Shane Balkowitsch
| Shane Balkowitsch | |
|---|---|
Self Portrait, a wet plate collodion photograph of Shane Balkowitsch.
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| Born |
Shane Balkowitsch January 24, 1969 Bismarck, North Dakota |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Wet plate photographer, and founder of Balkowitsch Enterprises |
Shane Balkowitsch (born January 24, 1969) is an American wet plate photographer from Bismarck, North Dakota. The subject of his photos is the human condition. Since 2012 he has photographed over 2,000 individuals, including various celebrities and historical figures. On October 20, 2016 the Smithsonian Institution acquired The Real Deal, A wet plate collodion photograph of American former professional boxer Evander Holyfield taken by Balkowitch on February 28, 2015. Balkowitsch is a self-taught photographer.
In 2012 Balkowitsch began researching the process of wet plate photography after reading a manual on the subject by tintype photographer John Coffer. With little experience in photography, Balkowitsch experimented with the process and took his first successful photo the same year. Since then he has produced over 2,000 plates and his work has appeared in numerous publications. He holds demonstrations in North Dakota with the use of a portable darkroom.
Balkowitsch uses an Italian made Alessandro Gibellini 8x10" folding camera in the studio. He uses Carl Zeiss Tessar 300mm and 360mm lenses. In the studio, sessions require 4500 watts of continuous light. For outdoor sessions the sunlight is enhanced with the help of reflectors. This gives his images a very modern and washed out look. Far from the way original images would have appeared.
In 2016 Balkowitsch set out to create an homage to the famous 1887 New York photo by Jacob Riis called the "Bandits Roost." The objective was to get the look and feel in the present day using the historic collodion process with his models wearing very non-historical clothing. The recreation project took place in East Alley near 423 E Broadway Ave in Bismarck, North Dakota on June 11. About 100 individuals volunteered to assist in the project volunteering hey, wood, props, costumes, and as actors for the image. The final glass plate, titled, "Murderer's Gulch" is being curated by the Historical Society of North Dakota in their permanent archive.
On August 15, 2016, Balkowitsch travelled to Cannon Ball, ND, to capture images of the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. The pipeline is to run less than one mile from the Standing Rock Indian Reservation of North Dakota and South Dakota. One of only a few photographers allowed at the scene of the protest, Balkowitsch captured images of the protesting encampment. The protest included many people Balkowitsch met during work on a photography project for the Historical Society of North Dakota, Northern Plains Native Americans: A Modern Wet Plate Perspective. The documentary film Awake: A Dream from Standing Rock by director Josh Fox features a wet plate by Balkowitsch of Floris White Bull who also appears in the film.
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