OBSCURATIONS
Obscurations is a series of self-portraits made using the wet plate collodion process on 8” x 10” aluminum plates.
Obscurations is a series of self-portraits made using the wet plate collodion process on 8” x 10” aluminum plates. Each image involves a liquid pour, coating the plate with mixed chemistry to form an emulsion layer. The collodion which is poured on has a strong sharp smell as the ether evaporates off. The plate is then dipped in a silver solution for four minutes, it is removed in complete darkness and loaded into the plate holder, which is then inserted into the back of the 8” x 10” mono-rail camera. The camera has already been focused and is set, ready to expose the plate. I stand in position in frame and flash the lights 12 times with the 300mm lens almost fully open, at f/8. This takes at least 4 minutes during which time I must make sure to breathe when the lights are off during their recycling time, and to be at the same point of the inhale/exhale at each next flash. The plate must be developed while still wet, so the lights are turned off, red darkroom lights are turned on, and the plate is removed from the dark-slide so a developer pour can be coated over the plate. The pouring technique is extremely sensitive, the direction and speed and height of the bottle from the plate causes all sorts of effects. The plate is held in one hand while swiveling around to direct the fluid to all parts of the plate and dripped back into the container from which it came. Once a slight ghost image appears the plate can be placed carefully in a distilled water bath, which acts as a stop bath, stopping any further development. The next step is the fixer stage, the plate is lowered into the fixing bath to finalize the process, clear the image and dissolve any salts that were not exposed. At this point the room lights can be switched on and the magic image materializes before your eyes. Once the fixer has completely cleared the milky fluorescent looking chemistry, the plate can be washed in water for 10 minutes, after which it dries and can be varnished, another pouring technique that needs to be practiced.
I obscure my face in each image. My exploration relates to the fragmentary nature of a person that photography captures, ephemeral traces of the human self at a moment in time, not my particular identity. I stand in the same place for each image on a grey cube in a studio with a giant photographic forest background, referencing the scenography of the early photographers. The images are imperfect, full of unexpected, uncontrollable, strange marks, swirls, flashes, and subtle colors float over the surfaces. A faint scent of lavender wafts off their varnished fronts. The plates are mounted three inches off the wall and hover in a straight line across the gallery. Interspersed between the plates are high gloss black plexiglass plates the exact same size and thickness, they reflect the viewers face as they move past the self-portraits. The viewer confronts the self while looking at the Obscurations. The gesture I make with this series is in direct reverse to selfie culture, it is painfully slow, no improvements are made, no in-camera tricks are used, and my identity is obscured rather than obvious or idealized, leaving only the idea of a female human standing in place. In some ways there is a parallel to selfie culture in the sense that I mask the real face, but illusions are created through chemical mistakes or the invisible pouring technique. It is this lack of control, the alchemy and the surprises that occur in returning to this traditional analogue photography that I most enjoy.