Daguerreotype with Jerry Spagnoli 30.–31. May 2025

 

 

CHF 1,750.00

 

 

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Description

Daguerreotype Process

The daguerreotype was the first commercially successful photographic process. This positive, one-of-a-kind image, with its mystic silver mirror effect, has been fascinating since 1839.

Daguerreotype workshops are extremely rare. Due to the great success at the Swiss Camera Museum in Vevey in May 2018, we are inviting Jerry Spagnoli again to Switzerland.

Cameras and equipment will be provided by Peter Michels. Own 4/5″ cameras and lenses may be used too; there will be fitting plateholders available.

This workshop will be conducted in English with German and French translation.

Dieser Workshop findet in englischer Sprache mit deutscher Übersetzung und französischer statt.

Cet atelier se tiendra en anglais avec une traduction en allemand et en français.

 

LOCATION

Swiss Camera Museum, Grand Place 99, 1800 Vevey

ACCOMENDATION 

not inclusive

 

DATE

Fri. 30 May – Sat. 31 May 2025, 10:00 – 17:00
Sun. 1 June 2025: Optional practice day

There is a possibility to extend the workshop to 3 days for an additional 350 CHF to gain more practice and coaching; at least 5 participants are required for this to happen.

PROGRAMME

During the first day, you will receive an introduction to both the Daguerreotype process (Becquerel and Mercury method). The following two days, you will be able to make two of your own quarter-plates (3¼“ x 4¼“ or 83 x 108mm) from start to finish with the assistance of Jerry Spagnoli. You may reuse these plates or make additional plates at a little extra cost of 50 CHF per plate.

JERRY SPAGNOLI
Jerry Spagnoli

Jerry Spagnoli is one of the world’s best-known practitioners of the daguerreotype process. His work is held in the collections of various museums, including the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

His recent books, “Daguerreotypes” and “American Dreaming”, were published by Steidl. Jerry Spagnoli is widely known for his collaborative work with Chuck Close and Karl Lagerfeld.

. www.jerryspagnoli.com

JERRY SPAGNOLI ON THE DAGUERREOTYPE

(excerpt from: Photography Beyond Technique. edited by Tim Persinger, Focal Press 2014)

When photography was first introduced in 1839, it was hailed as a great tool for science. It was thought that at last there was a reliable, neutral reporter on everything under the sun. The possibility that it was a medium for art came later. Photography’s first talent was thought to be its objectivity, its ability to present the facts. The photographic image was considered free from the intervention of the artist. It was thought to be empirical and reliable. Created automatically, by a machine, it was free of the inevitable distortions found in the work of the human hand (and mind).

What I’ve found since I saw my first daguerreotype is that the content of the work I’ve produced can increasingly be found within the materials and methods I utilize and the medium’s relationship to the world. It’s at that point where the functional metaphors of the work are operating. The subjects of my images are straightforward documents but are nuanced to a greater or lesser extent by the medium’s own ways of perceiving the world.

Photography, for me, is a mechanical demonstration of consciousness, with all its limitations and richness. It is this historical reputation for objective reporting that I use as a starting point when considering how to approach a project, and which photographic technology to employ. I think that it is perfectly obvious that objectivity is a condition that is impossible to achieve. We are the products of innumerable impressions. Our schooling shapes us. Our talents and deficits turn us in particular directions. Even our senses have been demonstrated by science to be severely limited when it comes to conveying all of the various stimuli that bombard us throughout the day. Even with all of those points well understood, we all persist in believing that we have a grasp on the objective truth of our situation. Our relationship with the world can best be described as fluid.

Our knowledge and understanding of the situations that we encounter is constantly shifting and changing as new information is received and as our appreciation of the complexities of particular circumstances develops. At some point, you may reach the conclusion that the only thing you can know for sure is that you can’t know anything for sure. In this world of flux and uncertainty stands photography, freezing moments, and allowing us to examine the information contained in a fragment of time from a particular point of view.

 

LANGUAGE / TUTORIAL

The workshops will be held in English with German translation. A tutorial by Jerry Spagnoli will be provided in English.

MATERIAL

Material and a tutorial are enclosed. If you are a fast worker, you may buy additional silvered plates during the workshop at a little extra cost of 50 CHF.

EQUIPMENT

Cameras and equipment will be provided by Peter Michels, Ars-Imag6 and the Camera Museum Vevey. We will use Sinar 4/5” cameras. Own 4/5” cameras may be used too; there will be matching placeholders for the plates.

FEE

1750 CHF (inc. lunch (Sandwiches & Salad), Material and Chemicals) 

350 CHF for the optional Practice day

When registering for the workshop, a registration fee of 200 CHF and 50 CHF for the Practice day is due. This amount will, of course, be fully credited toward the workshop costs. If the workshop cannot take place (deadline: April 20, 2025), the fee will be refunded. In the event of a cancellation by the participant, the fee will only be refunded if the spot can be reallocated.

SMALLPRINT

The workshop requires a minimum of 5 participants and a maximum of 8. The optional practice day needs a minimum of 5 participants.

To  confirm this workshop we must have at least 5 registrations/participants  by 20. April 2025.

The participants are responsible for their own insurance.

This Workshop is a Co-Production with ars-imago Zürich.

 

 

 

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