September 2014 - The Dreaming State

Collodion Pumpkin

Added to September 19, 2014

Sep 192014

This is a collodion wet plate of yours truly holding a pumpkin to bring in the fall. I spent a few hours today trying out this old photographic process, originally introduced in the 1850’s. It involves a portable darkroom, glass as negatives, and a bunch of really crazy smelling chemicals.

John Herschel’s Hair

Added to September 14, 2014

Sep 142014

Sir John Herschel discovered the cyanotype process for making photographs. His hair is out of control… I Photoshopped out all his hair from an old portrait and made a cyanotype on special Asian paper that turns black when wet. The final product is a fun parlor game where you get to “paint” in Herschel’s crazy hair, let it fade away, and paint it again.