Wet-plate Photography

Last Wednesday I contacted Sam Christopher Cornwell,  the owner and artist in residence of the contemporary gallery 'The Taxi Office' located in Hawick. I had saw some posts he had put up on his Facebook page of photographs on tin plates. The portraits appeared very clear and I felt intrigued and curious as to how the whole process worked!

I decided to Tweet Sam and ask if it was okay if Alice and I popped in Friday afternoon to sit for a portrait. He replied soon after and was more than happy to have us! Once we arrived he began explaining the initial stages and walking us through how he applies the liquid to the tin plate and works some magic in the dark room. After being shown how to prepare the tin slide, Sam had me sitting on a stool in front of the huge camera with 18 bulbs pointed straight at me. I hadn't posed for a photograph like this since High School but in this case I felt a lot more excited to see the outcome!

Sam explained how light and exposure time would effect the tin plate and I was fascinated. The lead up and eventual efforts put into just one small piece of work did gradually sink in and made me appreciate the whole process a lot more.

Finally he plunged the tin plate into a clear solution and we witnessed my 'likeness' - as Sam referred to it - appear on the plate in front of us! It was a great thing to watch happen.

Alice was next and I loved going through the process again and seeing the different stages and how each one was so important in contributing to the final piece.

Afterwards Alice and I stayed and chatted with Sam for about half an hour, we talked about our forthcoming courses and discussed some artists we had mutual affection for. It was great to talk to someone so passionate and with a legitimate drive to want to expose the population of Hawick to contemporary art.

As we left we expressed our excitement regarding the Borders Photo Marathon he with the Taxi Office is hosting this coming weekend.

Leonardo Da Vinci - The Mechanics of Man

In late October of this year I visited the Queen's Gallery in Edinburgh. I had heard through a friend that Leonardo Da Vinci's work was on display and was eager to witness his masterpieces first hand. The exhibition did not disappoint. I went along with said friend Flora, who also has a keen interest in the art world.

'The Mechanics of Man' hosted the original collection of investigations Da Vinci took out on many cadavers later in his life. He was/is lesser known for his studies on human and animal anatomy, which became increasingly important to hum up until his death.

We spent just over 2 hours walker around the gallery reading, looking at and just appreciating all the work that was on display. All this work wasn't published until hundreds of years after his death. Personally I was in awe for most of the visit, I had no clue a man who I had assumed was a very famous artist, sculptor, etc. He was something much more. To explore this in depth study of the different parts of the human body was simply astounding.

Flora and I, quietly whispering confirmed our mutual wonder whilst staring at these artistic drawings of the shoulder muscles, forearm tendons, right down to each little bone in the hand. I couldn't believe I was getting to see these ancient works of art for the mere student ticket price of £5.70. We stayed as long as possible and afterwards I purchased the 'Mechanics of Man' book that was in the gift shop, which was a printed collection of each of the 93 drawings in Da Vinci's experiments.

Attending this exhibition has been added to the ever growing list of things I am looking for and discovering since joining this course. I plan to visit as many exhibitions as possible in the future as I believe the only way to expand my creativity and inspire me to create my own work is to explore many other artists work as much as possible.