Time Flies
Four months into the year seems like as good a time as any for a blog update. As usual, work and uni have been demanding my attention, but I’ve managed to find some time in between for a few photography-related pursuits.
In February I booked the studio to shoot some medium format and this time ensure I synced the lights properly. I shot a roll of self portraits along with some portraits of Heather using a hoya filter and intentional camera movement,
I was really pleased at how they turned out in the end.
This studio visit also resulted in the wheels being put in motion for my most recent camera purchase…
A Kodak Masterview 8 × 10 - modified for wet plate.
It seemed like perfect timing as I had already booked into the Introduction to Large Format Photography course at Stills in Edinburgh.
The course covered the operation of a 4x5 camera and we had the opportunity to shot some images using photographic paper, which was then developed using a reverse positive process.
Now armed with a camera, and a rough idea of how to use it I started gathering all the necessary materials: trays, silver bath, collodion, developer. If I owned a house I would have been remortgaging it at this point as the costs kept mounting up.
I took some time off work this week and finally got the chance to get into the studio and darkroom at Street Level and give it a go.
My first plates were imperfect, messy, and unpredictable — and I loved every second of it. There's something spellbinding about watching an image emerge, ghost-like, on the plate. It feels like photography stripped back to its bones: chemistry, light, and time.
I’m still very much learning, but I’m excited to see where this takes me.
And one final bit of news - I’ve had a couple of images selected for upcoming exhibitions at The Glasgow Gallery of Photography
The Portrait exhibition opens on the 10th May and I’m looking forward to heading along to check out all the artwork on display.
