ABOUT COLLODION

Torn from time itself

This 19th-century process was developed by the British photographer Frederick Scott Archer in 1851,

Marco uses the process to make positives on a thin sheet of aluminum. Not interested in re-enacting the process in a historically accurate manner, he's practicing a version of it updated for the present day.

So close to painting

One of the particular appeals that collodion plates have for Marco is that they are absolutely unique. Because of both the gestural aspect involved in hand pouring the chemicals and countless variables in processing the plate, it is in fact impossible to make two identical original images. This aspect of the photographic process makes it more akin to painting.

So far from digital

The collodion process is a complicated one. It requires the plate to be coated, sensitized, exposed and developed all while still wet in order to secure an image, therefore a mobile darkroom is needed to shoot outside the studio. In addition, it is impractical when the temperatures are too cold or too hot or when the situation calls for a short exposure.

The formula

Collodion, a solution of gun-cotton, ether and alcohol, was used during the Civil War to dress wounds. A reminder of the fragility of flesh, collodion, combined with the flaws and unpredictability inherent to the process, embodies the core of Marco's work.

Primal texture

Collodion is the antithesis of smooth. "The smooth is the signature of our atomized time. Smooth visual communication destroys the imaginary. Paradoxically it presents nothing to see". "Only rhythmic oscillation between presence and absence, veiling and unveiling, keeps the gaze awake."

Photograph by Margherita Amadio