Wetplate at the SAM

Topping off our time this year with the South Australian Museum, I ran a wetplate collodion workshop for museum members.

I used our portable darkroom out back of the museum, in the Armoury courtyard, to run the attendees through the process and it’s history, including a presentation of Roger Fenton’s ambrotypes from the Crimean War.

Roger was sent in the 1850s to cover the war by the London Times. There is a great paralell with Russia and the Ukraine and fake news!

It turned out Roger had ‘enhanced’ several of his pictures when taking them to add drama to the scene. The standout is his picture Valley of the Shadow of Death, where he moved cannon balls around to fill the scene! It should be noted that this is prior to the understanding of strict journalistic processes, and all photographers select lenses, lighting and angles to bring on the feels.

We made several plates, the best of which appear in the gallery below.