Shane Balkowitsch Family Wet Plate CollodionShane Balkowitsch Family Wet Plate Collodion

“The Balkowitsch Family”, captured in the historic wet plate collodion process of silver on glass. My gang for life. It has taken me 2705 plates to get to this point over 5 years. Thanks to Troy Balzer for taking off the lens cap for our long family exposure.

8x10” black glass ambrotype, f4.5, Carl Zeiss Tessar 300mm lens, 12 seconds of exposure, all natural light through Northern facing studio windows.

Puddles the Clown - Pity Party - Captured in Wet Plate Collodion by Shane BalkowitschPuddles the Clown at The Fargo Theatre, March 27th, 2018

"Pity Party" with Puddles the Clown, captured in the historic wet plate collodion process of pure silver on glass. Taken at the Fargo Theatre in the green room before his performance on March 27th, 2018.

The world would be a better place if everyone followed his lead. We can all learn a lesson from this sad clown.  We met as strangers and we left as friends.  Thank you Puddles for trusting my chemicals and camera to your likeness. 

Puddles the Clown - Pity Party - Captured in Wet Plate Collodion by Shane BalkowitschPuddles the Clown at The Fargo Theatre, March 27th, 2018 Puddles the Clown - Pity Party - Captured in Wet Plate Collodion by Shane BalkowitschPuddles the Clown at The Fargo Theatre, March 27th, 2018

8x10" black glass ambrotypes, Carl Zeiss Tessar 300 mm lens, f4.5, 10 seconds of exposure, continuous flourescent lights. We left the text reversed just as the plate appears in person. Puddles thought it was important to show respect to the special process and large format camera that made the images. I cannot argue with that, so it will remain backwards. Puddles is wise beyond his years.

"If by chance some day you're not feeling well and you should remember some silly thing I've said or done and it brings back a smile to your face or a chuckle to your heart, then my purpose as your clown has been fulfilled." - Red Skelton

Puddles the Clown - Pity Party - Captured in Wet Plate Collodion by Shane BalkowitschPuddles the Clown at The Fargo Theatre, March 27th, 2018 Puddles the Clown - Pity Party - Captured in Wet Plate Collodion by Shane BalkowitschPuddles the Clown at The Fargo Theatre, March 27th, 2018 Puddles the Clown - Pity Party - Captured in Wet Plate Collodion by Shane BalkowitschPuddles the Clown at The Fargo Theatre, March 27th, 2018 Puddles the Clown - Pity Party - Captured in Wet Plate Collodion by Shane BalkowitschPuddles the Clown at The Fargo Theatre, March 27th, 2018

The Heard Museum, a world renowned Native American art collection in Arizona, is going to be acquiring three of my original plates into their permanent archive. http://heard.org/

My recent portrait of Ernie LaPointe, the Great Grandson of Sitting Bull, my portrait of Chief Arvol Looking Horse, 19th Generation Keeper of the Buffalo Calf Pipe Bundle and my art piece "Death by Oil", featuring Darren Thompson.

They have requested some additional supporting information and items. I have been getting it all together over the past few months. They wanted prints of each of the plates as well as the original ambrotypes. I went above and beyond with the print of Ernie. I collaborated with my good friends Josh Withers and Herbert Ascherman Jr. to produce an original platinum print. Josh worked on my scan and produced an adequate negative on overhead projection film. Then Herb, a master printer in the historic platinum process, produced the most fabulous platinum print of my plate.

I have also collected numerous articles about "Death by Oil" that have been published. The original "Best Photograph" award at the North Dakota Human Rights and Arts Festival is also accompanying the plate. A signed copy of "Sitting Bull: His Life and Legacy" by Ernie LaPointe will be with the plate in their archive. They also request my Artist Statement as well as Biography. All of this supporting information will be documented and indexed eventually online.

http://cdm262401.cdmhost.com/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15086coll2/id/335

As an artist, it is a huge honor to be able to place works of art in different museums around the world. I consider this a privilege and its importance is never lost on me. Thank you everyone for your support. I also want to thank Mario Nick Klimiades and his staff at The Heard for thinking my work is worthy of this distinction.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2018/feb/22/standing-rock-is-everywhere-one-year-later

Ernie LaPointe, Chief Arvol Looking Horse and Death by OilBalkowitsch Wet Plates Ernie LaPointe, Chief Arvol Looking Horse and Death by OilBalkowitsch Wet Plates

Ernie LaPointe, Chief Arvol Looking Horse and Death by OilErnie LaPointe, Chief Arvol Looking Horse and Death by Oil Ernie LaPointe, Chief Arvol Looking Horse and Death by OilErnie LaPointe, Chief Arvol Looking Horse and Death by Oil Ernie LaPointe, Chief Arvol Looking Horse and Death by OilErnie LaPointe, Chief Arvol Looking Horse and Death by Oil