Eye Thought

By: carlradford

Mar 11 2010

Category: Uncategorized

1 Comment

In March 1851, Frederick Scott Archer described an application of salted Collodion on sheets of glass for the purpose of making glass plate negatives. Archer detailed a process where potassium iodide was combined with a solution of diluted Collodion (diluted with alcohol and ether), applied to a glass plate, which was then immersed in a silver nitrate bath resulting in a light-sensitive layer of silver iodide. Unlike the handful of processes before Collodion, Archer did not patent the process, and received nothing from photographers using it. He gave it to the world and asked for nothing in return. He died on May 1, 1857, a few years after its invention. He was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery in an unmarked grave.

At the end of 2008, a group of artists, called, The Collodion Collective, started working together on a plan to both honor Frederick Scott Archer and to put a headstone on his grave.

The collective created a “World Wet Plate Collodion Day”. They invited Collodion artists from all over the world to make plates on May 2, 2009. The response was tremendous—51 artists from 13 countries and three continents participated in the event. They created 82 Wet Plate Collodion images on that day. These images were compiled and published in a book called World Wet Plate Collodion Day 2009. The collective sold the book and solicited donations to raise for Archer’s headstone and the ceremony.

Along with the book, the collective put together an exhibition of Collodion work for the Dissenters’ Gallery. This work is from a select group of the artists that participated in World Wet Plate Collodion Day 2009.

The book is available online until May 8, 2010 at www.blurb.com

On Saturday, May 1, 2010, at 10 am  the Collodion Collective  will gather at Kensal Green Cemetery in London, England, to celebrate the life and contributions of Frederick Scott Archer. They will unveil a headstone for Archer, open an exhibition of Collodion work in honor of Archer and demonstrate the Wet Plate Collodion process that Frederick Scott Archer invented.

The headstone, ceremony, and exhibition were paid for by selling, “The World Wet Plate Collodion Day” book and through private donations. The Collodion images that will be exhibited in the Dissenter’s Gallery will also be auctioned and the proceeds will go toward the event. There are 51 artists from 13 countries and three continents represented in the book. They all used Archer’s process to make art for “Wet Plate Collodion Day”, May 2, 2009 (www.wetplateday.org).

The ceremony will consist of a brief speech about Archer’s life and contributions to photography, an unveiling of the headstone on his grave, and a live Wet Plate Collodion demonstration. In addition to this, the exhibition in the Dissenters’ Gallery will feature 22 Collodion artists – some of the best from the book.

For more information about attending, please contact Quinn Jacobson (wetplate@gmail.com) or Carl Radford (carl@carls-gallery.co.uk).

Kensal Green Cemetery

Harrow Road

London W10 4RA, UK

Tel. +44 (0) 7904 495012

www.kensalgreen.co.uk

The above information has been adapted from the official information and press release about this event that was primarily written by Quinn Jacobson.