Returning From Paris and Reflecting

Paris, France
It’s five o’clock in the morning. I woke up at four o’clock this morning. I flew into Denver late last night from Paris. I’ll be on this “adjustment rollercoaster” (up early and tired early) for a few days. It’s also known as jet-lag. Fun.

Télérama spot - this brought people in for portraits - full days!

It was a good trip. This was our second one in less than sixty days! Taxing and tiring to say the least. It was a lot of work and a lot of fun. It is bitter-sweet when these exhibitions end. I’m glad it’s over but it’s sad at the same time.

Wet Plate Collodion: The Past, Present & Future
As I sit here in the quiet this morning and see the Facebook posts and read my email, I find myself thinking how fortunate I was to start working in Wet Plate Collodion when I did. It’s a madhouse out there now. Truly a head-spinning environment - so many people posting “their first plate” and “look how big” etc.  – it’s emotionally draining to me. The competition grows everyday for a place at the Collodion table and there’s simply not enough room.

At some point, it will melt down and everything will even out again. Let’s talk in ten years and see who’s doing what. Most will fade away, I’ve seen it before and it will happen again. There will be less than a handful that make serious work with the process or accomplish anything significant with it. That’s how it unfolds.

My Wet Collodion CV
Over the past 10 years, I’ve accomplished a lot in this small, niche world of historic processes. My biggest accomplishment, and the one I’m most proud of, is that I created three bodies of work that were all exhibited in Paris and all received high marks from the viewing audience there.

2003 – 2006: “Portraits from Madison Avenue” (America)
2006 – 2010: “Vergangenheitsbewältigung” (Europe)
2011 – 2012: “The American West Portraits” (America)

Most artist/photographers would give their left eye to simply visit Paris let alone have a gallery, exhibitions and good representation there. I was told by the gallery owner on Saturday that my show, “The American West Portraits” ranked number one for seven weeks in the photography shows of Paris (Télérama). That’s amazing, I’m proud and honored. How can you feel “unaccomplished” with those kinds of things in your life? Not only did I exhibit there, I also made hundreds of commissioned portraits and taught several workshops; including Collodion negatives and printing (Albumen, Salt and Collodion Chloride).

I’m also very proud of the fact that I was instrumental in reviving the Wet Collodion Process in Europe. My five years (2006 – 2011) of traveling and teaching has spurred on a resurgence of the process that would have not happened without my efforts. My wife, Jeanne, and daughter, Summer made all of that possible. We worked hard and had a lot of fun, but we also changed the direction of photography there (in this context) by doing what we did. As with all educators, you get lost and replaced over time. In other words, the people you teach will teach and so on and so forth. That’s okay, it’s the natural evolution of things. The important thing is to remember the contributions, not simply the teaching of the process. That’s what I’m referring to here. My influence not only taught people the process, but it built community. You would have never seen Wet Collodion at Foire de Bievres (nor even heard of it) or had the Collodion parties and community assemblies without my years there.

Over the years, I’ve written three books about the process, too.

2006: The Contemporary Wet Plate Collodion Experience
2007: Conferring Importance; Thoughts on Identity, Memory and Difference
2009: Chemical Pictures (revised in 2010 and 2011) with DVD and Online Video Workshop

And the final entry in my Collodion CV would be The Archer Project (2010). I spent fourteen months and a lot of money to honor Frederick Scott Archer with a custom plaque citing his invention of the Wet Plate Collodion process. If you ever visit his grave in the Kensal Green Cemetery in London, you’ll see the fruits of that labor. The Collodion Collective that I put together was made up of a couple of British blokes; Carl Radford and John Brewer, but the bigger body consisted of 51 Collodionists from around the world contributing a plate to honor Archer.  Although I had to take on the majority of the financial burden, I have no regrets and wear the effort as a badge of honor to Archer and to this wonderful process.

Reflection & The Future
When endings come in your life, like this show ending for me, you tend to reflect on what you’ve done and ask questions. And you end up in a state of melancholy – you go as low as your highest point was high – it’s tough.

I’m unsure of what’s next. Or if there will even be a next. That’s where I am now. Time will tell. I’ll take some time to rest and think it all through. However, should it end tomorrow, I’m very pleased and very proud of what I’ve done over the last decade. Thanks to all the people in my life that make it possible for me to do what I do. I love you and am eternally grateful for your presence in my life, these are your accomplishments, too.

