Category Finalist 2010: Experimental

Éric Antoine

As I was collecting ambrotypes for years, I always wanted to learn the process. Last year, I finally found someone who could teach me. After a few months of experiments and many hours in the lab, I managed to make my own collodion ambrotype using chemicals bought at the local pharmacy and glass from the closest DIY store. Even though the process is complicated and long, it's pure freedom for me.

My main goal with this process was to shoot large format portraits and eventually adapt it to skateboarding. As the speed used for wet plates is 1 ISO, it's almost impossible to shoot fast movement so the only way to bring wet plates to skateboarding was to use the collodion wet plates for print. I then shot this photo of Eniz Fazliov, one of my favorite skateboarders, developed the film and printed the image on a collodion wetplate that was later scanned. The result is a very light 4x5" piece of glass.

I really enjoy the very organic feeling of holding such a photograph and this one was my first try. It's got tons of stains and defects that are part of this unpredictable beauty that I'm looking for in photography. I like to contradict the idea, which most photographers have, that an image should be as clean as possible. I persist with the idea to stay dirty.

PHOTO INFO

Photographer: Éric Antoine
Athletes: Eniz Fazliov
Location: Tenerife, Spain

TECHNICAL INFO

Camera: Hasselblad 501cm
Lens: Distagon 30mm
ISO: 100
F-Stop: 5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/500