Taking Dry Plate Photography on the Road

Photography Tips

What happens when you have an incredibly talented, artistic, and creative photographer who also loves skateboarding? Professional skateboard photographer Brian Gaberman and Element went on a 10-day trip across the East Coast to capture some seriously artsy photos for their new jacket line. On the trip, they filmed the mini-documentary, The Road to Wolfeboro, which gives a behind the scenes look at how Gaberman uses dry plate collodion to capture ethereal, dreamlike images:

Years ago, Gaberman fell in love with wet plate collodion, which is essentially a handmade glass negative, and has since started working with dry plate negatives. In The Road To Wolfeboro, he documents the age old raw and beautiful process. As Gaberman says, the images have a ethereal, dreamlike quality.

“That was how I saw the world; that was how I wanted to portray the world.”

Beginning in New York, Gaberman set out on a visual journey to Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. From the busy city streets where both the photographer and Element have skateboarding roots, to the rural, simple lifestyle of small town Wolfeboro. The images captured along the way are just incredible.

“The real beauty in these glass negatives is their weaknesses, their flaws. Every plate I make is unique.”