Affinitas update

Affinitas is coming along nicely, although I have spent  much time fretting over exactly how to go about making the photos and worrying whether or not it was working. I've decided to make the body of work using the Wet Collodion process. However, that is only one part of the overall process of achieving the look I desire.
Affinitas is an uncanny, romanticized view of human connection and relation to the natural world. My own mysterious primordial instincts have shaped the content of the photographs. A combination of Wet Plate Collodion and Digital photography are used to solve problems inherent to both and as a means to an end.
I am taking a pictorialist approach to this project. The photos are shot digitally and printed. Those prints are altered to taste and then copied/rephotographed in wet collodion. The plates are then scanned and printed as chromogenic prints (for the time being). I am exploring alternate outputs for the final exhibit pieces.
I have had three outside guest critiques point out that I have two separate bodies of work, portraits and the emergent figure in the landscape, within one. I am still continuing to shoot both subjects and will choose the one I feel is best.
Thank you for taking the time to look. Here are some photos from Affinitas.

©2014 Jon E. Slade

©2014 Jon E. Slade

Proposal Indecisions

   As the due date for my senior seminar proposal approaches I have found myself torn between exactly what process to use: Digital, B&W Film, or Wet Collodion? The photos will be good regardless of the process, but I intend to find which is best for the work I have in mind and roughly sketched out. So there is only one way to sort that out. I'll be shooting the first photo in all three processes. I mixed up some fresh wet collodion chemistry today in order to be ready to shoot before Friday. Beyond the HOW, I will also be answering why I am using whichever technique or process for this work. This is important and will be nailed down as best I can for my proposal.
   In the meantime, my home studio is finally refinished and ready to be used. I leave you with a new image posted in the banner above, which is a scanned copy of last year's wet collodion still life series I made. I am considering reproducing the series in chromogenic prints and selling them somewhere online and locally.

Good Day,

Jon E. Slade

BFA SENIOR YEAR

Hi All!
It's been a very long time since I have posted anything here due to not being required to do so for course work. However, I am beginning the senior year of a Photo BFA at the University of Missouri St. Louis and I will be using this blog to share my progress and related things with you until I graduate in May 2015.
My photog will be a body of work that will span the next two semesters with a senior show at the end of Spring '15. I look forward letting you know exactly what I propose to do for this year long project, very soon. As always, feel free to share this blog, comment, and ask any questions.

Take care,

Jon E. Slade