Diptych Project, Tin Type Photograhy Karmen Meyer Diptych Project, Tin Type Photograhy Karmen Meyer

Diptych Project #13

There is always something new to learn. And damn am I happy I got to learn Wet Plate, in the West Virginia mountains, from the talented, permissive and all around kind human Lisa Elmaleh. The first plate below was taken on the first day, the second on the last. Safe to say I learned a whole lot.

Nerds, proceed here —> Wet plate photography is a historic photographic method invented in the mid 1800s. Long story short you coat a metal plate (tin type) or glass plate (ambrotype) with collodion, sensitize it in a silver bath, expose your image and then develop your photograph. All while the plate is still wet. The process is somewhat complicated, sure. But it requires you to operate on intuition in a way that keeps you so magnificently present. Plus watching your image appear in the fixer is basically some kind of magic.

I’ve got to say I didn’t attend this workshop with any sort of ambition to continue making wet plates at home. I just wanted to dig deeper into understanding the history of photography. But I sure don’t feel finished with this. And the hunt for a 4x5 camera and chemicals has begun.

 
A nude bum sits on a stump, it's roots a tangle below.  The photo was made using a historic photographic process called Wet Plate or Tin Type photography.  Taken with Lisa Elmaleh in West Virginia.

ROOTED I. Photographed on 4×5 aluminum plate using the Wet Plate process in Paw Paw, West Virginia. My thumbprint obscures the centre of the frame.

A women sits on a log with her dress lifted over her head. Exposing her bum which mimics the shape of the stump. It's roots tangled below and the forest surrounds. The photo is a Wet Plate / Tin Type. Taken with Lisa Elmaleh in Paw Paw, West Virginia

ROOTED III. Photographed on 4×5 aluminum plate using the Wet Plate process in Paw Paw, West Virginia.

 

P.S. Lisa is doing powerful work at the US/Mexico border. I highly recommend you check out her work and workshops! https://www.lisaelmaleh.com/promised-land

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Diptych Project, Medium Format Film Karmen Meyer Diptych Project, Medium Format Film Karmen Meyer

Diptych Project #11

This project got lost in the chaos of summer, which was actually fine and perfect. But now, as a bit of routine returns to our days, it feels like a perfect time to pick it up back up again. I love how it invites me to look at my work in a new way, in pairs. And that it reminds me to share instead of hoarding all the photos on the hard drives that sit in the rubbermaid container at the end of our dining room table (my temporary office going on 3 years).

I wanted to start things off again with some photos of the girls. To honour their shift into new grades, and for Audrey a brand new school in town.

THRESHOLD IN A GHOST TOWN. A window to the past and steps to the future. Photographed on Portra400. Developed and scanned in my kitchen.

LAST CHANCE SALOON. Cross eleven bridges and you just might find yourself at the Last Chance Saloon. Deep in the heart of the Albertan Badlands. Photographed on Portra400. Developed and scanned in my kitchen.

 
 
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Karmen Meyer Karmen Meyer

Diptych Project #10

A female surfer in a hooded wetsuit holds her board while smiling at the camera.  The photograph was created with black and white medium format film.

TOFINO SURFER. I am trying to be more brave when it comes to asking folks if I can take their picture, but truth is I really rarely work up the gumption. So when I stopped this rad looking surfer for a photo it felt like hitting the jackpot. Not only was Laurie exceptionally kind, but I also learned that she has a gorgeous shop in town that we visited the next day. (PS. Her shop is called Merge Goods, if you find yourself in Tofino make sure you go find it!)

Black and White film photo of surfers on a foggy beach in tofino.

TOFINO SURFERS. I suppose if they can all hit the frigid PNW waters, I can get a little uncomfortable too. They make it look 100% worth. Both photos are photographed on HP5 film using a Mamiya RB67, developed and scanned in my kitchen.

Note to self: head back to the island asap.

 
 
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Diptych Project, Self-Portraits Karmen Meyer Diptych Project, Self-Portraits Karmen Meyer

Diptych Project #9

black and white self-portrait of a women standing the trees.  Her face blocked by the blur of a moving branch.

CAMOUFLAGE

the shadows of two hands reach toward eachother, nearly touching.

CONNECTION?

How messy is too messy? We all know that life isn’t perfect. That tolerance is a necessity for thriving and growing.

But when does tolerance slip into deception. Into abandonment of self.

Is it my fault

that I felt uncomfortable and detached? A square peg in a round hole.

After so many years. Is there even any hope of re-writing the programming of such formative relationships?

My gut say no. Or is that my fear?

How am I to know?

What is worth the fight.

I can’t do it all. I can’t be something that I am not.

And I am not a liar.

 
 
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