This February, in the run up to Waitangi Weekend, Adrian Cook will be taking his mobile darkroom (a 1950's Bond-wood caravan) to Te Waimate Mission in the Bay Of Islands to craft timeless portraits using the wet plate collodion process, a 19th century method of development that predates film photography.

Using equipment and techniques developed during the 1850’s, the photographic plates are individually coated and sensitised in the darkroom before being exposed and developed while wet. Once fixed, washed and dried they are then coated in a gum sandarac varnish that preserves and protects them for generations.

Plates will be posted to clients once varnished & cured, a week or so after their session.

Sessions last 45 minutes and are limited to 2 people per plate

Please book early to avoid disappointment as sessions are limited.

Te Waimate Mission: Wet Plate Portrait Sessions

Choose your tickets

Wet Plate Portrait Session ticket