Say cheese!

We’re off to get our photo taken and it’s going to be something special.

Because we won’t be sat in front of a fake cloud background and have someone snapping our pic on a fancy digital camera.

Instead, we are going to the studio of Sophie Caligari who has mastered the art of wet plate photography.

It was through vintage fashion that Sophie found a love of old photography.

But it didn’t start in the 1800’s.

She found the 1940’s look and fashion called to her most and slowly worked her way back.

Looking at photos from the past and having a passion for photography Sophie wanted to try all the techniques she saw.

But finally settled on the art of wet plate.

It’s an incredible process. One which Sophie talks about in length in this episode.

It takes 40+ minutes to prepare and process a plate and to see if you have an image.

And Sophie said it’s a process that has been known to work or not work based on your mood. That throughout history it knows if you’re angry, sad, happy, frustrated and will work according to that mood.

Sophie learnt her craft thanks to Ellie Young at Gold Street Studios and says wet plate photography has seen a bit of resurgence around the world. 

Wet plate photography dates right back to the 1800’s, but Sophie Caligari has a camera that was made in modern times.

She said you cannot deny the technological advances so her wet plate camera is a new one and she pairs it with state of the art lighting equipment.

But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t dream of owning a wet plate camera from the 1800’s.

She said they are out there and have been well looked after it’s just a matter of wanting to spend all that money on a piece of history. 

 

And in exciting news Sophie is about to open her first solo exhibition.

If you can’t get there don’t worry you can follow her incredible work on instagram. 

And of course hear more about Sophie’s story and art in our latest episode.