Raoul Slater

Sunshine Coast National Art Prize 2024 - Finalist

_{[Image courtesy of the artist]}

Artist Statement

I’ve been working in wet-plate collodion for a year.  This was the leading photographic technology from 1851 to around the 1880’s.  A glass or metal plate is coated in gun cotton dissolved in ether and soaked in silver nitrate.  The plate is sensitive to light for as long as it is wet – about five minutes – which pins my practice to a studio and darkroom.  I’ve been learning the alchemy of the process by photographing friends, family and workmates.  Consistency is difficult, so I’ve been challenging myself to shoot multiple plates that frame well together. 

The work shows Brad and his daughter Harriet.  Brad can do anything, from breaking a horse in to playing a trumpet while tap dancing.  Harriet is a lot more personable than this photo suggests.