Positive Exposures: Faces of Change in Niagara Falls

The “wet plate collodion” photographic process is one of the earliest types of photography. Invented in the mid-1800s, this process uses light-sensitive chemicals poured over tin or glass plates by hand, exposed in camera while still wet, and then developed on-site to produce an image.

Unlike the immediacy and ease of digital photography, this process is slow, purposeful, and creates a unique and tangible result. Each person who sits for a photo will experience a process that has changed our world in ways so profound, it is almost too much to consider.

Photographer Sally Mann was able to sum up my love of this method best when she said “When I was shooting with collodion, I wasn't just snapping a picture. I was fashioning... an object whose ragged black edges gave it the appearance of having been torn from time itself.”

Learn more about the project at eveneye.com

James Abbondanza received his BFA in Fine Art Photography at Rochester Institute of Technology. His latest project titled, "Positive Exposures: Faces of Change in Niagara Falls" focuses on folks in his community who are striving to make a positive impact in their hometown of Niagara Falls. James photographed each participant in his studio using the wet plate collodion process while sharing the steps of the process with each individual in hopes of spreading the joy of photography and its history while highlighting the people who work to make a difference.