West Coast Tour Announcement and More

  It's been a while since I posted anything, so it's time for an update.

  I have been swamped with responses to the two previous posts about found images from Russia and France.   The amount of emails and comments that were received has been simply astounding.  I am extremely happy to see these stories picking up news coverage all across the world and am very hopeful that some of the leads may materialize in publication of a book of Mr. Rahill's images and that would potentially pave the road for the coveted re-photographing tour of 2017.

Thank You For Your Support!

  I would like to express my deepest sense of gratitude to all the wonderful people who have contributed toward the indiegogo campaign that ended on Feb. 5th.  THANK YOU SO MUCH!  I couldn't do this without you all and I look forward to someday meeting You All on the road.  It's true that I didn't raise all I was shooting for, so how I am going to fund journey to the East Coast remains a mystery, but with your contributions I will definitely be able to go on the West Coast Tour. And speaking of that...

West Coast Tour Announcement!

  Next weekend I plan to set course northbound from San Diego CA with the aim or reaching Portland OR or even Seattle WA.  If you live along the West Coast drop me a line - I am more than happy to discuss any possible events that you may want to have Photo Palace hold in your community.  I am looking for art-minded spaces, art fairs and other venues that may want to hold a Magic Lantern Slide Show or have Gilli and me over to show the public the history exhibit, hold a Polaroid Portrait Party or any other event.  First stop will be Santa Barbara, so if you are there do indeed get in touch with me and Gilli and I would love to meet you.

 

  In the last few weeks I have been feverishly getting ready for the 2500mi journey that lays ahead.  I created a slew of new prints that I will be selling along the route to supplement the gas fund, put together a wonderful Magic Lantern Show, added a few images to the history through technique process and restocked Gilli with essential supplies, some new old cameras and Polaroid film for portraits.  The History of Photography Medium  exhibit is going to be better than ever.

  A little about the Magic Lantern Show.  This is going to be a great experience for all who see it.  I am extremely thankful for all the members of the Magic Lantern Society of US and Canada and The American Magic Lantern Theater who have contributed many fascinating slides on topics that were lacking in my personal collection.  Now I can say with certainty that the show that I will present to the public will be quite comprehensive, educational and very much fun.  The show will also feature select, spectacular and never before seen images by John Rahill - this will be a real treat, so do feel free to get in touch with me and book your show now.

  A super exciting event that I am very much looking forward to on this trip.  In Portland I am going to take a wet plate collodion photography workshop from Ray Bidegain.  I have been wanting to get into making my own tintypes and ambrotypes for quite some time now and I am happy to see this wish finally coming to fruition.  I have already constructed my dipping tanks, collected a few 4x5 and 8x10 holders and mounted a few vintage lenses on the cameras I will be using (because what is a vintage process without vintage equipment...).  This should be extreme fun for a photo nerd like myself. 
  Here's a great thing about wet-plate collodion.  Not only does the photographer working with this process gets to make his own light sensitive material from scratch, but it is The Original Instant Photography - images are ready in a few minutes after they are captured.  In fact there can be no other way with collodion as you can not let it dry and only have about 15 minutes from the time that you pour the plate to the time it must be developed.  That makes for a really fun, messy and demanding workflow to which I look forward to adjusting.  On top of that they are completely and utterly unique and are one of a kind.  I love that quality about them and I feel that this fact gives them a higher sense of validity as an object of art and a real artifact that can range through the extremes of durability (as in the case of tintypes) and fragility (as in the case of glass ambrotypes).  Both processes are difficult and demanding if one wants to achieve a perfectly clean images with a good range of tones and I wonder how long it will take me to master this ancient process.  I can't know that without trying though, so here I come wet plate photography!

  I look forward to being on the open road once again.  It's going to be cold, but I'm from Russia, so it'll remind me of the good old days of Moscow winters.  Next update will be made from north of Los Angeles.

Anton