RiNo stands for River North Arts District. That's where my studio is - they made a nice announcement for me in their newsletter for Friday night and my little "open house".
It’s almost September! Let’s start with the most obvious change; the weather. The weather here has taken a turn for the cool. We must be entering Autumn (fall and winter are very mild here). Highs are 16-18 degrees Celsius (60s F) and lows are 8-10 degrees Celsius (40s F). It’s nice, I like it. It’s still raining a lot, but then again, when isn’t it raining here?
We’re thinking a lot about the big change coming for us and have our eyes and minds set on the northwest. I think that’s where we belong -but who knows? Right now, it looks like we should be leaving Europe around the first of the year. However, I always say everything, and I mean everything, is subject to change.
The '39-'89 Project & Exhibition: Generating Ideas
I can’t really work on the Wet Collodion part of my project here (I can research and write but I can’t make photographs for it), so I’m experimenting with some paper negatives and setting up to do some Daguerreotype work. I’ve got the Daguerreotype stuff ready to go, but that will have to wait until I’m back in the States. It’s way too much to do here – too much as in expensive/hassle, too much. The Calotypes on the other hand, are very doable here.
My goal is to setup (individual studio/darkroom space) for all three processes in the States; I call it “The 39-89 Project: The First 50 Years of Photography”. 1839 – 1889, the first fifty years of photography; Daguerreotypes, Calotypes and Wet Plate Collodion. Each process has its own aesthetic and special place in history; I’ll offer workshops in each process when I return to America.
I want to write a piece at some point about why Collodion is so popular today and why the other two processes will never gain that kind of popularity. It’s written in history, however, I want to write a contemporary piece about it. I’ve found some interesting correlations to the digital movement and would like to share those ideas in an essay.
My exhibition in 2012 (in Paris at Centre Iris) will be large Wet Plate Collodion pieces, but I’m going to do an ancillary project (technical and historical) about this period in the history of photography. I’ll include Calotypes and Daguerreotypes. It will give context to the main exhibit and it will be educational and interesting (I hope). And, it will be relevant to anyone interested in photography today (that’s kind of the point, yes?). In a way, you could say I’m doing the technical and academic work while I wait to return to the States. This “break” has been a great time to generate ideas and experiment with some things. I needed this.
Across The Pond… And Back Again
We made a trip to the States this month and really enjoyed it. We didn’t enjoy leaving our daughter, Summer, behind (for college), but we enjoyed seeing our family. It was good to see everyone and we’re really happy for Summer. She’s all settled in at Weber State University, my Alma mater, and is doing great. Europe will always be a part of us and we will return often, but I’m ready to go home.
Coming Up: Daguerreotypes & Wet Plate Collodion Performative Lecture
We’ll be going to Belgium for some Daguerreotype work the first weekend in September and then the second week, we’ll be in Dresden for a Wet Plate Collodion Performative Lecture at the City Museum. I’ll be doing some commissioned portrait work there, too.
I really love this image (it will probably end up on the front of my new web site) - this was the first plate of the day. It's an 8" x 10" black glass Ambrotype shot with a small Jamin-Darlot (c.1864) lens - I like the "keyhole" effect this lens gives the image.
We visited Mainz, Germany today. It's about 45 minutes to the north of us. I made three wet plate collodion images there of the former synagogue. It was perfect weather and a perfect day for it.
The Germans were very friendly in Mainz. We had a paper ready to handout to them explaining what I was doing. There were a few very positive and encouraging responses; I was surprised. There were a few that stayed and watched as I went through the entire process and saw the final plate coming up in the fix. Really great stuff!
I am very excited about this project now; the results were fantastic today and I look forward to going out again in a few days to make more images. Jean and Summer were outstanding! I love you both! Thank you for all of your help - I couldn't do this crazy thing without you!
The memorial plaque - this plate is exquisite in real life. The details are amazing - especially the stones
and the relief of the old synagogue. This is an 8" x 10" Ambrotype on black glass.
Quinn exposes a plate as Summer rolls video.
Here's the setup: Toyota 4Runner and a portable darkroom!