Artisans of Dartmoor - Book - Page 55
THE PHOTOGRAPHER
Using one of the earliest photographic methods, Nicky Thompson
shoots striking wet-plate collodion portraits of her community
N
icky Thompson wades knee-deep into the river,
silhouetted against the glare of the midday sun.
Positioning herself in front of her subjects – two
swimmers resting on mossy boulders – she huddles
beneath a ruby-red cape and sets her vintage camera
to record the scene with a 19th-century photographic
process that allows no room for error. With a
six-second exposure, the pair must stay completely
still despite the stiff breeze because even the slightest
movement will ruin the image. This is their third
attempt – and with clouds rolling in, the last. A few
minutes later, in a mobile darkroom on the riverbank,
Nicky sees a silvery, dreamlike image of the
swimmers appear on a pane of glass. At last.
Dating from the 1850s, wet-plate collodion is
one of the world’s earliest photography techniques,
which demands an immense amount of patience,
both from the photographer and the subject. For
Nicky, this is all part of the appeal. “I love the
ceremony of it,” she says. “Preparing the chemistry,
setting up the camera, opening the shutter,
developing, fixing and finally holding a beautiful
glass photograph in my hands. Even though I
understand the science, every time I see an image
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