LIGHTCACHER ENG (b/g)

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The idea ”The goal I’m pursuing is to create a visual experience, to record both the quality and aesthetics of the image in my own way. I want to relieve stories from their volatility, to capture light and time, to turn pictures into pieces of art and to let them appear real, eternal and immortal.”

(Kurt Moser)

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The principle In 1850, Frederick Scott Archer developed the ambrotype. He named this technique after the ancient Greek Ambrotos which means immortal. In this photographic process, cathedral black glass plates are coated with collodion, sensitised in a silver bath and exposed in a large-size folding camera. They are then developed in a darkroom, while still moist, then fixed and sealed with fragrant lavender oil and sandarac resin.

The light-sensitive emulsion is processed by the artist himself. All chemicals and substances are blended according to very old formulas.

Some of the ingredients used are very harmful and getting the formula right is always a challenge, for body, mind and senses.

To some extent, the work on ambrotypes takes the artist back to the beginning of photography.

It faces him with challenges and difficulties that unlike digital photography demand deep respect for the feasible.

Since the artist himself manufactures a great part of the materials used, this technique requires lots of handcraft, patience and skill. However, the effort is worthwhile, as no contemporary technique in the world allows you to create images in such an artistic manner and to depict them in such an intensive visual language.

In order to apply this technique outside of the studio, Kurt Moser has defied the conventions of traditional photography: As vehicle, camera and darkroom he uses a customised Russian army truck. Inside this truck, that is, inside his camera, that he will work and live in.

The project will be realised using two camera systems:

Camera 1 – main camera The original Russian Ural truck is converted into an enormous camera and darkroom. A very rare barrel lens will be mounted onto the aluminium container situated on the back of the truck. Inside, in complete darkness, there will be a frame mounted on rails allowing you to move the plane into focus. This frame can hold light sensitive glass plates up to a maximum size of 120cm by 150cm.

Camera 2 – antique bellow camera This gorgeous wooden camera from 1907, measuring almost two metres, is an absolutely fortunate discovery and the heart of the project. It will be used for portraits taken inside the studio and can be mounted onto a custom-made box wagon. Therefore, it is mobile to some degree and can be taken to areas that are not reachable with the Ural truck. By using this camera it is possible to expose glass up to a maximum size of 50cm by 60cm.

The silver coated shimmering glass plates are positives and therefore single pieces. An image created as an ambrotype is absolutely unique and cannot be copied or reproduced. Even if two plates are exposed one after another, they will never be the same.

The reaction of the chemical components is unpredictable and always different, so differences in the images are unavoidable. Therefore, the pictures are aesthetically unique, similar to human fingerprints.

The handling of the glass plates requires maximum concentration. Just a tiny mistake either by chemical contamination or due to changes of movement or rhythm during the coating may turn the expected masterpiece into a pile of broken glass.

Ambrotypes virtually lack structure. They have no pixels or grids but they reveal clear, almost three-dimensional quality.

Finally though, every image taken in this way is a unique precious original – a visual experience made of silver and light, for ever cast on glass with amber tones, protected by a varnish of sandarac resin and noble lavender oil.

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The visual motifs Kurt Moser is fascinated by his mountains, The Dolomites, and by the people living there.

“I would like to put the Dolomites in their true light. For a longtime, I have been searching for a technique that would allow me to depict the mountains the way I see and feel them. The collodion process provides this very subtle, smooth visual language, the depiction on cathedral glass and the haptic experience linked to it.

I am fascinated by the generation of mountain farmers that may not be around for much longer.

Faces that tell stories by just looking at them.

Marked by hard work, deprivation and tough conditions, sincere faces with true emotions. I couldn’t imagine the mountains without them.”

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The artist Kurt Moser was born in South Tyrol. He has been a photographer and cameraman for 30 years.

After travelling the world for many years filming documentaries and covering major historical events for the biggest television networks in the world, he has returned to his hometown in Italy to pursue his dream.

As a professional globetrotter, his passion has taken him to countries like Afghanistan and Iran, Israel and Australia. Somebody who knows the Sahara Desert just as well as the glaciers of Patagonia and the Strait of Magellan.

He experienced the atrocities of the Yugoslav wars, has crawled into the gold diggers’ mines in Africa and has also been on the hunt of drug cartels in Columbia. Portraying politicians and movie stars to guerrillas and gangsters. Capturing sponge divers at work in the deep of the Aegean Sea and the excitement of pearl hunters in the South Sea. As a contrast to his previous work as a TV cameraman where everything is restricted by time, with his project “The Lightcatcher” he tries to use photography as a medium, to go back to the it’s roots, to give time the value it deserves. To portray and immortalise human emotions in this unique artistic form. The ambrotype.

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The realization Needless to say, such projects cannot be accomplished without the financial support of sponsors. The basic expenses for the Russian Ural truck, the “small” wooden camera and the brass lenses, as well as the costs for the modifications made to accommodate the equipment were substantial. Not less considerable is the sourcing of the chemicals and difficult to obtain substances necessary for the ambrotype technique, as well as of the prime material: the exceptional black glass plates and the pure silver.

Various options for cooperation are available for financial supporters as well as sponsors of material and equipment who wish to participate in this unique project.

International media have already expressed their interest in Kurt Moser’s project. And his contacts throughout decades of experience in the television industry are a guarantee of wide exposure on a variety of media platforms. In addition to the media coverage, regular updates on the project’s progress will be regularly released to the press. Once a number of ambrotypes have been completed, they will then be presented in art exhibitions worldwide. One of the main goals is to publish a selection of the best photos in a high quality large format book. Exposing further the artist and the sponsors.

Last but not least, the Ural truck itself, by being an impressive mobile camera will draw a great amount of attention, turning every photo shoot into a fun public event exposing the sponsoring companies to the crowds.

graphic by maddesign.it

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