“Channeling Eva Carriere” with Bre Peltz and Paul Noon Wet Plate Collodion
"Channeling Eva Carriere" with Bre Peltz and Paul Noot, captured in the historic wet plate collodion process of pure silver on glass from the 1851 process. Eva was a medium at the beginning of the 20th Century and she would boast that she could control ectoplasm. If she could do it in 1912, we could surely do it today with a process that is 60 years before her time. Her level of fraud and deception as a spiritualist was over the top and legendary. Houdini the magician and Arthur Doyle the man who wrote Sherlock Holmes investigated her extraordinary claims. Read about her life, you will not be disappointed. She was a crackpot in the most fantastical and lovely way.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Carri%C3%A8re
Carl Zeiss Tessar 300mm lens, f4.5, 8 seconds of exposure, 8x10" black glass ambrotype, natural light through Northern facing windows and skylights at Nostalgic Glass Wet Plate Studio, Bismarck, North Dakota, Plate #4347, taken on 8-12-2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn2q6u2-TlM&feature=youtu.be
Assisted by my propmaster Laine Pope and Christopher Roemmich lit the pyrotechnics.
"Succumbed To Light" with Borut Peterlin at Kočevski Rog, Slovenia Wet Plate Collodion
“Succumbed To Light” with Borut Peterlin at the Wet Plate Collodion Expedition 2022 in the woodland of Kočevski Rog, Slovenia. My daughter and I traveled to his yearly wet plate expedition. Borut is a master ambrotypist and contact printer. He has his new book “A New Earth” which features his prints in one hand and his 150 year old brass lens in the other.
Wet plate collodion 8x10 clear glass ambrotype, Carl Zeiss Tessar 300mm lens, f8, 9 seconds of exposure. Borut will be making the final prints from the glass plate negative.
CONCEPTUALIZATION:
I absolutely had no intentions of creating on this trip. I tend to get lost in the process and I wanted to be present for the friendship and camaraderie. I was more interested in learning and helping others in the group.
That changed at 4am the night before the exposure. I awoke from a dream and had this exact composition in mind. I could not shake it and did not sleep another minute.
We had been drinking from a natural spring that has been in the Slovenian mountains for millennia. There was a stone structure with a metal door that protects this pristine natural occurring water source. It was this structure that inspired me.
I explained my composition to Oded Levy and Markus Hofstätter over breakfast and the plate was set in motion. Oded was instrumental in assisting me with the composition. Peter Skrlep loaned me his handmade large format camera. This is a reversed digital photograph of the wet plate negative was taken by Markus Hofstätter. Once the image appeared in the fixer, it felt as if it was meant to be. This was a true collaboration.
"The Beheading Of Medusa" Wet Plate Collodion by Shane Balkowitsch
"The Beheading Of Medusa" with Kit Marie Pace, captured in the historic wet plate collodion process of pure silver on glass. Inspired by the 1618 painting by Peter Paul Rubens. My propmaster Laine Pope's had to be summoned to pull this off.
Carl Zeiss Tessar 300mm lens, f4.5, 8 seconds of exposure, 8x10" black glass ambrotype, natural light through Northern facing windows and skylights at Nostalgic Glass Wet Plate Studio, Bismarck, North Dakota, Plate #4283, taken on 6-3-2022. Digital behind the scene photographs by Chad Nodland.
"The Decanter Of Beauty And Grace" Wet Plate Collodion with Dominika Kaminska
"The Decanter Of Beauty and Grace" with Dominika Kaminska, captured in the historic wet plate collodion process of pure silver on glass.
Carl Zeiss Tessar 300mm lens, f4.5, 4 seconds of exposure, 8x10" black glass ambrotype, natural light through Northern facing windows and skylights at Nostalgic Glass Wet Plate Studio, Bismarck, North Dakota, Plate #4280, taken on 6-3-2022. Inspired by DA-FOCUS in France. Behind the scene digital photographs by Chad Nodland.
"Living Frame" Wet Plate Collodion with KitLynn Pace and Laine Pope
"Living Frame" with KitLynn Marie Pace, captured in the historic wet plate collodion process of pure silver on glass. A conceptual piece I collaborated on with my Propmaster Laine Pope. This plate would not be exist without her expertise. I am forever in her debt.
Carl Zeiss Tessar 300mm lens, f4.5, 7 seconds of exposure, 8x10" black glass ambrotype, natural light through Northern facing windows and skylights at Nostalgic Glass Wet Plate Studio, Bismarck, North Dakota, Plate #4274, taken on 5-22-2022.
