Over the years, I’ve worked in the photographic industry as an assistant, agent, retoucher and printmaker.
Of course, I’ve also worked as a photographer but I don’t really count it as work — photography is a medium that’s pumping through my veins and simply a large part of who I am.
I feel like I’ve carried a camera for as long as I can remember — at least since my grandmother gave me an old Kodak Instamatic at the age of nine anyway…
Today, I make my photographs exactly as the Victorians used to between the 1850s and 1880s using a process known as Wet Plate Collodion.
The photographs are made directly onto glass or metal. The whole procedure — from sensitising the plate through to developing and fixing it — is carried out using a portable darkbox or, more recently, in Neena (my decommissioned NHS ambulance).
Unlike many contemporary photographic processes, each plate is unique, unreproducible and irreplaceable — a true one-off.
I’m currently planning The Lifeboat Station Project, news of which will gradually unfold here. In the meantime, whet your appetite with this short clip put together by the BBC.
Contact Me…
If you’re interested in buying any of the work on these pages or you’d like me to make a photograph for you, please use the Contact Me page to get in touch.
I’ll look forward to hearing from you…
Jack Lowe
2nd July 2014, Newcastle upon Tyne
