image. I have no problem when someone wants to use a process to create images but all too often I've seen the process become dominant. Same can be sad for digital of course, but its a bit easier!

 

You are spot on about digital. Much of the debate on this forum is about digital process and technology, rather than taking photographs. Some of the best fun I had this year was shooting with a camera from 1915. There were only 8 shots available on the roll and the wind on jammed after 4 shots. I ran into a dark spot in some bushes and, after some jiggling about with the 'base plate', I managed to get it winding again. I was more pleased at getting 4 good shots on that roll of 127 film than I was when seeing the first shots from my M10. Sense of achievement is a very important part of photography. Some of my biggest thrills in photography arose after the postman put that yellow little box of Kodachrome slides through my letter box. 

 

While the result is probably the most important thing, a lot of people can get a lot of fun out of the process of image making. I would not deny them that pleasure even if the results were not that great.

 

William

[pgk]

Some of my biggest thrills in photography arose after the postman put that yellow little box of Kodachrome slides through my letter box. 

 

When I worked in County Cork in the '80s it took a very long time for those little boxes to arrive back. There was a real excitement and sense of anticipation which I rather miss.

[mikemgb]

I've had a few conversations with this guy: http://sharoncol.balkowitsch.com/wetplate.htm

 

He just finished building a natural light wet plate studio in Bismark, North Dakota.

[250swb]

Problem with it is that its usually more about the process than a valid end result - there are obviously exceptions but in most cases its not. Fine if you enjoy the process but I all too often see poor images produced by old processes and at the end of the day, regardless of how they are made, they are poor images.

 

Indeed, some are interested only in the technique, but they may go on to find their creative ouevre. I think pro rata there would be more successful and satisfying wet plate images produced compared with the billions of digital images that all come with the subtitle 'he takes lovely photographs'.

[plasticman]

Thanks for posting the video - I got cold shivers down my spine when the final image emerged. That thrill must be very special each and every time.

I sometimes feel a bit like that when I reverse a scan, sometimes many months after a picture was taken. Unfortunately, nothing like it ever happens when I look at any of my digital images - even though recently I’ve been using the digital camera a bit more often (various reasons).

[EoinC]

In The Guardian - The black art: wet plate collodion photography – video

 

Anyone tempted?  

Yes, yes, yes. I've been tempted for a long time, and I fear that Youtube may hasten my downfall...

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Hallo,

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[willeica]

Me too. This is photography for real photographers. Problem is I would have nowhere to park the van at home.

 

William

[Ambro51]

Yes you’re right. To a LOT of collodion photogs it’s more about the process than the subject. I’d say 20% “do it right” I speak from some authority here, as a practitioner from 1995 to today, having made 418 cameras and personally taught dozens of people, and done about 10,000 plates. It’s not all that difficult, and not too expensive one time I figured out it was about 8 cents a plate, and most I sold for $40 each to civil war reenactors. The images get better and better if you’re in one location with the same light shooting over and over. We used to call that “kodaking”! The more you learn about it the more interesting it gets. Stereo, doing negatives for enlarging or contact prints, hand coloring, making “faux” daguerreotypes on first surface mirrors, making contact prints onto white stained glass....Very Much abounding with creative possibilities. Being able to do it, I’ve made Leica 1A replicas that take a small glass plate, so you get grainless negatives with Leica lenses!