Marek Pytel

I have always been attracted by early photography, whether it be in the area of silent film restoration, or still. Photographically I work uniquely with collodion wet plate technology dating back to the 1850's: Large format. Portraits, Models, Still Lives. 

The technique, invented in 1851 by the English sculptor Frederick Scott Archer, was 20 times faster than all previous methods. The photographer has to flow and sensitize the plate in a silver nitrate bath almost immediately before exposure and expose it and process it while the coating is still "wet". The process reigned supreme for more than 30 years and greatly increased the popularity of photography, despite the fact that wet plate collodion is unequally sensitive to different colours of the spectrum. Collodion "sees" colour differently to the human eye: Thus Red, Yellow and Green are Black or dark, whereas Blue is white or pale. (but not always...). To make matters more interesting, exposures can only be made in either daylight or under artifiiclal UV (daylight)  lighting.

Wet Plate ISO /ASA speed varies from between 1/2 to 1 ASA, depending on climatic conditions, if its dry or if its raining. Exposures can take anything up to 24 seconds.  I use a Dallmeyer lens manufactured in February 1883. Formats: Glass or Tin: 5x4, 5x7, 7x9ins.

A realistic session usually lasts from 2 to 3 hours and can produce an exposed and developed plate every 20 mins or so. The image is positive and each is unique. Of course they can be digitized and the results re-touched. But the original artefact always remains unique. 

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