KP correspondent Andrey Minaev clarifies the nuances of ambrotype photography with photographer Anatoly Grin.
Photo: Andrey MINAEV. Go to the KP Photo Bank
Since the year 2000, only a quarter of a century has passed—just one generation. In this brief period, humanity has largely transitioned from analog to digital media. Digital technology saves time and effort and often boasts qualities that surpass those of analog results. However, there has been a resurgence of interest in analog items—film photography, vinyl records, cassette tapes, and books printed on high-quality paper. Today, not everyone can afford to collect vinyl or shoot with a medium-format film camera. It's expensive. These analog devices have taken on a luxury status. Yet, psychologists say that the greatest happiness comes from nostalgia on one hand and the discovery of something new on the other. Thus, both boomers reminiscing about their childhood and zoomers whose lives began with digital technology are showing interest in non-digital hobbies.
A medium-format camera for ambrotype photography
Photo: Andrey MINAEV. Go to the KP Photo Bank
Humans have sought to preserve moments of their lives on various mediums since ancient times. Initially, images simply illustrated daily life, then people began to capture significant life events, and eventually, they learned to approach reality creatively, depicting not only their surroundings but also their fantasies. Nowadays, to take a photograph, one just needs to tap the screen of a smartphone. The smart device automatically adjusts all necessary settings and even suggests the most advantageous composition. Images can be edited or even enhanced using computers and artificial intelligence algorithms.
Not long ago, in the late 1990s, the process of creating photographic masterpieces looked quite different. Photographers needed to understand the physics of image preservation on film. However, once a photograph was taken, one could print as many copies as desired.
What was it like at the dawn of photography? How were portraits and landscapes captured without film? How were they replicated? A contemporary photographer, who works with the wet collodion process (commonly known as ambrotype), shared insights with us. This form of photography has been around for over 140 years.
Anatoly Grin, a professional photographer specializing in alternative photographic processes, is a former military doctor with scientific experience, allowing him to deeply understand, feel, and effectively utilize the chemistry of photographic processes.
Photographer Anatoly Grin, specializing in ambrotype, former military doctor
Photo: Andrey MINAEV. Go to the KP Photo Bank
__________
- Ambrotype. An immortal imprint. The term "ambrotype" itself appeared after the image we now call an ambrotype was developed.
(Ambrotype is a unique and rare photographic process that was popular in the 19th century. A negative is created on a glass plate, which can be replicated, and after special chemical treatment, the image can be preserved indefinitely without losing its properties. - Ed.)
- Thanks to this process, we can historically observe a cross-section of all layers of society, not just the famous and wealthy. Back then, it was truly a widespread phenomenon. It was the only way to keep a photograph. Every family could obtain at least one snapshot. This is also where post-mortem photography originated. It was a very brief period, if you think about it.
(Post-mortem or posthumous photography. In the 19th century, not everyone had lifetime images. To preserve the memory of a relative, families would commission a photograph of the deceased from a photographer. - Ed.)
An ambrotype created by Anatoly Grin
Photo: Andrey MINAEV. Go to the KP Photo Bank
The ability to replicate an image is not the only uniqueness of ambrotypes. This technique produces images that cannot be created by any other means.
- An artist has many different brushes—there are spatulas, fingers, and hands. Ambrotype, as a means of photo fixation, is a specific brush that not everything can achieve. What this brush can create, no other can. The volume of information that flows through us has increased so much since the days of ambrotype that, truly, everything has already been photographed, everything has been drawn, and everything has been invented. So what remains for us? A person needs to feel they are doing something unique, something that doesn’t repeat anyone else. I think it lies somewhere at the intersections of everything that exists. Therefore, to manage these intersections, one needs to know as many different processes as possible.
Who might find such a labor- and time-intensive technique interesting today? The answer is evident. Creative individuals who strive not only to capture reality but also to infuse their talent into the image.
- The overwhelming majority of people who engage in ambrotype are not photographers; they are experimenters. When I stopped working in forensic medicine and became a photographer, and everyone else was becoming digital photographers, with the third factory for burning digital photographers closing down… my wife found images online that immediately stood out from everything else. Out of all the thousands of similar digital photographs, we began to study them. It turned out that this is a handmade process, akin to film, which was very close to me. It was reminiscent of what interested me in forensic medicine—science, experiments, laboratories. The fact that it was handcrafted and a unique specimen, not thousands of variations that get lost among each other. Here, everything is quite different. The process, let's say, isn’t overly complex; one can possess basic knowledge of photography to start shooting. After that, it’s purely practical; one needs to have the right skills.
Photographer Anatoly Grin prepares reagents for creating an ambrotype
Photo: Andrey MINAEV. Go to the KP Photo Bank
How are such techniques for preserving information on analog media positioned today? Can they become mainstream again?
- Many people are simply uninterested; they live at a different pace, wanting faster, more, in color, rather than resembling something like a gravestone, as many say. There are people who see an image and say, "It looks like a monument." They immediately make that association. Therefore, it can’t be made mainstream. Film will not be mainstream again, and that’s its charm. There are connoisseurs. Vinyl will not be mainstream again; it has already had its moment, and everything else came after. So, I think the same story applies to ambrotype. The trendiness of it all is quite superficial; I would just observe its episodic nature. I won’t make predictions or speculate. We can just look and see if something interesting emerges.
We are currently speaking with young individuals who do fashion photography through their youthful eyes. They are thrilled; they love it. It’s nothing like… They have tried everything possible. I think it, like vinyl, will remain in its niche. Because there’s always a wow effect. What attracts people? When they don’t understand how it was done. When there’s some miracle of emergence.
Anatoly Grin's laboratory, where he creates ambrotypes
Photo: Andrey MINAEV. Go to the KP Photo Bank
Who are the individuals interested in ambrotype today?
- Let’s say, educated, cultured people, mostly from the city… Some do it themselves, some are involved in the theme of family albums and the preservation of physical photo media, those who understand the difference between a paper album and a hard drive on a computer. People who gift this portrait to those who are hard to impress. And now, there’s also a younger generation looking for something unconventional. Because there’s a saturation of visual images, and something that stands out attracts attention. This is wonderful and interesting.
A photograph taken using the ambrotype technique
Photo: Andrey MINAEV. Go to the KP