I try to make this blog a natural and organic extension of my creative journey. This approach gives you greater insight into the work and tasks that go into making the collodion negatives and platinum-toned Kallitype contact prints for my Pictorial Whispers memorial project and my collodion negatives and platinum-palladium prints for my America’s Grist Mills project.
EXPLORE & CONNECT
I encourage you to go beyond the surface and explore my artist statements for Pictorial Whispers and America’s Grist Mills. Every technical and creative choice I make aligns with my projects’ narrative.
To receive updates about exhibitions, new articles, and the latest information about my 19th century analog photography projects, enter your email in the form below and join me in celebrating the beauty and power of visual art.
A TYPICAL WEEK FOR ME
My routine is fairly predictable on most weeks. I don’t think the average person fully understands the amount of time and labor involved in creating collodion dry plate or wet plate negatives, much less the handmade printing methods that I use.
On Monday, I will cut, de-burr, notch, and clean about 10 glass plates and sub them with my albumen solution. Between all the other chores in the darkroom, my day is over before I know it.
If you enjoy slowing down with film, darkroom printing, and meaningful photography, consider subscribing to my YouTube Channel. I share new videos each week focused on simple tools, timeless techniques, and the quiet joy of analog.
On Tuesday, I individually flow each plate with my collodion emulsion, sensitize it with my silver bath, and tan it with tannic acid to convert the wet plate negatives into a dry plate process. Preparing each plate individually by hand is very time-consuming, and it takes a long day to prepare only 10 plates. If I have any interruptions or other tasks that must be done on this day, then the number of plates prepared goes down.
On Wednesday, assuming I don’t have any plates to finish up from Tuesday, I now move the plates from the light-safe drying box to storage boxes or plate holders.
I can either head out to the field and create some new exposures or continue with the process of preparing more plates.
Assuming I went out in the field to expose a couple of plates on Wednesday, the morning will be spent doing fieldwork, and the afternoon will be spent developing and varnishing the plates I exposed.
If I have a plate or two worth printing, on Thursday, I will start the process of making my platinum-toned Kallitype prints for my Pictorial Whispers project or platinum/palladium prints for my America’s Grist Mill project. By the end of the day, I will have typically been able to make a couple of quality prints worth keeping and have established a detailed set of working notes to produce more prints from each negative.
On Friday, I may make more prints if needed or do a million other tasks always looming around the darkroom, like cleaning, organizing, ordering supplies, answering emails, writing new articles, and so on.
I am simplifying the typical workweek for me to illustrate the amount of time and how deeply involved I am in my two main projects, Pictorial Whispers and America’s Grist Mills.
In many cases, I am on the road for the field work and it could be several days of that before I get back to the darkroom to start the development and printing process.
There is never a dull day in my life because I stay busy and focused on doing what I love. I am grateful and blessed for the opportunity to pursue these projects.
If you enjoy slowing down with film, darkroom printing, and meaningful photography, consider subscribing to my YouTube Channel. I share new videos each week focused on simple tools, timeless techniques, and the quiet joy of analog.