Photo report
"Gallery Talk by Everett Brown"

Date and time Sunday, February 6, 2016 10:30, 14:00
Place Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum 1F Hall

On February 6th, a gallery talk was held by Mr. Evelet himself. He talked carefully about the charm of wet plate photography and the highlights of the work.
It was eight years ago that Evelet started photographing the wet plate. It seems that the "Nara Scenery" exhibited this time is the first shot on a wet plate. He felt that the unique shadows created by wet plate photography were perfect for expressing the remnants of Japan.

Create a photo-sensitive solution yourself, paint it on a glass plate, shoot and develop it ... The wet plate photo that performs all this process by yourself is about 30% success rate, which is the same as the baseball hit rate, and is called "failure photo". I want to do it. However, among Evelet's works, there are wonderful photographs created by coincidence and failure, and they seem to be enjoying the unexpected coincidence and shooting.
The wet plate can have a unique expression that is not found in other shooting methods. For example, when applying chemicals to glass, if you stretch the chemicals on the edge with your finger, there will be traces that have shaken, but you can also make use of the traces of chemicals in your work. They sometimes feel that the work is closer to pottery work than photography.

"When I photographed carpenter tools in Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum three years ago, I was able to convey the thoughts of blacksmiths who hit hot iron many times. "I wanted to express the spirituality of the artisan," says Evelet.

"I think Jomon pottery's fine patterns look exactly like Deco Den, a high school girl in Harajuku. The Japanese decorate things and put souls like living things. Foreigners don't do this. Japanese high school girls have inherited the spirit of craftsmanship that has continued from the Jomon period." Indeed, when you see Evelett, you can discover the spirit of craftsmanship in such a place.

According to the craftsman's photography, he chose not only veteran craftsmen representing Japan but also young craftsmen.
For wet plate photography with a long exposure time, photography of a person is the most difficult. Just breathe will break.
It seems that the longest shooting time of the craftsman this time is a minute.

On this day, I was able to see the completion of the terrace object production by young craftsmen.
"Japanese craftsmen are really amazing. I want young craftsmen to do their best!" Evelet's thought is the same as the museum's thought.