Collodion du jour - 30

Untitled diptych.

Well, this is day 30 of Collodion 365. Only 335 more photographs to go...

As I am still discovering so much about this process, every image so far has been a challenge to overcome. Which is wonderful!

I hope that you have been enjoying the photographs and discovering (at the same time as I am) the possibilities of wet-plate collodion.

Collodion du jour - 29

Untitled from "A collection of somewhat random specimens"

Collodion du jour - 28

Untitled

Collodion du jour - 27

Elaiza.

After a few frustrating days in my journey into wet-plate collodion, everything seemed to come together for this image of beautiful Elaiza. I am excited about this photograph and thankful to my daughter for agreeing to model once again.

Collodion du jour - 26

Libellule.

Collodion du jour - 25

Tournesols

Collodion du jour - 24

Rachel

Collodion du jour - 23

"Je prends mon pied" with wet-plate collodion

Collodion du jour - 22

Untitled from "A collection of somewhat random specimens".

Collodion du jour - 21

Elaiza et Enora

Collodion du jour - 20

Untitled from "A collection of somewhat random specimens"

Collodion du jour - 19

Untitled alumitype

Collodion du jour - 18

Untitled landscape

I finally got enough figured out to start taking collodion photographs in the field. Although this image is a bit underexposed, I was very happy to get a plate with good resolution. I should be soon on my way to document colorado landscapes.

Collodion du jour - 17

Untitled still life

I am still getting used to the way wet-plate collodion "sees" color. Although the images that I produce here are monochrome, their subject is not. Colors in the objects that are photographed are translated into different densities of silver - into different shades of gray.
The photo on the left surprised me very much. To help the delicate orchid stand out, I had set it on a vivid blue background. The white on blue jumped at me when I was setting up my shot. Little did I know that wet-plate collodion is very sensitive to the blue range of the light spectrum, rendering the background in the final image almost as white as the flower itself. On the other hand collodion has very little sensitivity to red hues, rendering the tomatoes in the previous untitled still life completely black...

Collodion du jour - 16

Enora

Another photo shoot with my beautiful daughter Enora. This is the second image of the day (she laughed nervously in the middle of the first exposure...) and as you can tell from her expression this was to be the last. So here it is.

Collodion du jour - 15

Untitled still life

This is the first successful image I got out of my portable darkroom.
As I mentioned I am planning to shoot landscape wet-plate collodion photographs. This requires to have a portable or mobile darkroom in which you prepare the plate and quickly process it in the field. I had to try mine at home first.
As I haven't found yet a school bus or a trailer to transform into a mobile darkroom, my fancy darkbox is for now made out of cartboard... photos to come later.

Collodion du jour - 14

I have tamed the beast!

I love how bugs can be at the same time so fascinating and repulsive.

Collodion du jour - 13

Joe and his camper

Collodion du jour - 12

Céréale from "A collection of somewhat random specimens"

Collodion du jour - 11

Joe

This is my next door neighbor, Joe. You might not be able to tell from this photo, but he is a super nice guy.
Joe is also a great sound engineer and the proud owner of San Luis Sound, a home based recording studio.

Collodion du jour - 10

Prickly Poppy from "A collection of somewhat random specimens"

When I picked this plant, a bright orange liquid oozed from the wound  I had inflicted to it. It looked very foreboding and hinted at the dangerous nature of the plant. I couldn't resist though, such an interesting looking pod.
It turns out all parts of this Poppy variety are poisonous. It is common throughout the west as not even cattle eat it.

Collodion du jour - 9

Aubergine from "A collection of somewhat  random specimens".

Getting started in wet-plate collodion

I thought it would be interesting to give you some background information on how I got involved with wet-plate collodion.
As I mentioned in the introduction to the blog, I have known about collodion photography for a while and have loved the aesthetic of it, including all the possible defects and artifacts. However getting started requires a significant investment in terms of equipment and knowledge, and It took me a few months to gather all that was needed.

Now, I have to say that I am doing collodion on a budget, which is reflected in my choice of equipment. My camera is a modern, affordable view camera:

The camera uses modern film holders that needed some modification for wet-plate photography. Collodion is typically done on glass (ambrotypes), aluminum (alumitypes) or tin (tintypes) plates that are much thicker than modern film. The film holders had to be cut and rigged to accept these materials:

Modern film holder

Modified for wet-plate photography

You can find more information on how to adapt modern film holders at:http://www.collodion.org/plateholderconversion.html

Of course, you can not do any collodion photography without the appropriate chemicals; and acquiring all the necessary products can be fairly expensive... I decided to purchase a collodion kit from Bostick and Sullivan. It had everything I needed to get started and offered the advantage that I could concentrate on learning and mastering the techniques involved with collodion without worrying about correctly mixing the chemicals. This dramatically decreased the possible manipulations mystakes and made it easier for me to troubleshoot any problems that might arise. Here is the kit:

You also need a darkroom to prepare and develop the plates. Mine is the laundry room which I happily share with our two cats (who are best described as poopin' machines) and their litter box. It has a wonderful romantic atmosphere...

