In this new series of portraits of children between the ages of 6-12, I explore the vast interactions of the child and his or her reaction to being photographed using an antiquated and unfamiliar method. Drawing from a rich history of child portraits from the 1800s, including post-mortem photography, I ask the child to make an exposure with their eyes open then closed in relatively the same pose. This exploration of expression is part of an ongoing exploration of the collaboration between subject and photographer.
These photographs are made using the wet collodion process, which was introduced in the 1850’s, this involves coating a metal plate with collodion then sensitizing it by dipping it into a bath of silver nitrate, while still wet the plate is placed in the camera and the photograph is made. Within a few minutes of exposure the plate must be developed, fixed and dried in order to create the tintype, a positive image on a sheet of metal.
Galina Kurlat was born in Moscow in 1981 and emigrated to the United States shortly after the fall of communism in 1989. She received her Bachelor of Media Arts Degree from Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute in 2005, she currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Her work has been exhibited internationally and is in number of public and private collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Website: galinakurlat.com
