Since PhotoNOLA I have resurrected an old Thai portrait project idea. The original idea was to do head shots on wet plate of bargirls in Thailand, preferably gogo dancers (the most beautiful visually striking girls). The photos would be of girls-women new to the bar world, maybe 1 or 2 months in before they are changed by the life. The project would be called "Lost Innocence" and show the workers in their original innocent form, a pure virginal look that has not be damaged by the bars.
I am now thinking of adapting the project somewhat, if I did girls that were 1 or 2 months I could counter that feel in a dyptic form with a girl that is 10 years plus in the bars. On the left side I could do a wet plate of the innocent 1 month girl and on the right a hardened/jaded 10 year worker.
What has re-sparked this idea was seeing the wet plate work of many PhotoNOLA participants, work they created not in camera but instead in the darkroom. My technical concern with this project was getting all the dangerous chemicals into Thai and creating the work in that hot environment, in the field, on the street etc, it would be a very daunting thing to accomplish. The photogs at PhotoNOLA taught me I can do the work in the darkroom instead, from a negative that has been copied onto transparency film (they gave me the name of the stuff its in my notes). Another option I was thinking of last night would be shooting directly onto slide film with a medium format or 4x5 camera and using that as my enlarging positive in the darkroom. If I did the wet plate image in the darkroom and not in the field I could work on it for weeks, I could get true exact image I wanted to and I could enlarge it very big (11x14, 16x20 or even 20x24). The way I understand it, it is a enlarging process not a contact process, so the possibilities are endless, I might try working with old enlarging or shooting lens as well.
This could be very exciting! I could do two large black glass ambrotypes (glass) or two large tintypes (metal) and then frame them as a diptych in some kind of floating image frame set up, maybe even try something like ruby coloured glass (saw one of those in New Orleans and loved it). To tell the story of the workers in this way with simple head shots that show the effects of the bar life could be very rewarding and visually powerful and effective. These things are not created yet but in my minds eye I can see a nice white gallery wall covered with 10 large red wooden frames each containing two floating 16x20 ruby glass diptych head shots of sex workers. The title would be "LOST INNOCENCE: FACES FROM THE GOGO BARS OF THAILAND" (I might be able to do some shooting in the Philippines as well).
I am now thinking of adapting the project somewhat, if I did girls that were 1 or 2 months I could counter that feel in a dyptic form with a girl that is 10 years plus in the bars. On the left side I could do a wet plate of the innocent 1 month girl and on the right a hardened/jaded 10 year worker.
What has re-sparked this idea was seeing the wet plate work of many PhotoNOLA participants, work they created not in camera but instead in the darkroom. My technical concern with this project was getting all the dangerous chemicals into Thai and creating the work in that hot environment, in the field, on the street etc, it would be a very daunting thing to accomplish. The photogs at PhotoNOLA taught me I can do the work in the darkroom instead, from a negative that has been copied onto transparency film (they gave me the name of the stuff its in my notes). Another option I was thinking of last night would be shooting directly onto slide film with a medium format or 4x5 camera and using that as my enlarging positive in the darkroom. If I did the wet plate image in the darkroom and not in the field I could work on it for weeks, I could get true exact image I wanted to and I could enlarge it very big (11x14, 16x20 or even 20x24). The way I understand it, it is a enlarging process not a contact process, so the possibilities are endless, I might try working with old enlarging or shooting lens as well.
This could be very exciting! I could do two large black glass ambrotypes (glass) or two large tintypes (metal) and then frame them as a diptych in some kind of floating image frame set up, maybe even try something like ruby coloured glass (saw one of those in New Orleans and loved it). To tell the story of the workers in this way with simple head shots that show the effects of the bar life could be very rewarding and visually powerful and effective. These things are not created yet but in my minds eye I can see a nice white gallery wall covered with 10 large red wooden frames each containing two floating 16x20 ruby glass diptych head shots of sex workers. The title would be "LOST INNOCENCE: FACES FROM THE GOGO BARS OF THAILAND" (I might be able to do some shooting in the Philippines as well).
