eric reuben nelson

Chili, Wisconsin

Biography:
I am working with the historic process of Wet Plate Collodion focusing on ambrotypes and tintypes. Though I am using Civil War era technology, my goal is not to re-photograph the past. Instead, I am striving to find continuity between the past and the present. Each tintype is a unique original bearing its moment in time. I am interested in exploring tintypes as a medium because the directness of the process enhances the act of looking. In portraits and self-portraits the longer exposure times lead to careful consideration of the poses. The soft aura, qualities of light, and stillness add to the sense of mystery and memory. The images produced with this process evoke the past, and often give people an eerie resemblance to their ancestors. Initially, tintypes were items of remembrance but after the economy recovered at the turn of the last century they became slightly risqué with an aspect of performance. Often these images questioned people’s roles in society. These are some of the ideas that inspire me in my own compulsion to document my visage.