Posted on June 21st, 2010 in Europe | Leave A Comment
It seems I’ve closed one chapter of my life and am ready for the next one.
As I look back over the last year (2009/2010), I see what I’ve done and I’m amazed and incredibly satisfied. Having these kinds of opportunities (Paris exhibition, Archer Project, etc.) is a rare and wonderful thing.
Henry David Thoreau said, "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation". For the most part, I would agree with that. They’re desperate because they are clueless about their purpose. The trick is to find your passion and pursue it with everything you have. Take risks, push your boundaries, and never quit. Passion is what we need more of - and I don’t mean passion as in fundamental religions or passions that hurt people. I’m talking about a personal passion - it’s always a positive thing, an asset to society, not a liability. Finding out why you are here and what you’re supposed to be doing with your life is what we need to be asking ourselves. For the past 10 or 15 years, maybe more, I’ve been preoccupied with this idea and have done my best to be honest in its pursuit.
How do you define success? Happiness? Satisfaction? Is it relative? I’m not sure. Regardless of the definition, at this moment in my life I would have to mark 9/10 in all of the categories. I feel accomplished, appreciated and am very happy. Over the last few years in Europe, I’ve met some of the most kind and wonderful people in the world. Every color, nationality, race and religion - all beautiful, interesting people that helped me get to this point. I can’t thank them enough for the difference they’ve made in my life.
I’ve talked a lot about stepping out of the spotlight. I’m beginning that process now. Some of it will be a little bit sad for me. I’ll miss doing some of the things that I’ve been doing for a long time. However, it’s time to move on and experience the next chapter/adventure of my life. I know it’s time.
My exhibition in Paris (Centre Iris) just ended. It was successful beyond words. I’m eternally grateful and thankful for Pierre, Olivier, Benoît, William, Patrick, Bruno, and all of the students in my workshops; almost thirty of you! I would also like to thank all of the sitters that came for portraits. I ended up making almost 175 portraits of Parisians over the last few months. Talk about a body of work! I heard some of the kindest comments and had the honor of making portraits of some very important people in the world of photography. Merci beacoup! It was my honor and pleasure. And finally, Jeanne and Summer, I love you! What an adventure! I could have never, ever done this without you! Hugs, kisses, and someday we’ll be having some more Chinese ravioli and Japanese Sushi in Paris!
There are some wonderful things ahead for me (art/photographically). I’m looking forward to sharing them when the time is right. Summer will be starting her studies in August and we (Jeanne and I) may have some big changes ahead, too. We’ll see. For right now, let’s say the operative word is: CHANGE. Change is good. Change presents opportunity. Don’t fear change.
One more thing; I wanted to share some images I’m sending to Washington D.C. for an exhibition. This is Benoît, a Parisian artist and filmmaker. I call this, "Three Portraits in Paris: Chopin’s Left Hand". You get it, I don’t need to explain it. However, the Parisian model with black eyes may be a different story…
"Three Portraits in Paris: Chopin’s Left Hand", Triptych - Whole Plate Black Glass Ambrotypes
"Parisian Model With Black Eyes", - Whole Plate Black Glass Ambrotype
This is Gwen, she was the sweetest lady you could meet. I made two plates of her, I kept this one.
If you would like to see a small (very small – 12 images) sample of the portraits I made in Paris, you can go here. Please forgive the low quality of the images, they were “snapped” with my small digital point and shoot. There are about 150 I never got snaps of!
Posted on May 22nd, 2010 in Art & Theory, Collodion Images, Collodion Workshops, Europe | Leave A Comment
France 3 TV’s piece about Quinn’s exhibition in Paris at Centre Iris Gallery.
France 3 TV just aired this piece this week. The spot is about my work and the Wet Plate Collodion process. They also show a lot of images from my exhibition in Paris at the Centre Iris Gallery. The video is a copy from a monitor, but hopefully I’ll get a DVD next month and I’ll put it on my site (high res). It’s a really good piece - very “top shelf”. I’m very pleased. Enjoy!
Posted on May 4th, 2010 in Europe | Leave A Comment
We did it. I still can’t believe that I’m sitting here in London (Heathrow airport) with glass plates in my bag of Archer’s new plaque surrounded by the people that made all of this all happen.  And I have an Aluminum plate of the dead Fox – also known as, “The Death of Fox Talbot.”
Carl Radford made a very nice introduction and John Brewer did an excellent job of presenting Archer with historically correct information. Archer was never without a headstone, but he wasn’t ever recognized for what he did. That’s where we came in.
