Creating a Wet-Plate Manifesto with Paul Elter

As part of the RPS Historical Group's series of talks looking at historical collections of photography, photographic archives, and those working historical and alternative processes this talk looks at Paul Elter's practice as a wet-collodion visual artist. Paul says... Over the 20 years I have been using wet-plate photography as my primary photographic process in my visual art practice, I have tried to stretch its acceptance as a contemporary art form - as it is often relegated to the side-lines of the photo-historical, (conscientious of my audience here) not that this is a negative perspective, as it is a historical process, but rather I saw the potential in the materials and materiality of wet-plate to be more than nostalgic. It was with this 300 page publication Silver Tongued that I have brought many lost threads of my practise together into one publication. It is all at the same time - luminous wet-plate photography, confessional storytelling, original poetry, and fine art bookmaking. A blend of images and narrative in equal measure. In this lecture I will briefly outline the journey through multiple publications, peer-reviewed experiments and exploring portraiture from a perspective, which was inspired out of the slow moving nature of the process itself. The culmination of this 20 year practice being my book Silver Tongued - which I hope so deliver in 45 mins or less, wish me luck! Paul Elter is an accomplished multidisciplinary artist—painter, sculptor, animator, collagist, and photographer. With his custom-modified step van that serves as both oversized camera and mobile darkroom/studio, he has journeyed across the Canadian countryside and to the edge of the Arctic Circle, capturing images of people and place. His published writings on the history and techniques of wet-plate photography reflect a deep engagement with both art and language. His work explores the handmade and the analogue notions of place and time. He has also written extensively on historic photographic processes and has been peer reviewed in scientific journals. Elter also worked for 22 years at The National Gallery of Canada leading the work on digitization and digital archiving. Silver Tongued is Elter’s third book project. His artwork and publications can be viewed online at www.elter.ca. He lives and works in Chelsea, Quebec.