World Wet Plate Collodion Day Book 2009

I'm happy to announce that the Wet Plate Collodion Day Book 2009 is ready to for prime time! You can order a copy, or two from Blurb:

The Wet Plate Collodion Day Book 2009

Please keep in mind that the preview of the book sucks (quality). That's the only reason I didn't release it sooner. Caron got her copy in the US and sent me some snaps - it looks great in print, so forget about the preview.

Please spread the word about the book. And ORDER one or two copies! This is a great project to support. We need to sell 250 – 300 copies!

Thanks to every one that participated! Great job! We did it!!

8”x10”, full color, perfect bound, 92 pages, 82 images, 51 artists/photographers – great work!

Photos by Caron Gonthier (thanks!)

The Cover shot!

Inside sample.

Inside sample.

Inside sample.

And the back of the book!

"Anonymous" 4"x10" Wet Plate Collodion Ambrotype

 Annonymous Ambrotype - 4" x 10" - Clear Glass Ambrotype - Viernheim, GermanyI made this image a couple of hours ago - it was overcast and cool. I used north light (for the mask/effect). It was a 20 second exposure with my Hermagis lens ~375mm - f/9.

This plate looks a lot better when you are holding it in your hand - believe me! It's hard to copy/scan plates, but especially difficult if they are on clear glass.

Here's a snap of my new camera, too:

 

Höchster Schloßfest Portraits

We setup near the tower there on the river - Main River, Frankfurt.Yesterday we were sitting under large Chestnut trees (Kastanienbaum) next to the Main River in Frankfurt, Germany eating peaches and souvlaki (yes, I said peaches and souvlaki).

 

It felt unbelievably good. It's been a long time since I've felt that kind of peace and "rightness". Do you know what I mean? Being in the right place at the right time and doing absolutely nothing.

 

I've said this before and will say it again - Europeans know how to relax and they have an understanding of what "community" means. This seems to be lost on Americans. I'm a little anxious about returning to the states. I'm trying to be present to what I have here. I'm trying to be "in the moment", feel everything and experience as much as I can.

It was a big day for the Höchster Schloßfest (Castle Festival). We were on opposite side of the river, normally, we setup where you see the white tents in this photo.

 We were given some artwork and a bottle of (private stock) Riesling wine yesterday by our artist friends. It was very kind of them (thanks again!). One of them, Mirjam, brought a catalog of an exhibition that was in Frankfurt a few years ago. All of the images were Dags, Calotypes, and Collodion. There were some beautiful Albumen prints! It's called, "Frühe Photographie im Rhein-Main-Gebiet 1839-1885" I'm going to buy a copy. You can see Mirjam's portrait in my June 22, 2009 blog.

I didn't do a lot of portraits yesterday, but the ones I did I'm happy with. I also made a negative of the the huge Chestnut tree we were setup near. I really like the feel of the image. Although, I consider myself a portrait photographer, I do like to make images (now and then) of nature.

  Chestnut Tree by the Main River in Frankfurt - Wet Collodion Negative.

After I made a few images, we packed everything up in the Toyota and wandered around the fest for a while. We had a beer, Apfelschorle, Rindwurst and an Eis. It was a very nice day.

Uwe - Frankfurt, Germany Uwe mit zig - Frankfurt.

Some Portraits From Paris: June 14, 2009

Jenny The Waitress - 5x7 Alumitype
      Parisian Woman 5x7 Alumitype

   Pierre - Gallery Owner, Paris

Richard, Parisian Photography Professor

Christopher by Carl Radford

Collodion Portraits

This is one of those posts where I should be elated, but I'm not (so much).

I prepared all week to make some images for the Getty Conservation Institute today. The Getty invited me (and others) to be part of their project called, "Preserving the Chemical Photography Era". I got the invite months ago, but between my book and DVD, workshops, Wet Plate Day, and life, I haven't had the chance to do the work. However, I almost succeeded today.

One of my many weaknesses is perfectionism. Not on everything, and certainly not in every situation. But making plates for the Getty Institute tends to bring the proclivity for "perfection" out.

The irony is, I'm working in Wet Plate Collodion photography, "perfection" doesn't exist. In fact, I've written many times about how I love the imperfection of the process - how do I reconcile that? The project isn't even about what I'm trippin' on - it's really kind of a "geek" project. A cool geek project, I might add.

They are analyzing different photographic (chemical) techniques and documenting how the image was produced. It's for future generations to identify images they have no clue about. When they discover the 5000 glass plates that I will have stored in my attic, they'll know what they are looking at and how they were made. Cool stuff.

My dilemma is a personal one; I don't feel that these images are worthy of the Getty. Primarily because I scratched the surface on #2 and it looks like shit now. I was so pissed, I almost had an anxiety attack, I'm serious. I flipped out. It was THE perfect image. I wanted to brush a mark off of the top of the glass and my finger left a huge mark on the plate, I was sick and wanted to scream. It took me two hours to get the image and it was gone in a fraction of a second. Even through I ruined #2, I think I still may put it in my book. What do you think, would you? I like #1, I distressed (forgive me) it on purpose, I really like his expression and "presence" in it. The piece of Collodion gone from the bottom right side doesn't bother me at all on that one. 

Anyway, I'm not sending them to the Getty, but wanted to share them with you. I have to say, they had the potential to be some of the best images I've ever made. Maybe next week.

#1 Whole Plate Black Glass Ambrotyoe (6.5"x8.5") May 9, 2009 - Viernheim, Germany
#2 Whole Plate Ambrotype (6.5"x8.5") May 9, 2009 - Viernheim, Germany Later broken and then purchased in Paris.