You don’t often see these large formats anymore. It was an absolute joy to walk through Bordeaux and come across a little studio in the high street.

I saw the large 10×8 camera and had to go in. A Kodak folmerschwing that captures portraits that are ghostly and captivating. The prints on the wall were superb with subtle sharpness and fall off with incredible depth. All produced using a wet plate collodion technique, Ambrotypes as they were once known in the 1850s.

Pierre Wetzel is a master craftsman behind this and is still using the process to produce beautiful imagery. See more of his work on his site.

I couldn’t leave without taking a farewell shot of a man, who is carrying on in the tradition of true traditional photography.