Week 1: Wet Collodion

In our first week we learnt how to produce a wet collodion image (see video above for method). We worked in small groups of 4 to 5 to produce our images, each member of the group having a different task to complete. My job was to pour the collodion on to the glass, it was hard to get it even and keep a steady hand while doing so.

I wanted to look at more wet collodion photographers and projects the one that particularly interested me was Sally Mann: Faces as the portraits where quite harsh and close up and sometimes quite blurry so the detail was a little lost like on the image on the far left. However I admired that what she liked most about wet collodion was the imperfections she got and said that she hoped she never mastered the art as she liked to see what would come out when she developed it.

Here are two images of my groups wet collodion, one when it was just printed (on the left) and one when it was sprayed black making our final image (on the right). I really like this method of taking a photograph as it creates interesting affects on the surface of the image. It is also something that I have never done or experienced before.