Traditional Photographic and Printing Processes
Traditional photographic printing processes such as cyanotypes, daguerreotypes, tintypes and other wet plate methods have always interested me. It's partly due to the history behind the methods but also the look and feel of the finished artwork, and of course the art, craft and effort that goes into each masterpiece. Each image is a unique one-off.
Traditional photographic and printing processes such as cyanotypes, daguerreotypes, tintypes and other wet plate methods have always interested me. It's partly due to the history behind the methods but also the look and feel of the finished artwork, and of course the art, craft and effort that goes into each masterpiece. Each image is a unique one-off.
Nowadays, the digital brigade has gotten in on the act and there are software analogue emulators that will do some of the heavy lifting work for the avid photographer who wants to try these techniques out without the huge investment in learning and the specialised equipment. This is convenient but loses so much of ethos and magic which makes the traditional methods much more appealing to me.
Having said that, I'm here in Nashville to shoot a music festival with an assortment of 35mm cameras (digital and film), an instant film camera and an iPhone with an app on it called Hipstamatic. And, you guessed it, this app has some emulators for mimicking C-Type and D-Type plate film and lenses.
So, one of my side projects for the trip is to try it out and get some portraits of the artists that I get to work with while I'm here. I'll put together a wee montage of images on my return.
An artist I admire greatly who works with the traditional methods is Emil Ryge. Emil uses Wet Plate Collodion and he made a fantastic image of Andy Washington who is a very familiar character in the music circles that I mix in. Emil and Andy have given me permission to use the image to illustrate the method and the results that can be achieved using the traditional analogue method.
Andy Washington - Wet Plate Collodion by Emil Ryge
You can see more of Emil's work by clicking here.
Digital methods are no competition for the analogue methods and one day soon I will try out the traditional method. In the meantime, I'm gonna be lazy and use the app.
Americanafest 2016 - Nashville
About five years ago the people behind the highly entertaining Channel 4 TV series - The Black Cab Sessions, made an offshoot tv show which travelled to the USA to visit several cities that have had a significant impact on modern music. The producers shipped out a London black cab and crew, and drove around the country visiting these cities, picking up notable musical talent along the way for interviews and sessions in the back of the cab. It was a novel idea and made for good informative entertainment.
About five years ago the people behind the highly entertaining Channel 4 TV series - The Black Cab Sessions, made an offshoot tv show which travelled to the USA to visit several cities that have had a significant impact on modern music. The producers shipped out a London black cab and crew, and drove around the country visiting these cities, picking up notable musical talent along the way for interviews and sessions in the back of the cab. It was a novel idea and made for good informative entertainment.
The whole series was enjoyable, but the episode that caught my attention was the one about Nashville (watch it here: https://vimeo.com/23215543). And it wasn't for the obvious reason that I like country rock n roll music. No, it was because of the blossoming independent music scene that was developing there. It was a scene where both young and old musicians were turning their back on the city's huge corporate enterprises that dominate the entire country music business, and going alone. I was impressed.
The programme makers illustrated how this was intrinsically linked to one of their newest high profile residents - Jack White, who had decided to settle there and continue to build his own musical empire - Third Man Records.
I liked what I saw and what I heard, and decided to include Nashville in my plan, which was a solo road trip and musical pilgrimage to the southern states, an area of the USA which has driven my musical tastes for the past ten years or so. The road trip took place in Autumn 2013 and is the subject of a different story. Suffice to say, Nashville lived up to its premise and I had a great time there.
Now, three years later, I have another trip planned to Nashville next week, but this time it's a very different situation. I've been commissioned by Country Music People UK Magazine (http://www.cmpcountry.com), to photograph various events and artists at Americanafest 2016. Americanafest is a huge event organised by the Americana Music Association. The festival includes five days of gigs all across the city and also workshops and conference events. That's not forgetting the 15th Annual Honours and Awards ceremony which is held at the famous Ryman Auditorium and hosted by Jim Lauderdale.
For Country Music People, I will be working with Janet Aspley who as well as being a fine journalist is also a successful bespoke garment maker and makes shirts for stars of the Americana music scene both in the States and the UK. Check out Janet's work on her web site here: https://dandyandrose.com
Since Nashville 2013 my music photography 'hobby' has developed (pardon the pun), into a real job. As part of this job I have had the opportunity to photograph some of the UK and international artists that will be appearing at Americanafest 2016. I am intending to catch up with them over there as well as attending many other shows and gigs along the way.
What follows is a small collection of my photos of some of the artists that will be performing in Nashville at Americanafest 2016. Maybe I'll see you there......
Danny Wilson and Dandy & Rose
I don't normally publish colour images of my photos; I'm a black & white photographer predominantly. But I made an exception when Janet Aspley contacted me for a colour version of a photograph of Danny Wilson from Danny & the Champions of the World.
Janet is a bespoke shirtmaker and her company is called Dandy & Rose. Danny was sporting his new Dandy & Rose shirt at his Louisiana gig in Bristol last week when I took this photograph.
Dandy & Rose make beautiful, western style shirts in bold prints. Janet's shirts are worn by many musicians including other members of the Champions, but they are available to all. She has many customers in one of my favourite places: Nashville - Music City. Take a look at the Dandy & Rose web site here. www.dandyandrose.com
One of Janet's missions is to rid the world of check shirts, and since she told me that I can't stop spotting check shirts everywhere, including in my wardrobe.
I'll be organising a fitting very soon.
Incidentally, I think black and white photographs of bold prints are also quite striking. But obviously if one wants to promote a shirt print, colour is the way forward.