 

The American West Portraits

"Chris Perez" 16" x 20" (40cm x 50cm) Black Glass Ambrotype - Denver, Colorado, USAMaking photographs, for me, is sometimes a painful and difficult ordeal. It creates anxiety in my life. When you want to see what's in your head on glass and metal plates, and can't quite get over the last hurddle, it can be very stressful. I’m in one of those times now, but working through it.

I’ve been making 16” x 20” (40cm x 50cm) Wet Collodion portraits (currently titled, "The American West Portraits"). I started planning this project almost 18 months ago by ordering a 20” x 24” camera, it's been non-stop ever since. And now, I’m struggling to get the look and feel on these large plates that I want. It’s 99% technical mostly a lens issue. I need a lens that will cover the plate and allow me to compose the image in a way that I’m happy with it. It’s more difficult than it sounds.

Normally, it wouldn’t be a problem. I would have plenty of time to resolve any technical or aesthetic issue I might have. However, I’ve got an exhibition opening on March 14, 2012 in Paris, France at Centre-Iris Gallery. I find myself anxious and preoccupied regarding how the images will look for the exhibition. I see them in my mind, I just need to get them on the glass and metal! 

Having been in Denver for six months doesn’t help me either. I need time to build connections and find the right people to photograph. And now it’s winter, the days are short. At best, there’s about three hours of good light to work with. I will say that there would be no better place to be than in Denver for light this time of year, when it’s shining, the bright blue sky is amazing. It means that the sitter I want to photograph must come to my studio within a certain window of time (1000 – 1300). That gets complicated and stressful, too.

These issues are forcing me to rethink how I work and what I work with. And how "exact" things have to be. I have a “King’s problem” and I understand that. I keep thinking, maybe in the end, I will make a far better body of work than if I had a year to work on it. We’ll see. 

This is a "working idea" - these will collect in my studio and I'll look at them over the next couple of months.

Here's a "taste" of what the show will be made up of - all 16" x 20" (40cm x 50cm) Wet Collodion plates.

The Paris Exhibition Part One

I’m sitting here exhausted and elated. I’ve just returned from 9 days in Paris. Needless to say, a lot happened. First I want to thank Jeanne, Summer, Olivier, Pierre, and William. Without you, none of this would have happened. There’s nothing that compares to having people in your life that care about you and support you – thank you, merci, thank you, merci!Leica Group member - he volunteered for the demo - a portrait.

For me, this event was like the striking of a match (wood stick match). If you watch closely, you can see the phosphorus burn and ignite the wood.  So now, my match is burning – in the center of Paris, France. It’s a good feeling.

While I’ve had other exhibitions and have shown my work in some great places, this exhibition is extremely important for me. First, it’s in Paris, France – the birthplace, or home of photography. I’ve always dreamed of showing my work in Paris. Any artist/photographer would say the same. Also, the Parisians/French have a particular love for the art of photography. It makes sense that they would. As you can imagine, I spoke with a lot of people over the last week about my work. Never before have I had so many people make comments about my photographs being important for something beyond the process. In other words, it’s not just the Wet Plate Collodion process that makes the work interesting. The concept of the work goes beyond the craft, or better yet, compliments the craft. Every time I heard that, I was overjoyed – that means a lot to me. It’s too easy to get caught up in craft and forget the concept. I heard none of that in Paris. I’ve always said that the French and Spanish have a certain sensibility when it comes to my work. They “get it”. 

Along with their photography culture, I also love the French for their food culture. We were treated to some of the best places to eat in the center of Paris. One afternoon, we had lunch with Jeroen and Geert-Jan, friends from Holland, in a restaurant that is in the oldest house in Paris (1407). It was surreal, and delicious. And Pierre and Olivier treated us to an incredible dinner at L’Autobus Impérial (check out the video). The food there was unbelievably good, not to mention the wine and final drink at the bar (the flaming cocktail).

The opening of my show was terrific. There were more people there than you could count. A big turn out – it really surprised me. My good friend, Bart from Moscow was there, thank you for your support! And Vernon and Christian came from Germany for the opening, thank you! Christian, that photo you made of me by camera is the best I’ve ever seen – we need to talk.

Pierre worked with the bartender from L’ Autobus and made a special drink/cocktail for my opening. It was like a Black Russian with wine and some other things, we called it, “Black Collodion”. It was delicious – I think I had four glasses of it! There were people from all over Europe that came to see the work. It humbled me, to say the least. After the opening, about fifteen of us went out for Japanese food – I had sushi and Sake – it was terrific!

I did a public demonstration on Tuesday for about seventeen people. It went very well. I made two Whole Plate portraits of two people in the audience. My friend, Chris Nisperos, kindly translated for those that  didn’t speak English.

