Charles Rencountre, "Medicine Horse", Kul Wicisa Oyate, for my series "Northern Plains Native Americans: A Modern Wet Plate Perspective". 8x10" black glass ambrotype in the historic process of pure silver on glass.
"Not Afraid to Look" is a large 8' tall cement sculpture that Charles created at Standing Rock during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests last year. Incidentally it is the only thing still standing at the Camp of the Sacred Stone. It was a true honor to have this important artist into my studio. He brought a maquette of the original work with him and it was important for us to feature it in his wet plate.
https://www.ecowatch.com/standing-rock-not-afraid-to-look-2107100951.html
Solar Eclipse, August 21st, 2017 at 12:32pm, captured in the historic wet plate collodion process of pure silver on glass. 7" round glass black ambrotype, f45, <1 second of exposure with manual lens cap, Carl Zeiss 360mm lens.
A solar eclipse is very significant in the Native American culture and is held with high regard. On August 7th, 1869 a total eclipse was well documented, below is the blog post of my friend Tonweya Tokaheya (Dakota Goodhouse).
http://thefirstscout.blogspot.com/2017/08/eclipse-is-time-for-prayer-and.html
"Honoring Sky Woman" with my dear friend, liaison and collaborator for my series "Northern Plains Native Americans: A Modern Wet Plate Perspective". 7x7" square glass black glass ambrotype in the historic wet plate collodion process.
http://dept.cs.williams.edu/~lindsey/myths/myths_12.html
http://www.native-languages.org/morelegends/sky-woman.htm
Anyone who creates in wet plate knows that clouds very rarely will appear in the process, but on this magical day, they made themselves known to both Margaret and I.
Carl Zeiss Tessar 250mm lens, f11, 2 seconds of exposure.
I have spent the last two years of my life capturing my friends in the historic wet plate collodion process of silver on glass. The original plates are archived and curated by the Historical Society of North Dakota at the Heritage Center. This will be the first time all 120 of the plates will be on display. This is only the beginning, my longterm goal is to capture 1000 Native Americans in my beloved process, a 20 year commitment I will cherish.
http://sharoncol.balkowitsch.com/northernplains.htm
Please join us to celebrate a night of heritage and culture. Darren Thompson will be playing live flute music for the visitors.
Everyone is welcomed to join us. I want everyone to know that regalias and traditional dress is very much welcomed and appreciated the night of the opening. Friday November 3rd, 2017 from 5-7pm.
Thank you Gilbert Kills Plenty Enemy III and Rusty Gillette for making the official posters.
I am so proud to share the entire series of plates from my "Wild Horses of the Dakota Plains", captured in the historic wet plate collodion process of silver on black glass. These horses descend from the Theodore Roosevelt National Park with lineage back to the Native Americans from the Northern Plains.
I was accompanied by my friends Josh Withers, Victory Tischler-Blue, Mike LaLonde, John LaLonde, Tom Wirtz and of course my son Greyson. The time we shared on Saturday on the open prairie with the horses among us is something I will never forget. We started slow from afar but by the end of the day, my camera was in the herd and that transition can be seen in the work we did together. This was a team effort and I could never of achieved this by myself, so I am indebted to everyone involved. Josh Withers and Victory Tischler-Blue were instrumental in helping me make this possible. These beautiful animals are guarded and cared for by Frank and Leo Kuntz at their horse conservancy in Linton, North Dakota.
https://statemuseum.nd.gov/exhibits/horse/extend/nakota-horses
Victory Tischler-Blue created this black and white silent video of the horses:
Carl Zeiss Tessar 300mm and 360mm lens, f11, 2 seconds of exposure, 8x10" black glass ambrotypes using my Alessandro Gibellini folding camera, behind the scene images courtesy of Tom Wirtz from Bismarck, North Dakota.