Join us at NTHQ and step back in time as you learn to make wet plate collodion negatives and albumen prints. This two-day workshop will give you the skills and insight you need to produce beautiful prints from your own handmade glass negatives.

We’ll start the weekend by learning how to make wet plate collodion negatives; working in the studio and darkroom to produce negatives of sufficient contrast and density to be subsequently translated into albumen prints.

You’ll make a number of different negatives in sizes from 4×5” up to 8×10”, using a variety of cameras and lenses, and you’ll be instructed on how to prepare the chemistry and process the negatives correctly. We will then prepare the salted albumen mixture, in readiness for our paper coating process.

By the end of the day, you’ll have a number of finished glass negatives ready for printing!

Day two will begin with us preparing our albumen paper, first by coating sheets with the salted albumen, and then sensitising with silver nitrate. You’ll learn the proper techniques for doing each step, as well as which papers to use for the process.

After drying, our paper will be exposed and processed, and you’ll leave the workshop with a selection of beautiful handmade prints along with your glass negatives.

This workshop is suitable for all skill levels, and all materials are provided.

Please note: albumen is produced from egg white, so please take this into consideration if you have allergies to eggs, as we will be handling raw produce.