Shane Balkowitsch - Nostalgic Glass Wet Plate Studio

Name: Shane Balkowitsch - Nostalgic Glass Wet Plate Studio
Address: 2703 Big Sky Circle, Bismarck, ND, 58503, US
Telephone: +17014267630

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Shane Balkowitsch - Nostalgic Glass Wet Plate Studio

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I live and breath to create wet plate collodion photographs using the historic process invented in 1851

I am a non-photographer taking on the historic wet plate collodion process from 1848. It is all that I know, and my first camera was my wet plate camera.

11/01/2026

“Life of Face” with Julie Kay Combs, captured for the first time in the historic wet plate collodion process of silver on black glass, a self-titled commissioned portrait. Julie flew in from Illinois to spend the day in my studio and have her portrait immortalized.

Carl Zeiss Tessar 250mm lens, f4.5, 10 seconds of exposure, 8x10” black glass ambrotype, natural light through Northern facing windows and skylights at Nostalgic Glass Wet Plate Studio, Bismarck, North Dakota, Plate 5843 taken on 10-30-2026.

10/30/2026

“Brings Back The Wounded” with Sophie Linda Landin, Arikara / Hidatsa / Dakota / Tlingit, captured in silver on black glass for the series “Northern Plains Native Americans: A Modern Wet Plate Perspective”. I last photographed Sophie when she was 7 years old. She is the daughter of my dear friend and sister Margaret YellowBird-Gonzalez.

Carl Zeiss Tessar 250mm lens, f4.5, 10 seconds of exposure, 8x10” black glass ambrotype, natural light through Northern facing windows and skylights at Nostalgic Glass Wet Plate Studio, Bismarck, North Dakota, Plate 5840 taken on 10-30-2026.

10/28/2026

Meta’s A.I. is suggesting I falsify and lie on a form to get my account back. No humans in loop!

This is what misalignment looks like in the real world. This is what happens when we leave artificial intelligence to solve problems. This is what I have been warning about.

10/15/2026

My friend Ivan did a contact print of my work with Carlee Gifford titled “The Sirin”.

10/10/2026

Emaura Jasmine Fox, MHA Nation, captured for the first time in the historic wet plate collodion process of silver on black glass for the series "Northern Plains Native Americans: A Modern Wet Plate Perspective".

Carl Zeiss Tessar 250mm lens, f4.5, 9 seconds of exposure, 8x10” black glass ambrotype, natural light through Northern facing windows and skylights at Nostalgic Glass Wet Plate Studio, Bismarck, North Dakota, Plate #5831 taken on 10-9-2026.

10/08/2026

“My Brother Through The Years” with Chad Balkowitsch, we take an anniversary plate celebrating my first ever plate on October 4th, 2012. We now have 15 plates documenting him as he ages. The series ends when one of us is no longer and all plates are going to his oldest daughter.

10/08/2026

My portrait of Shailene Woodley hung in on a happy customer’s wall!

10/07/2026

The Oregon Historical Society is going to take my portrait of Pulitzer Prize winning photographer David Hume Kennerly into their permanent collection. He was born and raised there. This 5x7” black glass ambrotypes was taken during a demonstration at the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library.

David and I were on a panel together. I adore this man and what he has done for history and photography. History preserved!

10/07/2026

After researching my article for the Hidden Mothers in historic photography I went on a search to find an original for my collection.

Here we have an original Victorian tintype of a a baby with a loincloth in the lap of a Hidden Mother. The mother’s dress has also been hand tinted by the photographer. As with all works I collect I open them up and clean dust from the plate and make sure everything is intact. This also allows me to inspect the plate and confirm it is properly varnished. Much to my surprise hidden behind the original plate was a piece of paper denoting Holmes, Booth & Haydens.

Holmes, Booth & Haydens was a prominent 19th-century American manufacturing company based in Waterbury, Connecticut, specializing in brass goods, daguerreotype plates, early photographic lenses, lighting, and silverplated flatware. The company was incorporated on February 2, 1853, by Israel Holmes, John C. Booth, Hiram W. Hayden, and brothers Henry H. and James A. Hayden.

This little piece of history has found its new home in my natural light studio where it will be shared with visitors.

Address

2703 Big Sky Circle
Bismarck, ND
58503

Telephone

+17014267630

Website

http://sharoncol.balkowitsch.com/wetplate.htm

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