Wetplate Collodion: Hybrid Processes

In this workshop, we will create wet-plate collodion tintypes in the darkroom, exposing plates under an enlarger from digital negatives.
About this Event

Wet-plate collodion is a timeless 19th century photography processes, but how can we use it in a contemporary context? In this workshop, we will create wet-plate collodion tintypes in the darkroom, exposing plates under an enlarger from digital negatives. This approach allows for the flexibility of expanding tintypes beyond their traditional usage for portraiture, allowing for endless possibilities of imagery to be exposed on the plates. In this one-day session, we will look at the history and practice of tintype photography, learn about the materials, exposure, processing and finishing methods. Participants will be required to provide images in advance of the workshop to be printed as digital negatives.Please note it is strongly recommended to register for the Preparing Digital Negatives workshop in advance of taking this workshop.

Instructor Bio

Ella Morton (she/her) is a Canadian visual artist and filmmaker living between Tkarón:to/Toronto, Canada and Marseille, France. Her expedition-based practice has brought her to residencies and projects across Canada, Scandinavia, Latin America, Australia, Greenland and Antarctica. Working with lens-based media, she uses experimental analogue processes to capture the sublime and fragile qualities of remote landscapes. Reflecting on how the medium of photography is changing in the digital age, she aims to uncover how photographs can show more than a straightforward depiction of reality, and how the alchemy of analogue techniques can be reinvented in the present day to tell deeper stories within images. Ella teaches workshops internationally and is a sessional instructor at York University.

Image Caption: Qeqertarsuaq Mountains, Wet-plate collodion ambrotype on black glass with glue and gold pigment, 2023. Courtesy of Ella Morton.