Artist Adds New Spin to Old Medium

Richard Quinton, Staff Writer

Nationally exhibited photographer Stephen Berkman came to PCC to present his 19th century style photographic works on April 1.

He showcased his work to a classroom crowded with students and faculty from different academic departments. Berkman’s work is composed of a pre-film era method with wet collodion plates and ambrotypes.

Born in Syracuse, New York, Berkman now resides in Pasadena working as part of the film faculty at the Art Center College of Design, where he received the Great Teacher Award in 1996 and 2003 and earned his bachelor degree of fine arts in film. Early on during college he changed majors from photography to film production and photojournalism.

Since 1999, Berkman began receiving grants from local organizations and getting published in many film festivals and books.
In 2002 he was commissioned to work and create photographic tintypes in Romania with the cast of Cold Mountain and Oscar winning director Anthony Minghella.

Started in 1851 by Frederick Scott Archer, the wet plate process uses chemicals consisting of bromide and iodide or chloride salts in collodion and a solution of alcohol and ether.

The mixture is poured onto a clean glass plate sitting for a few seconds, and then the plate is placed into silver nitrate mixed with water. After the plate is removed from the solution, it is exposed in a camera for a few seconds to even several hours. The silver eventually turns metallic with an alkaline developer after a three-step process in a dark room.

The artist showcased and explained his works with a projected presentation.
Some of his earliest pieces, including a double bearded man, may have inspired his stylish beard, resembling two cones coming down from his chin and a track of sideburns.

His photographic models were usually found from everyday locations such as Trader Joe’s.
Berkman said he has ideas going through his head and when he sees a subject who could fit into his works he asks them if they would be interested, sometimes paying them or trading art work.

Some of PCC’s faculty including James Large, the photo lab aide, remarked on the visit saying “It was impressive and I can see that a lot of time and labor went into his presentation, it’s some of the best reproductions from an old medium I have ever seen.”

Film student Hansen Do also said, “It is very interesting from a student’s perspective, I think he took an old medium and revised it.”

Works ranged from jungle settings to reading newspapers in a crowded office. On the humor side, some pieces received attention, including a woman knitting condoms and a camera man with a long camera placed in the lower region of his body.
“Hair obscure,” which is a boxy camera covered with a shaggy dog’s hair, was among other possible camera designs including a cutout glass camera and a four direction magnifying lens projector.

The Quadrascope object shows a moth projected on a screen as the viewer first sees it. By moving around the magnifying glasses, the viewer discovers the actual moth in the center of light.

Berkman’s pieces included a variety of characters such as a man with a raven’s head, cavemen and hatching dinosaurs.
The students and faculty were pleased with Berkman’s performance as he arrived in a standing ovation and departed in the same manner. Everyone said they would be excited if he were to visit again.