New York - February 10, 2009

One Day, Your Prints Will Come

Robert Malmberg’s Collodion Portraits

They loved you; they lost you. All that’s left is a photograph.

No wonder they’re nostalgic this time of year: You look like an absolute dream.

The credit goes to Robert Malmberg, an ambitious photographer with an irresistible twang who revived a 19th-century photo process for his large-format contemporary portraits.

In a small studio in Greenpoint, Malmberg breaks out his antique bellows camera with a vintage lens (bought from a man who handcrafts them to shoot Civil War reenactments in New Jersey), mixes several chemicals, prepares glass plates, and readies a team of makeup/hair stylists to accentuate your good looks with lip lacquer and soft lighting.

The vaporous images with antiquated touches make for gorgeous works of art, incredible heirlooms (think alternative wedding portrait), and romantic keepsakes for Valentine’s Day.

Without any overexposure.

Robert Malmberg’s Collodion Studio (917-202-0599 or robertmalmberg.com).

Photo: Robert Malmberg

  Artsy