Ciarán Walsh, Self portrait, Ambrotype, 2014.
What does it take to take a photograph these days? 4 billion photos a day are uploaded unto Facebook (grandparents), Snapchat (Lovers), Twitter (Networkers/chatters) and Instagram (wannabe photographers) – photographs taken in a flash and flashed over in a second.
Recently I did a workshop with Monica Zabinczyck in the Gallery of Photography in Dublin using a process that dates from the 1850s which is gaining popularity among younger photographers who want to go back into the darkroom and experience the mystery, alchemy and magic of turning silver salts black and watching an image appear out of the ether! 7 to 30 second exposures and silvery plate glass pictures to hold.
I participated in the workshop as part of his research for ‘Tríd an Lionsa/ Through the Lens‘ a six part TV documentary on photography in Ireland for `Sibéal Teo, Dingle, commissioned by TG4 with funding from the BAI (Broadcasting Authority of Ireland).
The workshop was intensive and a little challenging. Its 25 years since I had been in a darkroom but Monika took each of us through the process, calmly and efficiently. Large format (4×5 inches) cameras were used with artificial and natural light to take portrait and still life shot varying from 7 to 50 second exposures, Some worked, some didn’t but The excitement of seeing an image develop in the darkroom was something I had forgotten about and it was a tremendous surprise on the day. The complexity of the chemical processes and, the speed required to ‘get’ the image before the plate dries or overdevelops really makes one reconsider the work done by Timothy O’Sullivan and other photographers during the American Civil War.
Monika Fabijanczyk demonstrating the wet collodion process during a one day workshop in the Gallery of Photography in Dublin.
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Ballymaclinton 