Quaker Bridge — New Jersey Wet Plate Collodion Giclée Print

Quaker Bridge — Mercer County, New Jersey

A stone arch bridge seen from downstream, with bare trees closing in over the water.

The bridge sits where the old road crossed the creek, and its arches have carried traffic since long before the road was paved. The camera stood low on the bank looking up the channel, which puts the bridge small in the frame and the woods around it doing most of the work.

The plate was coated, exposed and developed on location within minutes, in a darkroom built into the back of a truck. The long exposure flattens the water to a sheet while the branches stay sharp against the sky.

Photographed using the 19th-century wet plate collodion process, and reproduced here as a fine art giclée print that holds the tonal range and atmosphere of the original plate.

Available in multiple sizes, from a smaller print for a collection to a larger statement piece.

Location: Quaker Bridge, Mercer County, New Jersey
Original Photographic Process: Wet Plate Collodion
Print Process: Archival Giclée
Available Sizes: Multiple sizes

A crossing older than the road it carries, photographed with a process from the same century.