#62 Simon Riddell - Wet Plate Saved My Life

2022-11-26

From Simon’s website - “I specialise in analogue and alternative forms of photography, this is my passion. Currently, I'm immersed in practicing the art of Victorian wet plate photography, invented in 1851 the process is still to be rivalled today. There are only a small number of people worldwide practicing wet plate. I became an artist in 2016, travelling through various analogue and darkroom disciplines. In 2021 I won a global wedding award for my natural portraiture. I also worked closely with Channel 4 on the set of SAS: Who Dares Wins. ...

I became an artist in 2016, travelling through various analogue and darkroom disciplines. In 2021 I won a global wedding award for my natural portraiture. I also worked closely with Channel 4 on the set of SAS: Who Dares Wins.

I have a bespoke studio and darkroom located at the top of the picturesque Nigg Hill, Ross-Shire, in the Scottish Highlands. The rest of my time is spent in the Isle of Skye, where I'm currently immersed in the Skye Collodion Project”.

And….. so very much we didn’t talk about.

If he survives his daring adventure up a mountain, in December, with wet collodion…..then I’m sure we will have him back on to finish the story…….

With Simon though, we are not at all sure there will be an ending in sight.

Things we chatted about on the show:

Andrew met Simon at the Photography Show in Birmingham and sat in awe as he presented some images from his widely publicised “Mental Collodion” body of work. If you aren’t familiar with this visual exploration of one man’s recovery from depression and PTSD then maybe take a look at these links.

MentalCollodion with Simon Riddell (srfilmphotography.co.uk)

Introducing MentalCollodion: Shining light on mental health struggles - EMULSIVE

As we knew Simon was embarking on a project called #PeakPerserverence and that part of this “adventure” would involve filming a documentary with footage from the trip and interviews with mental health professionals we thought we would start there.

Simon is trying to raise some extra cash for the trip and has a Go Fund Me page which explain more about the project.

https://www.srfilmphotography.co.uk/peakperseverance

https://www.gofundme.com/f/peak-perseverance-documentary

One of the therapies Simon has used with great success is EMDR, we didn’t really go into any detail in the chat but here is a link.

What is EMDR? - EMDR Institute - EYE MOVEMENT DESENSITIZATION AND REPROCESSING THERAPY

Simon and his fellow adventurers will spend time on the Cuillin Ridge helped by Mountain Guide Adrian Trendall – you can read more about this environment and Adrian here.

All Things Cuillin

One (and there are a few) of the challenges of using wet plates on a mountain, in December is the lack of washing water so he has asked Steve at Chroma Camera to make a “holding tank” for his plates, which can be filled with water to stabilise the exposed plates for later washing.

Chroma Camera Ltd

Our Erik mentioned this Eric – who also does things up mountains.

Eric Bouvet | Paris | Facebook

Simon has had lots of help and encouragement from Markus Hofstatter, Borut Peterlin and Shane Balkowitsch.

Markus Hofstätter (@mhaustria) • Instagram photos and videos

Borut Peterlin Photography – Borut Peterlin is a fine art photographer and educator, dealing with wet plate collodion process, albumen printing, salt printing, carbon printing and woodburytype printing processes

Shane Balkowitsch Wet Plate Collodion Ambrotype Photography

And whilst we were referencing inspirational wet plate photographers we had to mention our buddy Dave Shrimpton.

https://daveshrimpton.co.uk/

LFPP links -

https://largeformatphotographypodcast.podbean.com/

ko-fi.com/largeformatphotographypodcast

You can join in the fun at our Facebook Group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2296599290564807/

And now our Flikr group curated by Colin Devroe

https://www.flickr.com/groups/lfpp/

Get Twitter updates for the show from Andrew –

https://twitter.com/warboyssnapper