This short film offers a rare look into the dark room of German photographer Andreas Reh, who holds a special place in Mask Series mythology, as he was the first photographer to sign up, thereby helping to take the project from a dream held by a lone wet-plater in a dark room in Bismarck, North Dakota to an international creative collaboration.
What I particularly love about this film is not just that it shows the development process in real time, but that the music has been exquisitely chosen to reflect the often meditative nature of the collodion process. Here, Andreas is seen fixing a wetplate collodion image (Ambrotype) on clear glass, 18x24cm, using standard acetic iron sulfate developer and sodium thiosulfate as the fixer.
When you see the final image, set against its black background, you begin to see where Andreas’ impressive reputation stems from…

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