Studio of classic photography
Head: Martin Stecker
assistant: Jan Douša
assistant: David Stecker
Plenér ateliéru klasické v Jizerských horách / Studio of classic photography, open air in Jizerské hory
Mokrý kolodiový proces, Ferotypie / Wet collodion process, Ferrotypia
2023
The Traditional Photography Studio focuses on technological processes and other processes involved in making photographs. The studio’s work is based on the assumption that students have to master certain specific tasks of a technical nature which will open the way for them to realise their creative intentions. At the studio, procedures that lead to pre-defined goals are analysed with the students. Teaching also involves confronting different technologies and the definition of their specific features which can often become the only means of realisation of the selected intention.
The studio focuses on work with traditional analogue photography, ranging from a roll of film to large format photography. Students have an opportunity to work with a negative of the size of up to 30×40 cm and then to make a contact print or a blow-up on a baryta paper of dimensions in the order of metres. In addition to black-and-white photography, students also learn about traditional colour photography and the processing of colour reversal films.
The studio also includes workshops focused on historical photographic techniques such as flexography, cyanotype, the bromoil process, the wet collodion process, and the gelatine process and its transfer to other materials. For photographs where the carrier of a positive image is a negative, the result is only a single original.
However, in the studio, we are also focused on technological innovation, on exploring and assessing the potential of digital photography and other technologies involved in the recording of optical images. These include studies of new light sources, making aerial photographs using drones, and making extremely high-quality pictures by putting the image together using various robotic devices.
When looking for ways to realize creative intentions depending on the technology chosen, various opportunities are thoroughly discussed at the studio.
The Traditional Photography Studio also deals with the technologies of historical processes which, originally, seemed rather like a disadvantage and for this reason were often abandoned. In the current view of photography and under the influence of the flood of digital data, we can rethink these processes and use them to expand the possibilities of our students“ work.
