Kickstarter

I will publish a catalogue of my work in the form of a 32-page tabloid newspaper called RELAMPAGO FOTO—printed on 54 lb. coated stock paper instead of newsprint—a craft quality art book offered in a traditional mass-produced medium.

PROJECT IN DEPTH

As Minor White puts it, “While camera records superbly, it transforms better! Camera transforms so successfully that, among other things, what Else things are is a photograph!... The documentary photograph, the literal image, is the ultimate illusion… because the documentary perpetuates the illusion that life itself is the only reality.”

(Work cited: White, Minor. Mirrors Messages Manifestations. New York: Aperture Books, 1969. p. 106).

The nature of wet plate collodion fotography is that it leaves out some things while enhancing others, producing the dramatic effect it is known for. RELAMPAGO draws on wet-plate's historical tradition of exploration and documentation, but adds an element of pretend...

Through pretending, RELAMPAGO plays with people's levels of openness, comfort, boundaries, tastes, insecurities, playfulness... and their direct impression of me.

In RELAMPAGO, participants will collaborate with me in a fictional foto-narrative, creating wet-plate family portraits where I, the stranger, pose as a member of other people's families.

Some people will enjoy pretending... for others it will be asking to let me in to their lives in an uncomfortable way... Like lightning, I am an inconvenience landing in the middle of things, for just this moment...

Posing inside other people's homes, in front of tourist attractions, in studio settings, we will collaborate to decide which member of the family I will be... I could be your son, long lost brother, partner, father of your children, cousin, uncle…

Who would you accept me to pretend to be?

Who wouldn't you let me pretend to be?

RELAMPAGO is mobile because of the importance of moving ahead, of seeking beyond—it involves give and take, being in a vulnerable state—but offers the opportunity to find MORE.

WHY FOTOS / WHAT IS PROCESS?

For RELAMPAGO I’ve chosen to work specifically with wet-plate fotography because the magical process and collaborative experience it entails—the vulnerability, the luck and chance—are central to my art practice.

In contrast to modern digital or film processes, in the wet-plate collodion technique, precious chemicals are mixed by hand using 19th century formulas and technology to create strong, gorgeous images directly on solid metal plates.

Every plate is sensitized, exposed and developed right on the spot while the chemicals are wet; subjects must pose for up to 30 seconds, and each image is a one shot deal... each plate one-of-a-kind.

And there’s no traditional negative. That light reflecting from you through the camera to the wet plate—its making direct contact, this is your physical photograph, this is a treasure—but really the process the experience is the gold, this rig of alchemy I haul around on my bike, the interaction between you and me trying to coax this miracle out of chemicals and contraptions and light.

Wet-plate fotography carries a tradition of mobility, adventure, exploration, engagement. In horsedrawn caravans or with giant backpacks, wet plate fotographers set off to document the Civil War, the Crimean War, and the unknown Great American West. In lieu of a horse, my motorcycle hauls my equipment and materials, and instead of wars I am documenting people.

PROJECT EXTENSION

RELAMPAGO as a project will continue when I take my rig south to Tijuana in collaboration with artist Alberto Caro to investigate and engage the people who make up our dynamic sister-city, and produce a second catalogue of images in a Newspaper format. Collaborating with another contemporary artist I will extend the possibilities of documenting and experimenting with wet-plate fotography.

HERE ARE THE PROJECT EXPENSES

Chemicals and materials---(collodion, silver nitrate and plates)

Publishing costs of the newspaper

Lighting---wet plate relies on daylight and long exposure times. With a strobe flash I'll be able to fotograph indoors and at night.