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Bristol's Negative Thinking is holding a two-day workshop which will give you the skills and insight you need to produce albumen prints from your own collodion glass negatives. The weekend will start by learning how to make wet plate collodion negatives; working in the studio and darkroom to produce negatives of sufficient contrast and density to be subsequently printed on to albumen paper.

You’ll make a number of different negatives in sizes from 4×5 up to 8×10 inches, using a variety of cameras and lenses, and you’ll be instructed on how to prepare the chemistry and process the negatives correctly. You will then prepare the salted albumen mixture, in readiness for the paper coating process. By the end of dayone , you’ll have a number of finished glass negatives ready for printing!

Day two will begin with preparing albumen paper, first by coating sheets with the salted albumen, and then sensitising with silver nitrate. You’ll learn the proper techniques for doing each step, as well as which papers to use for the process. After drying, the prepared paper will be exposed and processed, and you’ll leave the workshop with a selection of beautiful handmade prints along with your glass negatives.

This workshop is suitable for all skill levels, and all materials are provided.Please note: albumen is produced from egg white, so please take this into consideration if you have allergies to eggs, as you will be handling raw produce.

The Wet Plate Negative with Albumen Printing workshop
Negative Thinking
Studio F1, Willway Yard, Bedminster, Bristol, BS3 4BG
Led by Tim Pearse, over two days, 15 hours
Cost £250 including materials
See: https://www.negative-thinking.co.uk/wet-plate-neg

This fifth Museum Dialogues workshop explores how contemporary and historical photographers’ archives are accommodated both within museums and beyond public institutions. Contributors will share collection building and accessioning practices, examining remit and objectives, public access and the practical concerns involved in the custodianship of photographic archives. The discussion will offer strategies to enhance capacity and bring resources and visibility to photographer archive projects, including through research and public engagement initiatives. We will consider approaches to addressing issues of representation and concerns around equality, diversity and inclusion, as well as barriers to artists from diverse backgrounds and identities when entering the archive.

The workshop will also reflect on what is archived and the challenges of presenting ‘authentic’ photographer histories based on partial or incomplete records, and on opportunities of offering audiences alternative narratives.

Speakers confirmed so far: Weronika Kobylińska, President, Archeology of Photography Foundation, Poland; Hyunjung Son, Curator, Photography Seoul Museum of Art (Photo SeMA), South Korea.

Acquiring and Making Accessible Photographer Archives
Online via Zom, 6 May 2026 at 1300-1600 (BST)
Attendance is free but booking is essential.
Please find Speaker Biographies and Registration HERE

A perfect introduction to historic photographic processes. This one day workshop covers the beginnings of camera-less photography and will allow you to develop your skills and knowledge into the printing process that started it all. This is William Henry Fox Talbot’s first photographic process, the photogenic drawing, the basis for all photographic printing that came later. This workshop teaches you the basic chemistry and techniques of the process, discusses some of Talbot’s variations and allows you to explore the artistic possibilities under expert guidance.

The workshop takes place onhttp://talbotworkshops.webs.com/photogenicdrawing.htm 13 August and is limited to ten participants. It is led by Richard Cynan Jones. Click here for more information: