Wet-plate Photography, Sobriety and Faith

 In 2016, a chain of events, culminating in some time in rehab for alcoholism, led Paul’s interest back to photography.  After watching a video on YouTube by Ellen Leathers-Wishart, Paul became fascinated by Wet-plate Collodion photography, a traditional process from the 1850’s; each individual tintype plate being handcrafted from scratch to produce a single, unique portrait rendered in pure, real silver.

“The imperfections of wet plate that endeared this process to me and sent me down the rabbit hole into Wonderland - the scratches, hazy patches, and blurriness are what drew me in. They seemed to reflect deeply my experience of life and particularly my life of faith in recovery. That place where beauty is formed in darkness but it can’t stay there. It has, at some point, to be developed and return to the light to be witnessed and shared.”