Rocky Mountains on Wet Plate Collodion
(Elegy of the Anthropocene)

For the past decade, I have committed myself to an enduring creative journey deep within the Canadian Rockies. Driving a converted mobile-darkroom bus through extreme climates, I have meticulously produced hundreds of unique works utilizing various formats of wet-plate glass chemistry. Over this ten-year immersion, my perspective has evolved: these images are no longer merely a documentation of geological grandeur, but a critical reflection on our current epoch—an visual elegy for the Anthropocene.

Cultural philosopher Walter Benjamin famously argued that the age of mechanical reproduction stripped art of its “Aura”—the unique, authentic presence tied to a specific time and space. In this project, this philosophical critique takes on a dual meaning. While digital algorithms dissolve the aura of the photographic medium, human industrial intervention (the Anthropocene) is actively dissolving the “Aura” of the earth itself. The receding glaciers and scarred tundras of the Rockies are evidence of a dying natural authenticity. By using the 19th-century wet-plate process, I am utilizing an artistic medium rich with its own tactile “Aura” to capture and lament a wilderness whose sacred presence is being tragically eroded by human history.

While digital shutters capture fleeting moments in fractions of a second, my wet-plate creation exchanges hours of grueling labor for a single exposure. The ancient glaciers represents eternity on a geological scale, yet they are currently facing unprecedented ecological acceleration. Through the slow, primordial silver-halide chemistry on giant glass plates, this project physically locks this endangered “eternity” into a tangible entity. The raw marks of the process—edge flow lines, mottled shadows, and atmospheric artifacts—serve as the physical scars of this environmental collision. It is a calculated defiance of contemporary speed and a permanent chemical monument to a changing planet.

Beginning in 2025, I selected a curated portion of this decade-long body of work to debut on the global stage, entering several prestigious international photography competitions. This initial foray was met with profound academic acclaim, earning a series of distinguished international awards that validated both the technical scale and the contemporary urgency of the project. In 2026, I have submitted a new cohort of works to multiple international circuits; while many of these results remain eagerly anticipated, my philosophy is rooted in continuity. I will continue to select and exhibit a new body of work annually, driven by the conviction that this artistic philosophy—and the silent cry of the mountains—must be experienced by a broader global audience.