Northern Plains Native Americans: A Modern Wet Plate Perspective (Author Edition, June, 2019) presents a selection from Balkowitsch's photographic project which aims to capture 1000 wet plate portraits of Native Americans. Following in the footsteps of Edward S. Curtis and Orlando Scott Goff, Balkowitsch pays homage to his home state and its Native American heritage and culture. His photographs highlight the dignity of his subjects, depicting them not as archetypes, but individuals of contemporary identities with historical legacies. In our image-saturated world informed by automation and digital speed, Northern Plains Native Americans offers a fresh perspective on the photographic imagination.
In stark contrast to the digital process, wet plate photography-a practice that dates back to nineteenth-century Victorian origins -- involves preparing a glass plate with collodion and silver nitrate solution for an extended exposure in the camera. In Balkowitsch's natural light studio, the Nostalgic Glass Wet Plate Studio in Bismarck, North Dakota, a proper exposure takes around 10 seconds, about 600 times longer than an iPhone camera. Approaching the historically embedded technique from a contemporary perspective, Balkowitsch's process transforms the limitations of the medium -- its labor and time sensitive nature -- into opportunities for creative explorations. The resulting ambrotypes attest to the unique, unparalleled beauty of this archaic photographic form existing at the intersection of art and science, both past and present.
"Each image contains not only the moment it was taken, but the time in which it was taken. People are willing to hold their breath, focus their eyes and still their thoughts for the 10 seconds necessary to make an exposure. Each exposure contains a piece of eternity. In essence, people willingly give me a little part of their lives to be photographed in collodion," says Balkowitsch."
In his introduction to the book, photographer Herbert Ascherman writes: "Shane Balkowitsch is a living link to an aesthetic sadly missing in today's fast paced world of instant imagery. Shane's art not only requires craftmanship, but a great deal of physical and emotional commitment as well. His perspective is that a painted portrait is the opinion of the painter. He understands that a photographic portrait is the photographer's statement of fact. Shane the photographer and his Native American sitter have collaborated in the creation of a piece of contemporary history using classical methodology."
Book Details:
Each book is Limited Edition (1000 Total Copies) and will be signed by Shane Balkowitsch
Each book will contain a Limited Edition modern day cabinet card of “Eternal Field” with Ernie LaPointe
Hardcover: 128 pages, including 50 full page images from his series
Publisher: Shane B. Balkowitsch (June, 2019)
ISBN-13: 978-1943876082
Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 12.5 inches
Price: $50.00 US
*****The sale of this book will benefit Shane’s favorite charity the American Indian College Fund*****
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE FOR VOLUME 1 -
http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?m=1106396448260&ca=a54d8036-96b1-455c-8967-069ac0bd067a