Poetry in Static
Posted by favour izogu
"I moved to the countryside almost 3 years ago now. I lived in a city apartment for many years, it was quite an intense life between family time, work and parties. I started to be over this living situation and both my wife and I were tired of it. I started experimenting in collodion photography and had a hard time with the little space I had. My wife was sick at that time and I thought it'd be good for her to get away from all the stress. She found this good opportunity on an ad so we moved very fast after talking about this idea. I built a nice lab, worked on the gardens and in the studio and set up a nice place to shoot all the images, I had in mind. My wife pushed me in this direction and I'm glad she did. She passed shortly after we moved out there. Then, I just focused on the house, the nature around it, long bike rides and my photography to get out of the darkness I was suddenly sunken into. I didn't live very far from the city but I didn't care too much anymore. I got used to this life and I started getting up earlier, building a lot of things, and taking more time for everything I did. The notion of time is very important for me now, in my life as well as in my photography. The loss of my life partner made me realize how fragile mine is too and I had doubts about the way we spent some of our time. It's a very common thing to hear, but I really understand now, many times I heard "life's short, use it wisely". I think I got rid of all the activities and things that I found useless, and I focused on some photography techniques that necessitate a lot of time and attention. Instead of looking for sensational things to shoot in a very instant way, now I'm looking for a pure photograph of very simple subjects."
Please tell us about your daily routines.
My daily routine depends on the season, this is one thing I noticed very fast, you notice the change of season way more when you live in a house surrounded by nature. It is very hard for me to take wet plates in the winter, there are rooms in the house that I don't really heat and working there for a long time is hard. I can't really bike or skate too much in the winter, I can't garden. My daily routine is more interesting as spring comes.
I usually get up early, go for a bike ride and garden a bit. Then I usually always have something to fix. I cook a meal and this can take a while. I eat in the garden. When the light is at its peak and very high in ultraviolet, I shoot a few plates. Sometimes I have models who come over, I usually cook for them and then we take photos. I usually take 1 to 2 photos in a day. When it is very warm I go swim in a lake next to my house and go skate if I can. There is always something to do in a house so this routine can change any day.
What's your lab setup like?
I really built a lab that is convenient that doesn't matter if it gets dirty because, trust me...it does. The silver nitrate stains so much and I don't really have to worry about it in this lab. My lab has everything for "traditional" analog photography but was taken over by collodion. A collodion lab is full of dated bottles and a few trays. I keep mine simple and not necessarily extremely clean. I don't care, as long as it is convenient and it works. When I shoot outside of my house perimeter, I have a lab in the trunk of my car, I can drive to any location I want and go shoot landscapes in a quiet place. I planned many travels with it, this lab is my future but for now I still have so much to do at home.
Please give us some insights into the ambrotype process.
I was always interested in old photographs and I'm amazed by the history of photography so I learned a lot more about it. Wet collodion was always my favorite technique and as I already experienced a lot with analog and prints and lab work, I wanted to go further. What's very interesting for me besides the fact that a good plate is so sharp and detailed, is that I make everything myself, I can change the chemicals recipes, custom the cameras, I do all by myself and none of the things I use are manufactured. It's a good feeling, I still depend on the people who provide me the chemicals and the glass but I hope this will go on forever. I really have a hard time accepting that kodak, polaroid and other brands could stop their production. It's terrible to take a film away from a photographer when he really needs it for his work. I can spend a lot of time staring at an ambrotype, looking into the details with a loupe, understanding stains and mistakes. Glass plates are amazing to me, it so much more alive than another photograph, they have this organic feel, this presence, they are deep and beautiful. It took me a long time to get to the result I wanted, now I'm totally addicted to this process and I have a hard time with the others even though I still use them.
Please tell us about your daily routines.
My daily routine depends on the season, this is one thing I noticed very fast, you notice the change of season way more when you live in a house surrounded by nature. It is very hard for me to take wet plates in the winter, there are rooms in the house that I don't really heat and working there for a long time is hard. I can't really bike or skate too much in the winter, I can't garden. My daily routine is more interesting as spring comes.
I usually get up early, go for a bike ride and garden a bit. Then I usually always have something to fix. I cook a meal and this can take a while. I eat in the garden. When the light is at its peak and very high in ultraviolet, I shoot a few plates. Sometimes I have models who come over, I usually cook for them and then we take photos. I usually take 1 to 2 photos in a day. When it is very warm I go swim in a lake next to my house and go skate if I can. There is always something to do in a house so this routine can change any day.
What's your lab setup like?
I really built a lab that is convenient that doesn't matter if it gets dirty because, trust me...it does. The silver nitrate stains so much and I don't really have to worry about it in this lab. My lab has everything for "traditional" analog photography but was taken over by collodion. A collodion lab is full of dated bottles and a few trays. I keep mine simple and not necessarily extremely clean. I don't care, as long as it is convenient and it works. When I shoot outside of my house perimeter, I have a lab in the trunk of my car, I can drive to any location I want and go shoot landscapes in a quiet place. I planned many travels with it, this lab is my future but for now I still have so much to do at home.
Please give us some insights into the ambrotype process.
I was always interested in old photographs and I'm amazed by the history of photography so I learned a lot more about it. Wet collodion was always my favorite technique and as I already experienced a lot with analog and prints and lab work, I wanted to go further. What's very interesting for me besides the fact that a good plate is so sharp and detailed, is that I make everything myself, I can change the chemicals recipes, custom the cameras, I do all by myself and none of the things I use are manufactured. It's a good feeling, I still depend on the people who provide me the chemicals and the glass but I hope this will go on forever. I really have a hard time accepting that kodak, polaroid and other brands could stop their production. It's terrible to take a film away from a photographer when he really needs it for his work. I can spend a lot of time staring at an ambrotype, looking into the details with a loupe, understanding stains and mistakes. Glass plates are amazing to me, it so much more alive than another photograph, they have this organic feel, this presence, they are deep and beautiful. It took me a long time to get to the result I wanted, now I'm totally addicted to this process and I have a hard time with the others even though I still use them.
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