Kollodium
Wet Plate Collodion – An Alchemical Process.
My journey with wet plate collodion began eight years ago, when I
attended my first workshop with photographic legend Jill Enfield. The
experience ignited something in me. I have always worked with
alternative photographic processes and searched for other forms of
artistic expression, and collodion opened up a new space for this
exploration. Artists such as Sally Mann and Edward Curtis have been
important sources of inspiration in the development of my artistic
process and vision.
Since then, alongside my work as a fine art photographer and my
ongoing exploration of our relationship with nature, I have spent
countless hours learning, experimenting and creating. It has been a
humbling journey, in which every mistake has taught me something new
about the intricate and demanding process behind these unique plates –
gradually leading me towards a language of my own.
When I work with collodion, it is not about “taking” photographs, but
about making plates. For me, the process is rooted in authenticity and
presence. The aim is to capture something deep and honest – a story that
reveals more than the surface.
The moment a silver-sensitized wet plate encounters light, something
unique takes place. The sitter must remain completely still during long
exposures, perhaps five or fifteen seconds. Within this stillness –
between energy, presence and reflection – something unpredictable and
singular emerges. When the exposed plate is developed and the chemistry
transforms the image from negative to positive on the dark metal
surface, a kind of reflection takes place.
The process is both alchemical and, to me, magical. Collodion and
other chemicals are combined to create a light-sensitive surface, which
is then sensitized with silver nitrate, placed in a plate holder and
inserted into a large-format camera. As the plate captures light, the
portrait emerges – unpredictable, organic, alive and entirely unique.
For me, this is a reminder of the transience and fragility of life,
and of the importance of being present in the moment. It is a reminder
of something true, and an invitation to look deeper into ourselves.
Collodion is not only about technique; it is also about relinquishing
control, creating an energy and allowing organic chance to become part
of the process.
A portrait session is an event in itself. Creating a portrait can
take anywhere from several hours to an entire day. The subsequent
process – including washing, scanning, retouching and protecting the
plate with lavender oil – can take another day. Once completed, the
image can be enlarged and printed with pigment on cotton paper.
Collodion is not for everyone. But for those willing to explore it,
the process offers a rare opportunity to see oneself in an entirely new
way.
Photography today is often fast and ordinary, mediated through
technology that is available to almost everyone. Collodion brings back
something of the old ceremonial feeling surrounding the portrait. It
recalls a time when the photographer might arrive by horse and carriage,
and having one’s portrait made was a significant event – an image
intended to last for generations.
The wet plate collodion process was introduced by Frederick Scott
Archer in 1851 and represented a revolution in the early history of
photography. Even today, surrounded by modern technology, this analogue
medium can surpass digital processes in its materiality, character and
depth.
In a world increasingly shaped by technology and artificial
intelligence, many are seeking a return to what is slow, handmade and
authentic. For me, the collodion process is both a powerful reminder of
this and a reflection on our contemporary moment.
Echoes of Utopia - 2025
In the quiet, overgrown landscapes of the former Yugoslavia, concrete
monuments rise like ancient guardians – shaped by the dream of a
country that no longer exists.
These are spomeniks: surrealist, brutalist concrete monuments erected from the 1950s onward to commemorate the resistance and solidarity of
the Yugoslav Partisans during the Second World War. Born from a utopian
vision in the aftermath of an unimaginable war, these abstract and
futuristic structures embodied a shared identity, progress and the hope
of a collective future.
Today, many stand in varying states of decay – forgotten by some,
politicized by others, yet still radiating a powerful sense of
solemnity.
My decade-long obsession with the wet plate process of the 1850s,
with its unique character and inherent unpredictability, stands in stark
contrast to the uncompromising solidity of brutalist architecture.
Where concrete dominates, collodion flows. Where brutalism is
monumental, the wet plates are intimate and ephemeral.
The result is an unsettling visual dialogue – a conversation between
permanence and impermanence, ideology and erosion, memory and myth.
Metal plates are coated with silver nitrate, exposed in a
large-format camera and developed on site in a makeshift darkroom. Each
unique collodion plate is created using a process now practiced by only a
small number of contemporary artists worldwide.
The unpredictability of the process – chemical veils, cracks and
ghost-like anomalies – is not corrected, but embraced. These
imperfections echo the erosion and uncertainty embedded within the
monuments themselves. Through the alchemy of collodion, the plates
acquire a distinctive visual language that transforms hard concrete into
almost otherworldly forms, softens their edges and opens up new
emotional readings of these politically charged structures.
The project does not seek to document or archive. Rather, it is a visual sigh – an exploration of impermanence and memory.
Through the alchemical process, the monuments are recontextualized –
not as remnants of propaganda or outdated war memorials, but as poetic
thresholds between past and present, utopia and aftermath. They emerge
as luminous apparitions suspended in time, reflecting both the grandeur
of their original purpose and the melancholy of their decay.
In an age defined by digital speed, artificial intelligence and historical amnesia, Echoes of Utopia
invites the viewer to slow down, look deeper and reflect on the
impermanence of power, the fragility of memory, and the strange beauty
that emerges when two distant eras – concrete modernism and analogue
photographic alchemy – collide.
The series represents a meeting point between fine art photography
and alternative photographic processes, while also serving as a homage
to the birth of photography and to the complex histories that continue
to shape our present.
Christian Houge – Artist Bio
Christian Houge is a Norwegian artist and photographer with more than
25 years of artistic practice. He is known for deeply considered,
visually striking and often unsettling projects that explore the
relationship between humanity and nature.
His work addresses environmental destruction, identity and the
consequences of humanity’s attempt to conquer nature, viewed through the
lens of the Anthropocene – an era in which human activity has become a
dominant force in the Earth’s ecological transformation.
In Houge’s practice, aesthetic beauty encounters destruction. This
tension creates a form of cognitive dissonance that invites viewers to
reflect on their own relationship with nature and their own mortality.
Photography is used not merely as documentation, but as a philosophical,
consciousness-raising and existential tool. Houge often seeks to
humanize nature, making it easier for us to identify with it and to ask
new questions about our contemporary condition.
Houge works with large-format analogue photography, digital
techniques and, over the past decade, the handmade nineteenth-century
process of wet plate collodion. He frequently incorporates performative
and sculptural elements into his working processes, engaging with themes
of impermanence, vulnerability and cultural heritage.
His work has been exhibited at numerous internationally recognized
institutions and galleries, including Hosfelt Gallery (New York and San
Francisco), Fotografiska (Stockholm), Galerie Omnius (Arles), Johnson
Museum (New York), Bold Gallery (Prague), Museum of Photography (Los
Angeles), Whatcom Museum (Washington) and Three Shadows (Beijing).
He has also collaborated with, participated in symposia and delivered
lectures in association with Norwegian embassies in Beijing, New York,
Rotterdam, Prague, The Hague and London.
Houge has presented lectures and artist talks on a number of leading platforms. In 2012, he gave a TED Talk entitled Exploring Man’s Condition Through Photography.
In 2021, he received the Norwegian Photography Prize for his
longstanding body of environmentally focused work – a national
recognition of outstanding artistic achievement in photography.
