Working across New Zealand and Sydney, Australia, Adrian Cook creates wet plate collodion portraits using a 19th-century photographic process that predates film photography. Each image is hand-crafted on glass or aluminium, producing a one-of-a- kind original that combines artistry, craftsmanship and permanence in a way that modern photography cannot replicate.
THE PROCESS
Using equipment and techniques developed during the 1850’s, each photographic plate is meticulously coated and sensitised in the darkroom, then exposed and developed while still wet. Once fixed, washed and dried, it is hand finished with a protective varnish that preserves and protects the image for generations.
A wet plate portrait sitting is unlike any modern photographic experience. Clients have the rare opportunity to witness, in real time, the alchemy of the process as the image appears on the plate - a captivating and remarkable transformation that has remained largely unchanged for more than 170 years. At the conclusion of the sitting you will leave with a unique, handcrafted portrait and a complimentary digital file of your image.
HAVE DARKROOM WILL TRAVEL
In Aotearoa, our mobile darkroom is a 1950's bondwood caravan that has been specifically designed for shooting wet plate portraits and landscapes on location. We are primarily based in Te Aroha, though you’ll also find us touring the country, capturing portraits and landscapes along the way.
THE PHOTOGRAPHER
Adrian Cook is an award-winning portrait and documentary photographer working between New Zealand and Australia.
Working across wet plate collodion, film and contemporary photographic processes, Adrian creates distinctive portraits that celebrate craftsmanship, authenticity and permanence. Specialising in the historic wet plate collodion process, he produces one-of-a-kind, hand-crafted images using techniques largely unchanged since the 19th century, creating photographs that exist as unique physical objects rather than reproductions.
His portraits are commissioned by private clients, collectors and cultural figures across the region, combining traditional photographic craft with a contemporary vision.
For Adrian's broader photographic practice visit www.adriancookphotography.com