This week we soak in the bath with Lindsey Ross, the modern-day woman behind the lens of the 19th-century wet plate photography: The Alchemistress. Over the last few years, you may have encountered her unique style of photography at a few of our events where she is typically covered in her classic overalls with her mobile darkroom van parked nearby and her unique pop-up portrait studio within reach. With nature as a focal point for many of her subjects, Lindsey’s work brings a sense of wonder, curiosity, and intrigue especially as the images reveal themselves on the glass plates, changing before our very eyes. There is a sense of slowing down, of patience that comes with her process, something that resonates with what we too create in all of our sensory experiences. With her latest body of work, she has stepped into our dreamy world to play with us and has even brought a few of our own familiar faces to the moody dream world in her latest mushroom series.

In this episode, we learn all about her upbringing in Southern California and her discovery of this large-format style of photography. This field of photography had been traditionally dominated by men at the beginning. When she broke into the community of photographers who are still keeping this art form alive, she brought a unique passion for mixing the modern era with the classic lens to shape her own approach. We’ll sit in on her story around why she pursued this unique style, her personal discovery of learning how to master this time-consuming and laborious process, and how she is giving new life to this old-world art form. Lindsey creates tintype and ambrotype portraits and landscape images. Most recently, she has been working on a mushroom portrait series, where her subjects seem to be shrunken down to the world of insects lounging about in a mythological setting. You can even find some of our own inner circle members among the mix. Listen now to her artist’s journey or go see her large-scale glass photos in person at her studio next time you’re visiting the coast of Santa Barbara.

To join Secular Sabbath membership, you can find us at secular-sabbath.com/membership. Joining grants you access to our Inner Circle community of sensory-exploring like-minded people, where you can gather with us locally in LA for monthly meet-up experiences, and pop-up events around the globe, and partake in our exclusive ambient online community.

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Ep. 16 | Tub Talks with Lindsey Ross: Tin-Type Photographer