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The
Photo Continuum Newsletter
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CLASSIC CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY
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APRIL 2009
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"Most people,
when they criticize, whether they like it or not, they are talking
about product. That's not art, that's the result of art.
Art, to whatever degree we can get a handle on it, is a
process. It begins in the heart and the mind and with the eyes
and hands." --Jeff Melvoin
Our current exhibition features the wet plate photography of artist Ray
Bidegain. Ray shares with us his latest work in photography, the
wet plate collodion process, to create a show that reaches back to an
early period in the progression of materials used to create the
expression that is the photograph.
When Ray talks about his work, he immediately describes how this method
results in an artistic partnership with the model or subject because,
after exposure, the latent image must be processed before the emulsion
dries. After a few minutes of processing, the image is done, and
the model sees the final product at that moment. It is a process
of working together and responding to the image right away.
We invite you to enjoy and study the images in the exhibit to see how
Ray has the ability to connect this method of photography to his way of
seeing.
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 OUR CURRENT EXHIBIT
Out from the Ether
Wet Plates by Ray Bidegain
March 25 - June 22, 2009
Historically,
one of the great uses of photography has been to make portraits of
people. One of photography's earliest forms is wet plate
collodion, which involves preparing a plate of glass or metal with
salted collodion and silver nitrate, exposing the plate, and developing
the image. This all has to take place within ten minutes, before
the plate dries. It is the very nature of this process that
requires an intimate collaboration between the sitter and myself.
It is almost like a performance. I work with the sitter to find a
pose, and then I leave for four minutes to prepare the plate.
When I return, we have just a few minutes to reset and make the image,
which requires the sitter to be very still for a few seconds.
Then I return to the darkroom and within five minutes the plate is
completed. Both the sitter and I can see what we achieved
immediately. This is not roll film, or even sheet film
portraiture where I might make 20 or 30 exposures, looking for the best
one later. We are compelled to create a revealing image within,
at most, four attempts. I like this necessary limit. I also
like that the portraits are not some fleeting glance or expression, but
a moment of relaxed commitment, a calm exchange between the sitter and
myself.
I have included still life images in my show as well. For me,
still lifes are another type of portrait -- a portrait of myself.
I find peace in my still life photographs, and I mostly photograph
things that present themselves voluntarily into my life. The
images serve as visual reminders of moments and feelings I have
experienced, signifying both the passage of time and the reverberation
of consistency in all of our lives.
This wet plate collodion work has been a recent exploration for me, and
a natural expansion of the historical platinum palladium printing
process that I have done for many years. I am drawn to the older
alternative photo processes because of the hand-made nature of the work
and their inherent beauty.
Please click here to visit the Photo
Continuum's current show.
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Our next guest artist will be Michael Van Buskirk, whose pinhole-camera
images find expression in platinum/palladium contact prints of great
beauty.
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WORKSHOPS
Platinum/Palladium
Workshop for Cameras Large & Small
Ray Bidegain & Patrick Kolb
Inversnaid Photography Centre, Scotland
June 14-19,2009 £718
Stay at a romantic hunting lodge near
Loch Lomond in Scotland while studying platinum/palladium print making.
Over six days, you will master the skills necessary to produce fine
platinum/palladium prints at a reasonable cost.
For most of the history of platinum printing, photographers needed
large-camera negatives. While we follow and honor that tradition, we
are also able to use negatives from smaller cameras and digital files
to make platinum prints. During this workshop, we present additional
instruction in the making of enlarged digital negatives for platinum
printing. Come learn this contemporary approach to this timeless
process.
Price includes VAT, all accommodations and meals, and tuition during
workshop. Chemicals and paper are extra to fee, allow approximately
£30. Class is limited to eight participants. As there is currently only
one opening remaining, please respond quickly if you wish to
attend. Click here to learn more about the
workshop; for Inversnaid's booking form, click here.
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Newsletter Archive
To access our previous newsletter, please visit the Photo Continuum
website via this link.
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