A family album – Chester
I bought this photograph album at a house clearance stall at a local antique fair a week or so ago. There’s no text to give any …
08 Feb
Beyond the Battlefields : Kathe Buchler
Beyond the Battlefields : Kathe Buchler
Last Thursday I went along to the opening of Beyond the Battlefields: Kathe Buchler’s Photographs of Germany WWI Grosvener Gallery, Manchester Metropolitan University, Oxford Road, M156BR …
07 Feb
Hanging print drying rack…
Hanging print drying rack…
I’ve seen these at various print studios and always thought what a great simple idea. As I’m having a clear out of equipment at the …
31 Jan
iPhone Darkroom safelight
iPhone Darkroom safelight
I really have to thank Mark Acton for this great little tip. He’d come to the studio last weekend for a wet plate refresher and …
28 Jan
Clear out time…
Clear out time…
Its time for that clear out I keep talking about, lets start with this lot… Now all on ebay 1: A large plate rack, makers initial …
24 Jan
Cyanotypes – Bedford Lemere & Co.
Cyanotypes – Bedford Lemere & Co.
I’m sure some of you are aware that I’m not a big fan of the “blueprint”. I’m far more accommodating if it’s been toned in some …
19 Jan
Woodburytypes – Men of Mark
Woodburytypes – Men of Mark
I noticed I have some gaps in my collection and thought it would be interesting to try and fill them with some affordable examples. I’ve always been …
08 Jan
Ruby ambrotypes and over-painted portraits
Ruby ambrotypes and over-painted portraits
This years first arrivals. Two heavily overpainted framed portraits of a young couple. 12×15 inch. One has a partially rubbed label to the reverse: “Porteous Art Shop 120 …
01 Jan
Happy New Year
Happy New Year
Well, it’s been a busy year. Some great wet plate events, have met some really lovely people and worked on some amazing jobs. This year I …
25 Dec
The Phantom Thread
The Phantom Thread
Today is the general cinema release of The Phantom Thread. A historical drama, written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, set in the 1950s world …
14 Dec
The Strines Journal and the Calotype
The Strines Journal and the Calotype
This blog post has sat in my draft folder for a couple of years now, I can’t believe I’ve not blogged it. Mea Culpa. The …
30 Nov
Stereographs and Lantern Slides
Stereographs and Lantern Slides
Today I started to digitise my collection of Magic Lantern Slides and Stereographs. I figured these would be the best to start putting into Omeka as they will …
27 Nov
Wooden Cash Register… Ker-ching!
Wooden Cash Register… Ker-ching!
I bought this old wooden cash register back in the summer ready for the charity wet plate events that I attend with Andy and Patrick. …
20 Nov
The Phantom Thread – Trailer
The Phantom Thread – Trailer
Back in April I did a little photography work for the new Paul Thomas Anderson movie “The Phantom Thread”, starring Daniel Day Lewis, in what …
17 Nov
Storage…
Storage…
As I’m cataloguing, and making available online, my digitised Victorian photography collection I thought it best to store them a little bit better than the …
10 Nov
Lingua Franca
Lingua Franca
I have now sorted the CSV import errors I was having with the Omeka software, so I’m now looking at standardising my vocabulary for the …
02 Nov
Digital Access Management
Digital Access Management
The past few months I’ve been looking at different ways to get my historic photographic collections searchable and online with relevant metadata and images. In the …
27 Oct
2018 Wet Plate Weekend – Guys Cliffe House
2018 Wet Plate Weekend – Guys Cliffe House
I know this is really early but we need to see how much interest there is in holding the 2018 UK Wet Plate Weekend at Guys …
16 Oct
The West Riding Asylum, Menston, Yorkshire. 1901
The West Riding Asylum, Menston, Yorkshire. 1901
It’s not often I re-blog about “proper” work related topics but I thought I’d share this image from an item we recently digitised at the John Rylands …
13 Oct
Moo cards- the reprint!
Moo cards- the reprint!
