Fashion Models Revisited Through a Historic Photographic Technique
Over the course of my 30-year career as a fashion photographer, I have photographed countless models—women whose faces and personalities helped define my visual work. For decades I worked with a wide range of techniques: analogue film, traditional darkroom printing, Polaroid, medium format cameras, and eventually digital photography. Each approach shaped how I understood light, texture, and human expression.
Returning to Craft: Wet Plate Collodion Tintype (16″×20″)
For “Models Undressed,” I return to one of the oldest and most handcrafted photographic processes: the wet plate collodion tintype, created on large 16″×20″ metal plates. This 19th-century technique requires every step to be completed by hand—coating, sensitising, exposing, and developing the plate while it is still wet.
This slow, chemical, and highly physical process stands in sharp contrast to modern digital workflows.
Authentic Portraits Without Fashion, Makeup, or Retouching
Many of the models I collaborated with over the last three decades still remain close to me. Their trust is the foundation of this project. For once, they appear not in designer clothes or elaborate styling, but pure, unadorned, and entirely authentic.
The long exposure times of the wet plate process demand stillness and vulnerability, creating portraits that feel raw, honest, and emotionally present. The unique imperfections of the tintype—chemical streaks, soft movement, deep silver tones—give each image its own character.
Every plate is one-of-a-kind, a physical object that cannot be reproduced.
A New Perspective on Beauty and Presence
“Models Undressed” bridges my past as a fashion photographer with the timeless craftsmanship of early photographic history. By combining a century-and-a-half-old technique with women I have photographed for decades, the series reveals a deeper, more intimate version of beauty—one that emerges not from styling, but from presence.
This work celebrates authenticity, long-standing creative relationships, and the powerful simplicity of the wet plate collodion portrait.