The American West Portraits; Hanging

I was very pleased with our trip to Paris to open my show. The photographs were received well, attendance was great and we had a wonderful time. 

We'll go back to close the show in June and do some more teaching, portraits and research for my next body of work. It's all very exciting. Thanks to everyone that helped make this possible. All of the sitters, the gallery, and most of all Jeanne!

These are some images that Fabrice Pejout posted on Facebook. These show the space, you can see why I get excited about my work hanging in this gallery. 

Here's an English article about the exhibition: France Revisited  

 

All 16"x20" Wet Collodion Positives - raw and real. photo by Fabrice Pejout

 

The main hallway - but there is a lot more to the catacombs that the images show. photo by Fabrice Pejout

 

Two 16"x20" Wet Collodion Positive plates. Photo by Fabrice Pejout

Göteborg, Sweden Wet Plate Collodion Workshop

Thanks to everyone that attended the workshop: Aron, Manuel and Sara, Bosse and Alfia, and Anna and Markus. And a big thank you to Henning (www.timeunit.se). His kind heart and wonderful space made it all happen - he organized and provided space and shared his expertise on the process with the students.

I'll post more photos and tell you a story about these images later. I'm really tired and need to rest for a couple of days!

"Nordic Man" - 8.5" x 6.5" (Whole Plate) Black Glass Ambrotype September 6, 2009 Gotheburg, Sweden 
"Roger - From the Streets of Göteborg, Sweden" 4" x 5" Alumitype September 6, 2009

Tre

I have a lot to write about but no time to write. I had a very successful workshop in Kefermarkt, Austria and an unforgettable trip to the concentration camp in Mauthausen, Austria. I will never look at granite the same way again in my life.

In the next several days, I'll make another post with images and descriptions of our adventures in the mountains of Austria. It was both beautiful and disturbing - a lot like life, I suppose.

Summer and I made plates all day today (7 - 8 hours, plus varnish time). She was working the Collodion hard and did a wonderful job making some work she's wanted to do for a long time. I couldn't help but post a portrait I made today.

Stay tuned - I'll be back in a few days with some thoughts and images from Austria.

"Tre" Viernheim, Germany Black Glass Ambrotype

CC Harrison Lens & Austria

We'll be leaving this week for Austria. I'm teaching a workshop in Kefermarkt. It usually takes me a few days to get ready for a workshop. I have to gather up a lot of equipment, do an inventory on chemistry, glass and aluminum, as well as get prepared personally. I'm hoping we can spend a day in Mauthausen-Gusen Concentration Camp. We'll be about 30 minutes north of it. I want to stop in and make some photographs. I'm excited about the workshop, but I'm more excited about making some work for my project.

I bought a CC Harrison 300mm f/4 lens (1861, New York City, New York) a couple of weeks ago. It's American made and I wanted to own a piece of American Wet Plate Collodion history. I also wanted to test it out before the trip to Austria. Summer said she would sit for me and play her guitar while I made plates. So that's what we did.

1861 CC Harrison Lens - New York City, New York 
5"x7" Black Glass Ambrotype - 2 seconds, wide open. 
5"x7" Alumitype - 3 seconds, wide open. 
I really like the lens. I like both of these images, too. The second image, the tighter shot, is very cool because her hair is blowing around during the three second exposure. I call it, "Painted Hair". It's wild to see time pass in an image.

Boerdonk, The Netherlands

It's always nice to return to a place where you've been. We just spent three days in Boerdonk, The Netherlands. I went back to do another wet plate collodion workshop. We were there last October doing a workshop.

 

"Look right here, Ger"

We stayed at "The Miracle" hotel/bb. Ger and Jan Coppens own it and run it. It's not what you think - they don't advertise, or have regular hours - you almost have to be invited by someone they know - not that it's elite or exclusive, it's just that they run their business in a different way. Jeroen, the workshop coordinator set us up with Ger and Jan. The rooms are nice, the Dutch breakfast, made by Ger is tasty and the little dog, Lennon, is cute and loving. We sat around in the evening and drank Westmalle (Trappist) beer from the tap and told stories - it's too involved to go into here, but Ger told some very funny stories about people who had stayed in the hotel or came into the cafe to drink - "Dickemeat" and "Zombie" - my personal notes for future reference. 

Jan and Ger - Whole Plate Black Glass AmbrotypesWe did portraits of the Ger and Jan. They really liked the images and appreciated the process. I'm going to do a still life of a Westmalle bottle and glass and give to them for their bar/cafe. "Ger" - Whole Plate Balck Glass Ambrotype

Jeroen and his parents had us over for dinner Saturday night at their house. They have a beautiful home and are wonderful people. They fixed Dutch mussels and Portuguese chicken. We drank three bottles of wine and talked about life, art and politics. Another wonderful time.

I had six great people in the workshop. As always, they did a terrific job. I've posted some photographs here they already emailed me - Sanne (from Belgium) and Willie Jan. I'll post more (from the workshop) when I get them.

It's a little bit frustrating trying to write about these experiences. I don't know how they translate, but I know it doesn't even come close to the experience.  

Drizzle that Collodion Home Dog!
Workshop Students (and me) - Veghel, The Netherlands (Pieter Brughel Art School)