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.

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.

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