Bio:
Susan Bryant is a fine art photographer who lives in Clarksville, Tennessee. She is Professor Emerita from Austin Peay State University where she taught photography for 37 years. Her work has been included in over 100 juried and individual group exhibitions, and over 25 solo exhibits in the United States and is included in numerous collections. Since retiring from full-time teaching, Susan teaches workshops in Hand-coloring Black & White Photographs, attends artist residencies, and continues to create and exhibit new photographic work.
I have employed many different processes throughout my professional life, including black & white gelatin silver prints, hand-colored silver prints, the 19th century wet-plate collodion process (tintypes and glass negatives), hand-colored digital prints, and color digital photography.
Plait, 2011
When I photograph my family and friends, it is an act of collaboration; a lock of hair or a fleeting gesture can be as expressive as the features of their face. This intimate encounter, grounded in familiarity, results in an image that tells the viewer about both the sitter and about me. Pose, expression, trust, and light combine to capture the heart of the subject
This image was created using the 19th century wet-plate collodion process. In my backyard, I exposed a prepared glass negative in my 4×5 camera within easy access to my basement darkroom. I own the original ambrotype but I print various sizes of digital prints from a scan of the original glass negative.
