Photographer Giles Clement has performed some interesting experiments, such as mounting a large format camera to a drone. He also made his own 16×20 camera, and it all started as a sketch on a bar napkin. He uses his DIY camera to create stunning wet plate ambrotypes, and he shared with DIYP how he got to build this camera himself.
This photographer turned a house into a camera to shoot the world’s largest wet plate photograph
As a fan of wet plate collodion, I’ve been following the work of photographer Ian Ruhter for a few years now. I first found him after he converted a truck into a huge mobile wet plate camera. He then built a camera to make the world’s largest ambrotypes, as large as 46×59″ (117x150cm).
Now, Ian’s gone even bigger, to try to take the world record. So, he and his team, Silver & Light, turned an abandoned house into a huge wet plate camera to make an insane 66×90″ (167x229cm) ambrotype on a 200lb sheet of glass.
The world’s largest wet plate camera captures heart warming personal stories
After building his amazing truck camera, Ian Ruhter went traveling across the US, taking huge wet plate photos. During the filming of a documentary about the residents in Slab City, Ian was attempting to make the world’s largest ambrotype. Actor Gary Oldman joined Ian on set and documented his process, as a colleague and a friend.
This collaboration and their friendship led to creating a short movie “The Carnival of Dreams”, the last installment of Ian’s Silver & Light project. It depicts the bond between colleagues, friends, loved ones and soulmates. It also shows the process that takes place within this journey, the stories of people they’ve met in Slab city and the amazing ambrotype portraits they made.
Photographer explains how to create and shoot wet plate photography
In the modern digital world, what is it that fascinates us about photography techniques that died out maybe a hundred years or more ago?
Whatever it is, you can satisfy your desires a little bit with this video featuring wet plate photographer David Rambow, who walks us through his thoughts and process when working in this medium.
The Evolution of Cameras and Portraits in 11 Images
We’ve all seen photos from the early days of photography, and we all know how far imaging technology has come over the years, but how did we go from long-exposure self-portraits to instant selfies?
In this video we are taken on a historical journey with COOPH photographer Leo Rosas through the evolution of cameras and portraits.
Using one model and a whole lot of Photoshop, Leo recreated eleven essential milestones in photographic history.
FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!