Axe ’Em, Jacks!
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – An exhibition of tintypes by Bill Nieberding, associate professor of art at Stephen F. Austin State University, will show Sept. 11 through Oct. 9 at Falling Star Gallery.
“Reflections in Silver” features tintype photographs that explore a range of East Texas subjects and still-life.
“Time flows differently in East Texas,” Nieberding said in his artist statement. “Tintype is an antiquated process invented in the 1850s that is inextricably intertwined with the concept of time. Exposures are long, as the collodion emulsion is extremely slow – much less sensitive to light than modern digital sensors.”
But the photographer has to work quickly. A metal plate is covered in liquid collodion and dipped in silver nitrate solution to make it light-sensitive. The photographer loads the plate into a camera, takes the picture and develops it immediately. It all has to happen while the plate is still wet.
“It’s a demanding process that produces one-of-a-kind photographs on metal or glass,” Nieberding said. “It is also a process ideally suited to exploring and rending the notion of time integral to this region.”
Support for the exhibition and Nieberding’s wet-plate-collodion research is funded by a Research and Creative Activities Grant through the SFA Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.
A reception with the artist is planned for 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 18, and will include a special musical performance. Light refreshments will be served.
Falling Star Gallery is located at 216 N. Church St. For more information, call (917) 209-1050.