Unguarded

• Prize
  Silver in People/Portrait
• Photographer
  Brence Coghill
• Agency / Studio
  Image Workshop
• Technical Info
  Wet Plate Collodion Image On 4x5” Aluminium Plate. Bulb, Iso 3 (approx.), F4.5.
• Photo Date
  April 2019

Technology and social media have caused us to become increasingly disconnected from the people around us. This series seeks to find authenticity and connection – creating portraits that capture a real, unguarded moment with the subject. Wet Plate is a slow and deliberate process, creating a quiet moment of connection with the subject and helping to find an unguarded moment. This raw energy is complemented by the messy imperfection of the image.

Melbourne-based commercial and portrait photographer Brence Coghill is driven by moments of authenticity and connection. Conveying quiet, introspective or unguarded moments, his images vary from striking character portraits through to exploring surreal or conceptual ideas. Brence works with the large format wet plate collodion process, an analogue alt-photography technique from the 1850s. He revels in the ‘controlled chaos’ of wet plate: the sense of alchemy from hands-on manipulation of chemistry and the challenge of trying to control a process that’s inherently wild and unpredictable.