Wednesday was the “Portrait Day” that almost turned into Thursday. I started at about 10AM, and with the help of Jeanne and Summer, I went until almost midnight making portraits of Parisians that lined up at the studio door. I poured was over 40 plates that day/night! The largest number of plates I’ve ever made in one day/night – and most of them were Whole Plate or 8”x10”. If that doesn’t test your Collodion fortitude, I don’t know what does. I made portraits of some very important people (they were all important, I should say “known” people), too. Well connected in the photography world. One was the managing editor of Photo Magazine. I’m doing an interview this week with them for an article.

Thursday was day one of Workshop #1 – seven people. There was a writer/photographer from Réponses Photo magazine in this workshop. I’m looking forward to a cover and several inside pages in the April or May issue. It was a great group of people and an excellent workshop.

That evening, I did a “perfomative lecture” for the Paris Photo Group (from Bievre). I got to see Marie Jo, the president of the group and we chatted a little bit about the photo fair in June. It will be another banner year! The group seemed to enjoy what they saw and asked a lot of engaging questions. It was a very large group.

Friday, I finished up Workshop #1 and prepared for Workshop #2 that started bright and early on Saturday. Workshop #2 had five people in it. Great group! They made some really nice photographs and seemed to take to Collodion like they had been doing it for years. Saturday night we enjoyed a very nice meal at L’ Autobus (see above).

On Sunday, I gave another “performative lecture” to the Leica Group of Paris. The image above is the demonstration portrait I made. I wish it were higher quality, but trust me, his beard looked wonderful! This group also seemed to enjoy what they saw. I was happy to do “perform” for them, too.

So, in a nutshell, this is what happened; I had an opening of a large exhibition. I sold several pieces the first couple of days and several more are reserved (this blew my mind). I taught 13 people the Wet Plate Collodion process. I made almost 50 portraits. I did three “performative lectures” and I’ve been published in over a dozen French magazines. All of this would not have been possible without the support of my friends and family, thank you very, very much!

Centre Iris Gallery 238 rue St Martin – Paris – The perfect venue for my work!

 This is a short clip of me making Franck’s portrait. It was a beautiful image. He gave me a piece he made of me – a painting/photograph – gorgeous! Great guy and wonderful artist!

A slower, more complete look the day before the opening.

 Summer shows off Jeff’s image – and some other large prints in the show.

We all enjoyed this "fire" drink at L’ Autobus Imperial one of Pierre's inventions – nice!

 

My Paris Show Part One: Preparing

This isn't the first time you've heard me talk about (or read me write about) my show in Paris. And I can assure you, it won't be the last.

I'm excited beyond words. I'm completely focused on making this the best it possibly can be. So, if I seem aloof, slow to respond or appear to be dropped-out, you know what I'm doing and where my head is!

The Centre-Iris Gallery has started to publicize the events. There will be a few highlights; first, the exhibition (of course!). I will be showing both of my projects; work that I made in the United States and my current European project. I'll have about 50 images from the project, "Portraits from Madison Avenue". I will also have several pieces, I'm not exactly sure how many,  of my new project, "Vergangenheitsbewältigung" (loose translation: "struggling to come to terms with the past"). I'm still working on this project, but I hope to have quite a few pieces in this show.

The content and Collodion variants will span the gamut. There will be portraits, landscapes, still lifes, etc. There will be Black Glass Ambrotypes, Clear Glass Ambrotypes, Albumen prints, Salt Prints, Alumitypes, and Ferrotypes (Tintypes). I'm going to offer sell the work, too. This is a big deal for me and it's very important that I do this right!

Quinn making Pierre's portraits in Paris - June 2009
Secondly, I will be doing a public demonstration (performative lecture) the afternoon of the opening (March 9). I'll also be teaching two workshops during the week. If you're in, or near Paris, drop Centre-Iris Gallery an email and have them hold a spot for you!

And last, but not least, the gallery has asked me to do a "Portrait Day". This will be on March 10. People can come by the gallery and I will make a portrait for them (for a fee, of course). It was a hit in Paris last June. I would expect the same here, maybe even more people Oy! We'll see.

This is a gigantic logistical challenge. I'm going to rent a Volkswagon Van. I need to pack all of my artwork (huge space and very delicate items), Collodion equipment (dark-box, camera, lenses), chemistry and substrate, and luggage. And then we have to fit in it, too! I'm hoping this works! It's a four and a half hour drive to Paris. Have you ever driven in the city of Paris? Oy!

There will be more to follow... I promise.