Photonola

I had to be in New Orleans for work, so I managed to squeeze in a visit to Matthew White's exhibit at the Port of New Orleans office, then the Photonola party at the City Park museum.
At the party, I won a gorillapod light in the raffle, and I got to meet another wet plate photographer that I've only talked with via internet.
The official opening for the alt photo exhibit at Homespace in New Orleans was yesterday, but I was unable to make it. My wife is undergoing rehab for Guillian-Barre Syndrome, so I've got to stay close to home. My 4 tintypes are hanging with images by Sally Mann, Jerry Spagnoli, Deborah Luster and Josephine Sacabo, and several others.
Click here to see more on the exhibit.

Demo at PhotoNola

Saturday, I went to New Orleans to demonstrate the "black art" of wet plate photography as part of the photography event Photonola. The demo was at the Homespace Gallery on St. Roch St. where Richard McCabe of the Ogden Museum has curated a show of the work from practitioners of alternative photography.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Claude Levet, one of the best wet plate photographers who ever donned a darkcloth, was in attendance.

Below are some pictures I made at the demo. The sitters were positioned in the same location, but the photos at the bottom had a black cloth covering the window. I prefer the ones at the top. The solarization of the bright exterior light is a nice unusual touch. I used 2 continuous light banks with 5500K bulbs to get the required amount of UV.

Chris Williams of New Orleans sent me these images from the demo. I really like the one of the image on the ground glass.

Can you give the fiddler a dram, please?

My wife Loretta made a pastel portrait of me from a photograph made between takes on a movie set earlier this year in the production of "Jonah Hex." This is one of her finest, even though it's of me.

Loretta is going through a tough time right now from the effects of chemotherapy, but hopefully she will be back at the easel soon.

In the movie scene, Cookie, a banjo player and me are serenading a Union officer just before Jonah (Josh Brolin) surrenders. Whether we're in the final cut remains to be seen, but if I am you will hear me in the theater. The movie is supposed to be out in June 2010. The heavy metal group "Mastodon" is doing the musical score.

Dream of the Marionettes

I recently photographed a theater group that will be performing a musical at Cites des Arts in Lafayette. It was a wonderful afternoon and what really made it enjoyable was the collaboration and ideas that originated from the group.

Christy Leichy and Johanna Divine (in the 2nd image below) wrote "Dream of the Marionettes" and it promises to be a real romp of the burlesque genre. Go to this site to see more about the production: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dream-of-the-Marionettes/155555594663

Here are the tintypes I made of them.

Latest work

I'm back on the circuit. Here's a 5x7 tintype I made at the Rural Life Museum on Sept. 26 during Harvest Days and the reenactment. The building is an old jail from North Louisiana. The scalawags in the picture were resting on the steps during a foraging expedition.

Last Sunday, I was at the Sugar Fest in Port Allen but I only got to make 2 images before the rain shut things down.

Saturday, I photographed the beautiful cast members of "Dream of the Marionettes," a musical being produced in Lafayette. I've never had so many attractive women cavorting in their skivvies in my backyard. I'll post those images soon. The production has a facebook site: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Dream-of-the-Marionettes/155555594663?ref=share

Another wet plate blog

Indra, a northern European photographer, has started a blog on her wet plate adventure. It's interesting to see a perspective from across the pond.
Here's the site: http://contrastique.wordpress.com/

I'll post the link permanently too.

Respite and recuperation

I have developed sensitivity to ether, one of the main components of the wet-plate process. It causes me to have a condition similar to bronchitis. Because I've always had asthma, I suppose I should have been more cautious with the chemicals, but they didn't cause any problems until this spring.
I've developed some safeguards to deal with the problem, but right now I need to stay away from the chemicals and get back to life without making images. That means I've had to back out of an event in Ohio this weekend.
I don't know if I will be able to resume this method of photography, although there are other processes I could learn.