Folio: Alex Gard

11 x 14 wetplate collodion photographs by Tasmanian photographer Alex Gard.

“Photography to me is mostly about articulating my appreciation of often overlooked moments and spaces. In my very busy and chaotic life, the moments I spend under the dark cloth are quite grounding and probably the only time I feel what some might call mindfulness This is less about photography as it is about just going out and finding something beautiful. I make no claim to be great at what I do. The wet plate process keeps me forever a pupil. It’s very arduous, expensive, inconvenient and frustrating. But it keeps me challenged and prompts me to always seek to improve. 

Tasmania is a fascinating and haunting landscape. There are ghosts here. I’ve always felt profoundly drawn to the barren and stark corners of this place. This slow and meticulous photographic process keeps me in one place for longer than I would probably usually spend. Driving for hours to find a silent landscape and taking hours with nothing but the sounds of my own footsteps crunching in icy tufts of native grass, running back and forth between camera and darkroom have been some of the most peaceful and happy times in my life, and that’s probably what I’m seeking the most out of all of this. It’s just nice that I get to come home with something to show for it, to remind me of that peace. I don’t feel particularly connected or a part of the art or photographic world. This is just something I’ve found allows me to express my creativity on my own terms, at my own pace. 

I’ve been shooting wet plate collodion since about 2015.

I use a Chamonix 11 x 14 field camera and a variety of lenses with a travelling darkbox fixed to my four wheel drive.”

You can read more about Alex’s process in his The Photograph Considered article here.