Check out this excellent interview with Katie Cooke by Chris Keeney.
You can see Cooke’s work at her Web site, slowlight.net.
Month: May 2007
More cowbell: 30×40-inch camera
Holy shit! Check out this 30×40-inch ultra-large format press camera for sale at the Large Format Photography Forum. Pictures included.
Razzledog’s prototype 4×5 SLR
Australian Polaroid-to-4×5-rangefinder camera modifier Razzledog built a prototype 4×5 SLR! He says:
I have long had dreams of building a 4×5 SLR……so this prototype is currently under review. The advantages are finally the image is right side up, so I no longer have to stand on my head….. I don’t have to worry about any parallax issues so I get perfect framing without fear of any cropping……and interchangable lenses are no problem. It has bellows so awesome macro is also permissible…
Continue reading and check out photos at Razzledog’s site.
Field wet plate collodion shoot with Will Dunniway, CA, US
NEW Field Wet Plate Collodion Shoot coming this July 14–15, 2007
Large format cameraInstructor: Will Dunniway of Corona, California, 40 miles east of Los Angeles, has been a professional graphic artist and photographer for over 40 years. He now practices the 19th century art of wet plate collodion photography using original cameras and lens with nearly 20 years experience.
The basic course description $425: ($100 deposit required to hold space)
Saturday: At the Corona Studio – Students will learn (or relearn) the making of ambrotypes (glass direct positives) and tintypes. (Ferrotypes, tin plate direct positives) adn large format glass collodion. Students are guided through the process step-by-step from the mixing, pouring, exposing and development of plates poured with wet collodion. The newest 4 color edition of the manual, Making the Wet Collodion Plate in 16 Steps manual by Will Dunniway is included along with all materials in the course fee. Students will use a period 1860 field camera with 1860-70 lenses. This will be for the beginner and experienced collodion practitioner. A two day course crammed into one day.
Sunday: Private land (with facilities) above Murrietta, California – We will drive the 30 minutes from Corona, Ca. to the oak /boulder wilderness location on the land of a friend. Very private. There I will set up one or two portable darkrooms and tutor you in a hands on field environment doing field wet plate work in the tradition of the old wet plate collodion masters. Lunch will be packed for you.
The workshop is not about the historical use of the process. It is about the use of wet plate collodion in a contemporary setting. It just so happens that I am an historical tin-typist with 19 years in the field doing this wet plate process.
I do not require anything remotely historical. I will also help you adapt newer ‘view’ type cameras with wet plate backs. Given this, my equipment is all original by default. This is the only equipment I use. My students have really enjoyed working with this rare camera equipment . The look these old lens give is incredible. In the end you will go away with a working knowledge of the process, not it’s historical interpretation.
I hope this information is useful. If you need to ask any questions, call. If you give me a thumbs up – Email: silverandsun@mac.com to attend the July 14–15, 2007 – The NEW Summer Wet Plate Collodion Field Shoot Workshop. Hope you can come
Will Dunniway
951-817-5113Email ~ silverandsun@mac.com
Web sites ~ www.dunniway.com and www.collodion-artist.com
Lens manufacturing videos
Also check out Canon’s lens manufacturing video. It’s worth watching both as they use different processes.
J and C Photo close up shop
Black and white photography supplier J and C Photo report in their updates page that they are going out of business:
Dear Customers,
Over the last few months while we have diligently tried to move and reorganize our operation’s in order to overcome major stumbling blocks which have come our way, we now find ourselves in an untenable position. While we thought we had overcome the major obstacles, recent events have now changed things once again. Threats of frivolous law suits, the expense involved in defending against them and suppliers unilaterally deciding to nullify contracts and do business with competitors have made it impossible to come back as planned. We therefore regrettably have decided it’s better to exit than continue to fight a battle that cannot be won.
We will not be re-opening our retail operation and wish all of our former customers the best.
We will continue to work the ULF and T-Max deals on a custom basis.
All T-Max orders already placed are still valid.
We would like to publicly thank Ilford and Kodak for their continued support during these difficult times.
JandC Photo
This is sad indeed.
New book: Alter Ego: portraits of gamers and their avatars
This comes from Boing Boing, who say:
Robbie Cooper’s Alter Ego project collected photos of gamers and paired them with their in-game avatars. It’s just been collected in a handsome hardcover edition with a nifty lenticular cover that shows a nice Korean couple morphing into chaotic evil game-characters.
