Summary 1 - Photographer Jerry Spagnoli's images take viewer back to the present
The inauguration of President Barack Obama, made with the daguerrotype process JERRY SPAGNOLI
Source - Kentucky.com,(n.d). Photographer Jerry Spagnoli's images take
viewer back to the present.[online] Available at:<http://www.kentucky.com/2012/03/22/2121374/photographer-jerry-spagnolis-images.html> [Accessed
20 January 2014].
The following is
a summary by Rich Copley about the photographer Jerry Spagnoli's works using an older medium such
as daguerreotypes.
Spagnoli exhibits
three types of images at the Art Museum at the University of Kentucky, which are
small nineteenth century silver plates, big coloured photographs and colossal
image prints. He says that he
prefers exploring with different cameras and formats rather than manipulating
the image using Photoshop.
This contemporary
photographer who lives in New York often works with forms of mediums used since
the beginning of photography such as daguerreotypes, creating his images on
polished silver plates.
His works
displayed at the Museum like the dedication of the Sept 11 memorial and the
inauguration of the President Barack Obama have the stylish appearance of a
very past event. He wanted to link the images taken at the inauguration of Obama
to those of Lincoln captured decades ago.
Rather than using
a digital SLR he frequently works with a big wooden camera with bellows
supported on a tripod. He shoots only on purpose taking in consideration that
silver plates cost 150 dollars each.
He photographed
streets, parks and other public places in colour making use of backlit scenes
which works really well for daguerreotypes.
Spagnoli says
that he wants to further his experiments in video and long-form images as well,
capturing a scene for a period of time with all the movements and changes that
occur in between.
I think, like Spagnoli we should experiment and
explore more with the various mediums available for us to use.
Summary 2 - A Haunting Old Photographic Process Reappears
Summary 2 - A Haunting Old Photographic Process Reappears
"Heather," a wet-plate collodion photo by Robert Christian Malmberg
Source:
The New York Times Company,2011. A Haunting Old Photographic Process Reappears.[online]
Available at: < http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/02/us/02bcculture.html?_r=0 >[Accessed
25 January 2014].
The following is a summary of the article named
"A Haunting Old Photographic Process Reappears" by Andy Wright and Reyhan
Harmanci which was published on the New York Times, on the 2nd September 2011.
It is about various old processes that are being
emerged and used again nowadays such as wet-plate collodion and tintypes.
Many photographers like David Bornfriend are going
back to the old photographic processes. He began using the wet-plate collodion
to photograph modern soldiers, after the return of his brother in 2007 who
served in the Middle East. Another photographer Michael Shindler had been using
tintypes for his portrait work for five years and eventually thought the method
to Jenny Sampson who is a third generation.
Although it is not an easy technique it cannot be
compared to the latest modern technologies such as the I phone. It is not like
what we are used these days point and shoot. The model needs to stay still for
10 to 30 seconds and a large format camera is required.
Louis Vuitton also introduced an advertising
campaign named "Double Exposure" using collodion images. Many more studios are being
opened such as RayKo Photo Center and Mr Shindler and Vince Donovan. According
to Robert C Malmberg who operates a collodion studio said that business is
flourishing. Corey Keller, an associate curator at the San Francisco Museum of
Modern Art pointed out that even the young generation are using Instagram to
get the look of old photographs.
The wet collodion method which commenced in 1850s
involves pouring a chemical mixture to a glass plate, and then dipped into
silver nitrate. The still-moist plate is loaded and photo taken. It ought to be
developed instantly before the chemicals dry.
Some practitioners insist that the end of films in
2009 made these methods more effective.
Ms Sampson who has been working on a series of collodion
images of young skateboarders said that although they are all the time jumping
they had to stay still for her portraits. She also commented that how these
images are developed in the darkroom is like magic.
The nostalgia for the past and also the things that
the young generation did not experience themselves make them more curious to
experiment.
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