In wet-plate photography everything happens fairly quickly. You have to expose and develop the plate while it is still wet (hence the name), you only have a window of a few minutes to prepare the plate, sensitize it, take your photo and process the image. As a consequence your darkroom and the place of your photo shoot have to be close so you can run from one to the other. For now, as I don't have a portable darkroom (which I hope to build as soon as possible) I am limited to taking photographs in the vicinity of my house. I am anxious however to start photographing the gorgeous landscape of Colorado and hope to find soon a way to do so.

Collodion du jour - 8

Elaiza

Collodion du jour - 7

My Compost Bin, alumitype on chocolate brown aluminum

There has been a lot of talks recently about locally grown food and backyard farming. I think this is a great trend and I would love to see it expand further. I am dreaming of the development of neighborhood co-ops where people could trade their extra veggies and fruits and a time where we would take charge of the food we eat.

My garden is small and my skills poor, but growing a few tomatoes, carrots and eggplants has been a satisfying experience. This starts by composting has much of our waste has possible, which is a fantastic process, both easy and relevant. In addition, my compost bin is a wonderful photographic subject, in which random composition and the juxtaposition of textures and tones create beautiful still lives.

Denis

P.S. If you haven't yet seen the movie Food, Inc. now is the time to rent it. It does a great job at shining the light on the mechanisms of the food industry and explaining the consequences of the choices that were made in how our food is grown.

Collodion du jour - 5 and 6

Back from a deeply enjoyable week-end near lake Dillon in Colorado, during which we caught 5 beautiful trout  (3 ended up as our dinner) and let escape a few more...

Today I am again posting a couple photographs to bring me back to par on my project:

Another alumitype from the series I shall call for now "A collection of somewhat random specimens".

And one more...

Once again the differences in tones come from the color of the aluminum on which the photographs are taken.

Denis

Collodion du jour - 3 and 4

As a few people this week-end, I will be camping and enjoying the beautiful outdoors of Colorado. So to make up for my absence of the coming days, I am posting a couple images.

This shot was taken in the backyard with my beautiful daughter Enora. In the excitement of her youth, she wasn't able to stand completely still for the full 2 seconds exposure. I still enjoy the image and see it as a relevant trace of our every day life.

This image is part of an ongoing series of still life photographs focusing on common "objects". I find this subjects in the street, in my backyard or on hikes and like the idea that these overlooked and ordinary specimens become the center of attention and take on an extraordinary significance.

I just want to point out that you might notice differences in tones between these two photographs. They are both alumitype (collodion photographs shot on a piece of aluminum), but for the first one I used a chocolate-brown aluminum plate and a black aluminum plate for the second. The tint of the plate especially come through in the shadow areas and influences the overall aspect of the image.

Have a good week-end,

Denis

Collodion du jour - 2

Alumitype

Collodion du jour - 1

Self-portrait, alumitype

I thought it would be fitting to start the project by introducing myself shortly.

I am a 34-year old French native and have been a fine art photographer for the past 10 years or so. Like most people I have been taking pictures most of my life, but photography became quickly more than the mere documentation of my existence and of the people around me. There was a unique beauty in the process of taking photographs and in the images that resulted. Through photography I could express myself artistically (for the first time in my life) and create images that seem to resonate with people. I became more seriously involved with the medium when I entered the Masters program in photography at the University of Iowa in 2001.

I had spent the first 24 years of my life in France, where I studied to become a chemist and eventually received a degree in chemical engineering with an emphasis in water treatment and environmental sciences and technology. Trained as a scientist, I remain convinced of the importance of scientific inquiry, but believe that a balance is needed between scientific and artistic explorations of the world. I have always tried in some ways to incorporate both sciences and art in my photography (see The Scientific Esthetic) and envision Collodion photography as a way to stimulate both hemispheres of my brain simultaneously.

In December 2004, I received a MFA in photography from the University of Iowa. I spent the next 5 years working as an ophthalmic photographer, taking photos that looked like this:

While earning a living, I continued experimenting with photography and became increasingly interested with negative manipulation. I did to my negatives and slide films things that were not very nice: I cooked them, burnt them, heat and froze them, poured chemicals on them. I aimed at cracking the emulsion, creating distortions, provoking color shifts, making the photographs more dramatic and interesting. (see Natures Mortes, Feuilles Sentimentales, Le peuple de l’hombre). As I mentioned in the welcome message, I saw collodion photography as the logical continuation in exploring an aesthetic of mark making and chance-generated artifacts. 

  

So here I am, on the first day in a year of wet-plate collodion photography. I hope you will enjoy the images that you’ll see.

Denis