I read this last night — what I loved about it was the broadly construed notion of “player.” Cooper doesn’t just get people who play games for the fun of it, but also an old-school MUD developer (his “avatar” is a block of text from his game), several gold-farmers and miscellaneous other cheats; game developers and models for in-game avatars, and so on. The breadth of gamers interviewed by Cooper is really awe-inspiring: rich and poor, western and Asian, able-bodied and disabled, young and old. It’s not all terminally shy, heavyset guys playing skinny little women (though there are some of those) — Cooper has plenty of people who defy the stereotypes, too. The net effect is to demonstrate the common cause between all the players, no matter what their background: they are all living virtual lives.
Also: it doesn’t hurt that these are beautifully shot portrait photos.
Link to thumbnail gallery of photos 1
Link to thumbnail gallery of photos 2
I haven’t see the book, but it looks like an interesting project. I don’t give a crap about video games, but I find identity, particularly online identity, a fascinating mess.
Microsoft rights grab in student photographer contest
By entering work in the Microsoft Future Pro Photographer Photo Contest, you give them all rights to it. Not even by winning, just by entering. They’ve done it in a really sleazy way, too.
The contest FAQ says:
Does Microsoft own the rights to images submitted to the contest?
As an entrant, you retain the copyright ownership of the images you submit. Submitting an entry does not assign or transfer any ownership or copyrights to Microsoft; those rights remain with the creator of the original work. However as a condition of accepting a prize, you agree to grant Microsoft the right to reproduce and display the image, credited with your first and last name, in print and on the web, for the purposes of promoting this contest.
These sound like perfectly reasonable, maybe ideal, terms to me: they only take the rights they need to make the contest work, and they even guarantee a photo credit. Too bad it turns out to be a lie—the the actual submission guidelines and official rules tell a very different story:
5. ENTRIES PROPERTY OF SPONSOR.
All Entries become the property of Sponsor and Administrators and will not be returned. By submitting your Entry, you grant Sponsor and Administrators an irrevocable royalty-free, worldwide right, in all media (now known or later developed) to use, publish, alter or otherwise exploit your Entry. You hereby forever release the Sponsor and Administrators from any and all claims you might have in connection with their use and exhibit of your Entry as set forth above. You also agree to sign any necessary documentation to effectuate that license and release. If you do not want to grant Sponsor and Administrators the foregoing, please do not enter the Contest.
Don’t bend over for these clowns, Microsoft neither needs nor deserves your charity. And always read the fine print.
Wet plate collodion workshops with Will Dunniway
Students will learn the making of ambrotypes (glass direct positives) and tintypes. (Ferrotypes, tin plate direct positives) Students are guided through the process step-by-step from the mixing, pouring, exposing and development of plates poured with wet collodion. The newest edition now is 4 color of the manual, Making the Wet Collodion Plate in 16 Steps manual by Will Dunniway is included along with all materials in the course fee. Students will use a period 1860 field camera with 1860-70 lenses. Workshop features 2 days of intensive hands-on training in the making of ambrotypes, ferrotypes (tintypes), and glass plate negatives. Each student will make and take home a self-portrait/still life tintype/ambrotypes. All materials and equipment provided.
The 4 day workshops include a day shooting with a Brownie type box camera that you keep. Intensifying glass negatives and printing from these negatives with salt paper.
SPRING Wet Plate collodion Workshop
April 14–15, 2007, Corona, California
write: silverandsun@mac.comPhotographer Formulary Workshop on Collodion Photography
July 22–27, 2007, Condon, Montana
See photoformulary.com to registerHistoric Eastfield Village, N.Y. Wet Plate Collodion Workshop
August 13–16, 2007, Nassau, New York (near Albany, NY)with Claude Levet assisting. (Tentative, see here to register)
FALL Wet Plate Collodion Workshop
October 6-7, Corona, California
write: silverandsun@mac.com
Project Basho’s summer workshop/class schedule announced, PA, US
Philadephia’s Project Basho has announced their Summer 2007 class and workshop schedule.
Project Basho provides not only the production space and the resources for photographers, it is our mission to provide opportunities for those interested in learning this rich and intricate medium.
Classes are intended for a wide range audiences: from complete beginners, to those who have some knowledge but without sufficient practice in recent years, to those who want to further develop their craft and their sense of vision. These classes are small and practice-oriented, so that each student can get enough attention and the appropriate advice from instructors.
Since the approach of the classes is holistic, the emphasis will be placed on gaining the practical knowledge as well as understanding of the aesthetics and history of photography. There will be a series of critiques where students are expected to show their work for various assignments. Also, students will be exposed to a wide range of photographic expressions through slide lectures on historical and contemporary works as well as through visiting museums and galleries of photography shows.
Heaps of good-looking stuff here, check out the lineup at ProjectBasho.org