The beginning of my Wet Plate Journey

This past weekend I had the amazing opportunity to visit with my friend Shane at his studio in Bismarck, North Dakota to immerse myself in the wet plate collodian process, long ago established in the 1840’s/1850’s and used by some of my favourite artists such as Julia Margaret Cameron.

The first day, we took a chance on trying to use my circa 1927 9x12cm folder and jamming an aluminum plate into it, and somewhat winging the exposure. And I produced my first ever plate:

Day two I worked with Shane as his assistant while he had his regular studio day including supporting him with a piece for his ongoing Native American project as well as a commissioned piece. Mostly I shadowed and learned more about the process, chemistry etc. but also assist with some composition. Then I made the following plate - a continuous 10s exposure using natural northern light. I took the lens cap off and walked into the frame to have the ghost like appearance of the apprentice in my frame: “presence of the apprentice”:

On day 3, Shane, his daughter Abby (an amazing artist in her own right) and I collaborated for 3 plates - A piece Shane and I worked on that was a tribute to a Magritte painting, a piece by Abby, and lastly my portrait of Abby below:

I also took a few photos of Shane and his studio, and vowed to return again to continue to forge our friendship. I am in the final stages of my new darkroom, which once complete will also begin my Toronto based Wet Plate journey. Stay tuned…