British photographer Jonathan Keys takes striking black-and-white photographs of contemporary England with a 130-year-old Circa camera and a 1920s-era lens.
Keys roams Newcastle with his camera in hand, capturing the city’s Edwardian architecture, street scenes and people.
At first glance they appear to be have been taken a century ago, but upon closer inspection they reveal facets of modern life, such as present-day car models, electric street lamps, and current clothing trends and hairstyles.
He develops them using a process called collodion (wet plate), an early photographic technique invented by Frederick Scott Archer in the 1850s, to give his images a distinct vintage aesthetic.
In the darkroom, he first pours collodion onto one side of a glass and dips it in silver nitrate to make it light-sensitive. The glass is loaded into the camera which is ready for shooting.
Before taking a photograph, Keys removes the lens cap to expose the plate to light for several seconds or minutes. He then develops the plate in a way similar to how film negatives are developed.
Due to the time-consuming nature of the collodion process, Keys only takes between two to six photographs a day.
The entire process for each picture takes around 15 minutes, but according to Keys, he finds it more satisfying than digital photography due to the time and attention required.
Check out some of his work below and view more at his Flickr page.
[via My Modern Met, Daily Geek Show,