Moo cards offered to reprint my gold foil business cards because of the pooling issues. Rather than just reprint with the same problems Jonathan updated the …
07 Oct
Colin – A Wet Plate Tutorial
Colin – A Wet Plate Tutorial
Last weekend Colin came to the studio for a wet plate tutorial. His first wet plate attempts, on location at Llanthony Priory, might have left him …
28 Sep
A little carried away?
A little carried away?
My new Moo business cards arrived today and they may be a little too bling, what do you think? Last month I had similar cards made …
05 Sep
Llanthony Priory Wet Plate Weekend 2017
Llanthony Priory Wet Plate Weekend 2017
Thanks to everyone who turned up to this years Lllanthony Priory wet plate weekend. And for those who couldn’t make it, next year there is …
01 Sep
The Limehouse Golem
The Limehouse Golem
Today is the UK general cinema release of “The Limehouse Golem“, an adaptation of Peter Ackroyds novel “Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem”. Directed by Juan …
20 Aug
Slim Pickings
Slim Pickings
Popped into the local antiques fair today, slim pickings indeed, not even any crazily over priced photographic material. There were the usual boxes of postcards, cabinet …
16 Aug
Phoenix Alternative Festival 2017
Phoenix Alternative Festival 2017
Last weekend was the 2017 Phoenix Alternative Festival at Llanfyllin Workhouse. Andrew, Patrick and myself attended last year, we had a great time and raised a little …
26 Jul
Tinted Whole Plate Ambrotypes
Tinted Whole Plate Ambrotypes
To say I am very happy with these two whole plate ambrotypes would be a slight understatement. They had been advertised on Feepay for not …
20 Jul
The Jamiesons
The Jamiesons
I couldn’t resist this set of family portraits dating from February – October, 1884. I’m assuming its Father, Mother, Son and Daughter.Amazing quality and a pleasure to …
26 Jun
Argentea Gallery – A wet plate portrait session
Argentea Gallery – A wet plate portrait session
As part of the DevelopedinBirmingham program, Argentea Gallery and I hosted a two day wet plate collodion portrait event. It was booked via Eventbrite as 40 minute slots. …
22 Jun
ECW 2017
ECW 2017
Well you wait all year and its over with way too soon. It has to have been the most enjoyable European Collodion Weekends to date. …
17 Jun
Edwardian Wet Plates?
Edwardian Wet Plates?
Picked these glass plate negatives up off Feepay recently, the seller had a large number of them, I bought a handful of the better ones …
16 Jun
Bromoil printing and ambrotypes
Bromoil printing and ambrotypes
Following on from the previous blog post… I’d made three 12×15 inch ambrotypes for the Shadow Merchants exhibition. The main problem is how to mount/frame such …
16 Jun
Shadow Merchants at Argentea Gallery
Shadow Merchants at Argentea Gallery
Yesterday saw the opening of Shadow Merchants at Argentea Gallery, Birmingham, a fantastic space for photographic art.Its part of the Developed in Birmingham season celebrating the …
25 May
Jones the Chemist
Jones the Chemist
A Dry Plate (1/2) negative of Jones the Chemist. I bought this for a couple of pounds of Feepay just because of the window content. …
24 May
Rorkes Drift – a fundraising event
Rorkes Drift – a fundraising event
Last weekend Steph and I joined Andrew and Patrick in Brecon, Wales for a Rorkes Drift fundraising event in aid of Help For Heroes and other …
09 May
The Spencer Collection
The Spencer Collection
Just a very quick blog post before I head to the airport. I’m speaking at the 2+3D Photography Conference at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam tomorrow and just wanted …
08 May
The Limehouse Golem – Trailer
The Limehouse Golem – Trailer
The Limehouse Golem is due for UK release September 1st. Can you spot The John Rylands Library, Manchester? I’m intrigued to see how they’ve used my wet …
22 Apr
Korona and Collars
Korona and Collars
It’s amazing what one can find in the storage space on top of the darkroom. James had called in to pick up a portable darkroom project …