Covid has caused all of us to be creative in ways we have not been before. Because it is not currently possible for Monalog™ to schedule in-person photographic events, the Collective will be hosting a series of exciting virtual events until we and our fellow black and white analog photographers can get together. Your Covid-19 Photographic Life is the first of Monalog’s™ virtual events. This event features an intimate discussion with Monalog Collective members Michael Marks, Paul Margolis and David Haas concerning the photographic challenges they have faced during the Covid-19 pandemic.

On the first day of spring I had the opportunity to have a wonderful conversation with Marty Frank. Marty is a sensitive photographer, as well as a practicing physician who strikes an important balance between work and artistic passion.  We discuss the parallels in his professional and photographic lives as well as and the challenges he has faced during the pandemic. Check out our conversation!

This past weekend I had the opportunity to have a far ranging conversation with Jim Fitzgerald. For those that don’t know Jim well, not only is he a wonderful photographer, but he is a master of carbon transfer printing, a maker of handmade books and a camera builder!  Check out our conversation!

Michael Marks

Wet Plate Collodion Photography requires that:

• The plates be coated (“flowed”) and sensitized immediately prior to use.
• The exposure, development, and fixing processes must be completed within 15 minutes of the sensitization. Otherwise, the collodion will dry out rendering the plate a failure.

When working in a studio the 15-minute window for processing is usually not an issue as the darkroom is generally located in close proximity to the studio.

However, when working in the field, the photographer must bring a dark box/room to the location in order to complete the entire  process in the field.

The field dark box/room must be portable, completely light tight, and large enough to allow processing plates in the size selected by the photographer.

There are several commercially available and DIY options for portable field dark box/rooms:

DARKBOXES have two basic designs:

1. Designed to allow your hands and arms to be inside the darkbox while the photographer sits or stands outside the darkbox in the daylight and looks through a safelight window (usually red rubylith).
2. Designed to allow the photographer to walk into or sit/stand in front of a three-sided box/cabinet and wrap a very large curtain of darkcloth around the box/cabinet and him/herself creating a light-tight fourth side to the box/cabinet.

XXX-Large film changing bags and bench top sand blasting cabinets have also been repurposed as darkboxes. Typically, the darkbox is set up on a three-legged stand, in the back of an SUV, on the tailgate of a pickup truck, or on a table. DIY wooden darkboxes are very popular … plans & photos are easily found on the web.

DARKROOMS can generally be repurposed vans, box trucks, trailers, camping tents, ice fishing tents, and grow tents with modifications to insure a light tight space.

After exploring these DIY and commercial options on various wet plate collodion web sites and forums I decided that a grow tent would be the best choice for me because I wanted to be able to be IN the space, move around, stand up, and sit down.  I did NOT want to reach into a box to work.

I chose the CoolGrows grow tent for its’ size, portability, price, and ease of set up.

Size:  4 feet x 4 feet x 7 feet 8 inches

Weight:  26.5 pounds

Set up time:  15 minutes

Price:  $91.00

My portable darkroom is large enough for me to use a 4×2 foot folding table inside giving me almost the same working area that I use in my home-based darkroom. Plenty of room without bumping into the walls when moving around. High enough with a flat roof so that I can easily stand anywhere in the tent and hang my safelight from the ceiling. All my chemicals, cooler (when needed), wash water, and waste container for liquids to be carried home for disposal, store easily under the table.

Drew Wagner

This is the question that I hear most frequently when discussing photography with friends, family, acquaintances, and passers-by.

I have never had an issue getting the film type that I wanted. I shoot TriX, TMax, J. Lane Dry plates, and make my own wet plate collodion plates.

I got to thinking about how many other companies still make film.

A recent web search for BLACK & WHITE NEGATIVE FILM available in the US turned up 25 companies producing 62 types of film!

Below is my list of companies with the number of film types that they offer. (I am sure that there are more!)

Adox 2                                             Kentmere 2

Agfa 2                                              Kodak 5

Arista 3                                            Kona 3

Astrum 2                                          Liquid Emulsion 1

Cat Labs 1                                        Lomography 4

CineStill 1                                        Pictoriographica 2

Ferrania 1                                        Revolog 1

FilmWashi 2                                    Rerapan 2

Foma 4                                             Rollei 8

Fuji 5                                                Silberra 1

Holga 1                                            StreetCandy 1

Ilford 8                                             UltrafineXtreme 1

JCH 1                                                Xray (multiple manufacturers)

Drew Wagner

Over the years I’ve been asked how I make my carbon prints. The key to carbon printing is patience! There are many steps one must do before you even make a print. It take a lot of time to understand the variables in play with this process and finding the “balance” as I like to call it is the key to success. I have developed my techniques over the years to allow me to print almost any negative. Once you understand how to use the controls it is amazing what you can do. I teach this process at my home studio in Vancouver Washington. When we get the Covid monster under control I hope to continue teaching as it gives me great joy to pass along what I know to others. The following is just a bit of what you need to do.

Trying to simplify this complex process is not easy but I will try. First one must have a negative to print in contact with a pigmented gelatin substrate. Mine are 8×10, 8×20, 11×14 and 14×17 negatives.

I manufacture what is called “tissue” which is a substrate coated with a pigmented gelatin. This process takes an entire day. Once dry, generally 4-5 days of curing is needed, the pigmented tissue is coated with a light sensitive liquid, Ammonium Dichromate. This is allowed to dry for 3 hours.

A negative is placed in contact with the pigmented tissue and exposed to ultra violet light. I use a graphic arts plate burner. The negative is then separated from the tissue and the tissue is brought into contact with a final support medium under water in a cold-water transfer bath. This sandwich is then squeegeed together on glass then covered and weighted and allowed to “mate” for a half of an hour.

Developing the image is done in a tray of warm water. Once the tissue is softened it is removed from the final support and the image is developed in the warm water to completion.

Each handmade print is unique unto itself and no two are identical. Some may exhibit a beautiful “relief” visible texture and some a subtle relief. Many variables come into play and some of them can cause failure. Still carbon transfer prints are considered to be some of the finest and most archival prints any collector can own. It is considered the “Process of Royalty.”

Jim Fitzgerald