Northern Plains Native Americans: A Modern Wet Plate Perspective

As one of the fewer than 1,000 wet plate collodion artists practicing around the world, Balkowitsch provides an intimate view into the lives of Native American people in North Dakota and Northern Plains, simultaneously capturing their stories and preserving their legacies. The wet collodion process dates back to the nineteenth century is valued for its ability to achieve high levels of detail and clarity. A proper exposure for a wet plate takes around 10 seconds, about 600 times longer than an iPhone camera. North Dakotan Shane Balkowitsch's first personal camera was not an Instamatic Kodak or a point-and- shoot Nikon, but rather a large format wet plate camera. As a self-taught "image-maker" and one of the fewer than 1,000 wet plate collodion artists practicing around the world, Balkowitsch has fully devoted himself to mastering the obsolete photographic technology since 2012. 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. Northern Plains Native Americans: A Modern Wet Plate Perspective presents a selection from Balkowitsch's photographic project which aims to capture 1000 wet plate portraits of Native Americans. His photographs highlight the dignity of his subjects, depicting them not as archetypes, but individuals of contemporary identities and historical legacies.