The unveiling was very special. The very moment Carl and I lifted the black cloth from the plaque on Archer’s grave, the clouds parted and the sun shined bright and beautiful on all of us. A very good sign. A confirmation, if you will, that it was right to do this (see Kim Conway’s photo below). It was moving. I really hope Alastair got that bit on video, it was the pinnacle for me (well, there were many, but this was special).
 There were almost 50 people at Archer’s grave. More and more came throughout the day to see the process he invented and to see the wonderful Collodion exhibition. All of it was very well received. Thanks to Tim Soar and Adam Brown for presenting the work properly – a wonderful job, indeed. Adam’s going to be hanging out in the gallery on a Sunday here and there. Stop by, see the work.
The Friends of Kensal Green, Barry Smith, in particular, was a kind and gracious host. He gave us some private tours and shared his passion with us: the history of some very interesting and important people in Kensal Green. We also shared a couple of pints with him. A wonderful experience: it’s all about connecting.
It was a great honor for me to be a part of all of this, a pinnacle in both my personal life and my artistic career. The people I’ve met and the places I’ve been because of this process are the reasons I wanted to do this. Archer made this happen for me. I’m not saying we’ve “paid him back”, but I hope, in some small way, we’ve made a difference for him/his memory and for everyone working in the Wet Plate Collodion process.
P.S.
”The Death of Fox Talbot” - This is an image (whole plate Alumitype) of a dead fox. It was about 150 meters from Archer’s grave. The poor thing probably laid down on the tomb to either get warm or cool off and died (who knows of what). It smelled terrible, of course, but I couldn’t help but make an image of it. Being orange/red in color and lying on a gray slab, Collodion translated dark. I think you get the idea though. I thought the eye and teeth were stunning and spooky.
Also, we still have a selection of donated work for sale. If you are interested, please contact me or Carl (carl@carls-gallery.co.uk) and we’ll show you what we have. I haven’t had a chance to upload the photos yet, it may be easier just to email one of us.
Thank you, thank you, thank you – to everyone that donated, helped, attended, etc. It was a great pleasure working with all of you.
Posted on April 15th, 2010 in Art & Theory, Education, Europe, travel | Leave A Comment
Next month, on May 1, the exhibition, “In Honour of Archer” will open in London. There will be close to thirty  pieces of artwork in the show. All of the work is Collodion or Collodion-based from artists all over the world working in the Collodion process. I can’t over emphasize the importance of this exhibit and event. Not only for today, moreover, for posterity.
Every once in a while, there’s an opportunity to contribute and be involved in something that will be far more important in the future than it is today. The problem is being able to recognize those opportunities and then having the chutzpah to make the sacrifices to get “some skin in the game”.
“In Honour of Archer”, is one of those opportunities that I can say with great confidence, will take its place in history. It’s bigger than all of us. It’s its own thing, like a mountain so high that it generates its own weather system. It has its own energy, we’re just trying to keep up.
The work presented in the show will have a certain gravitas, too. A provenance, if you will. In this case, the context of the work is much greater than the work itself. I don’t mean that in the pejorative, I really like the work that has been submitted, I mean that in the way that this isn’t “just another exhibition”. I mean that the photographs in this exhibition are forever connected to this event. It’s the connection that gives this purpose – that’s what makes this so important. I wonder if people get that.
A hundred years from now, no one will know or care what you or I did today. We may see what we’re doing in our daily lives as important, but no one will remember. No one will care. John Popper, from the Blues Traveler band, has a great lyric in a song called, “100 Years”. It sums up the ephemeral nature of our day-to-day existence. He says,
“Big angry man in the doorway there
Just keep on walking like I don’t care
Why you giving such an evil eye
Could it be you were ignored by every passerby
And it won’t mean a thing in a hundred years
No, it won’t mean a thing in a hundred years”
Our death denial illusions are exposed and open for G-d and the world to see them when we talk about our achievements for future generations. However, in my opinion, this event transcends those illusions. This is one of those things that we all know is the right thing to do. So why has it taken 157 years?
I feel neither allegiance nor indebtedness to anyone except Archer when it comes to the Wet Plate Collodion process. Without Archer, and some others in the 19th Century, Collodion would have been a shelved process, at least as far as we know it today. He’s never received the recognition or the proper acknowledgments from his country, the big photography museums or the academic establishments. They should be embarrassed and ashamed. I’m glad, however, that like people us, the Collodion Collective, were able to come together and make his commemoration what it should be.
Unfortunately, as Parker and Stone said, “Sometimes what’s right isn’t as important as what’s profitable.” In that context, this is not, “just another exhibition”.
Thank you to everyone that participated in any way – you’ve done a great thing!
Tags: frederick scott archer, In Honour of Archer, photography, Quinn Jacobson, wet plate collodion
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