Recently, a friend of mine from work introduced me to these amazing portraits, shot by Seattle based artist Dan Carrillo with his 8 x 10 Burke and James and an 11 x 14 Deardorff studio camera named ‘Daisy’. Using an old technique called ‘wet-plate collodion’ on plates called ‘Ambrotypes’ his images are all one-of-a-kind, similar to the more modern Polaroid, except they are composed of pure silver and somewhat transparent. In a time when photography trends try to emulate imagery from an earlier time and the emergence of popular iPhone photo apps like ‘hipstamatic’ and ‘Plastic Bullet’, it’s extremely refreshing to discover someone who is creating vintage looking images by means of a non-digital 100% genuine technique. The natural distress, grain and texture along with the super narrow depth of field make these images absolutely mesmerizing. Be sure to check out his Flickr photo stream via the link below for many more beautiful examples.
More details on the technique from Dan Carrillo:
“I shoot with a 16 inch(400mm) Wollensak Vitax f/3.8 portrait lens. The lens is a peztval type lens with a curved field and a variable soft focus. The technique is called wet-plate collodion and the plates are called Ambrotypes. I shoot onto clear glass plates onto which I pour collodion and subsequently sensitize in silver nitrate. The plate is loaded in to a modified film holder and then exposed in the camera. Exposures are about 4-8 seconds depending on bellows draw and lighting. Immediately after exposure the plate is developed while the plate is still wet and then fixed and washed. The result is technically a negative but when the plate is put in front of a dark background, it reads as a positive image.”
Visit -> http://www.flickr.com/photos
