Materialism

In the age of digital imaging, photography is getting virtual and intangible. We seems to forget the original form of photography and its elegance, where the image is physically burned onto a plate and ages with time.

By experimenting with collodion process, one of the early photographic technique, I hope to rediscover what a photo can be, beyond a bare image of record, and bring this beautiful form of photography back to life for people in the digital era.

The project was located in Seoul, Korea, collaborated with Yugo Ito. During the one-yar period, we set up a portable workflow to shoot wet plate photo with various subjects, such as portrait and artworks. Meanwhile dry plate process, a more complicated procedure, was also used for cityscape shooting in Seoul, as well as a few Chinese cities such as Beijing and Shanghai.

Back in the days when collodion process was in its premiere, these East Asian cities were rarely recorded using this technology. Now with better accessibility and technology, we can capture the modern cities in a traditional form of photography.

Apart from photo shooting, we also organised two dry plate workshops and exhibitions in Seoul. More than twenty participants joined the workshops and experienced the unique portrait shooting and developing experience. We hope the traditional photography process can be more known to the public by showing them the beauty of the form and experience.