Simon Riddell, an artist and first responder from the Isle of Skye in Scotland, has faced the harsh elements of the Cuillin Mountain range to complete his documentary Peak Perseverance. Using the volatile wet plate collodion technique to capture images of the stunning landscape, he is also documenting his journey through PTSD and aims to …
Living in a small town in the countryside has its pros and cons. One of the pros (or cons) being that if you work in an area outside of the ordinary, most people know about it. This happened to me, living in a very small town in southern Denmark, working as a teacher at a cultural boarding school. For those that don’t know, this is a folk high school – I’m not sure how to explain it, but it’s a place where mostly young adults come to stay for 4-5 months, studying subjects out of interest and passion, without any kind of graduation. I primarily teach music, but also darkroom courses and taking photo assignments, mostly portrait work, band photos and album covers. All purely analog.
I have recently produced a series of videos that geek out on and provide various tips and tricks about various elements of the wet plate photography process, so thought I would bring them all together with a little intro to each here on 35mmc.
Inspiration is one of the most beautiful feelings for me. People who work with passion on their art/project can be very inspiring. But there are also others who have had to deal with certain situations in their life and have overcome or mastered them amazingly.
This article is about these people. And it all started with me looking for a unique lens. I have been looking for this lens for some years now and on my way to the final piece made of brass and glass I bought several other lenses. But now with the new project in my mind I wanted to finally have this one lens.
These lockdown days can be frustrating. I remember being at home for 10 rainy days. I even didn’t go in the garden because of the weather. My wet plate studio being empty and me not really a guy who shoots much still life images made it not much easier. But then I had an idea. Some time ago I helped a friend moving. He moved from a big apartment to a smaller one. That was the reason he could not keep everything and that was also the reason he gave me a video projector.
