Olivia photographed on collodion

Collodion photography is currently popular due to its unique and different look, especially when compared to digital photography.

I've been doing wet collodion photography for about four years now, but I'm still learning new things. The only way to achieve consistent results is to practice what you want to be skilled and perfect at. The same goes for this type of photography technique.
I have been photographing my daughter Olivia on collodion for about three and a half years, and during this time I have noticed a certain improvement in myself and, most importantly, an understanding of the countless mistakes that people make, especially in the beginning.

Since I prepare all the chemicals myself, I can control the entire process from the beginning to the final varnishing of the board. Any mistakes made by incorrectly mixed chemicals are therefore entirely my own.

I mainly shoot collodion outdoors and it is always a big challenge. Especially if I want to achieve not only compositionally but also technically high-quality results. Everything is created by hand and you have to face dust, wind and other outdoor hazards and unplanned surprises. Therefore, it is almost impossible in these conditions to ensure that something does not settle on the wet collodion, which is difficult to get rid of. Usually, cleaning the fine collodion layer results in irreversible damage to it.

That's why I always admire the quality of the original wet collodion photographs, which were created more than a hundred years ago and are almost perfect in terms of technical quality for me.

Preparation for the entire process is very important. The actual photo shoot is often physically demanding, but very interesting.

And most importantly, you create your own work. A physical work, an image, if you will, a photograph, which I perceive as a reflection of a given moment in a silvery surface. An image that is displayed on a plate and is a record of the incidence of light through the glass, mostly old lenses that have served flawlessly for decades.
Collodion is an experience for me, and the gradual discovery of content after being doused with developer has not yet become commonplace for me.
As my friend says Borut Peterlin. „"It's better to have black fingers from silver nitrate than red eyes from a monitor."“