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