Daguerreotype: A Mystical Mirror Reflecting Yosemite
Instructor: Dr. Mike Robinson
2025 Dates: Mar 12-15
Focus: Field and Darkroom
Medium: Daguerreotype
This 4-day workshop teaches you about the evolution, aesthetics and process of Daguerreotype printing. Conducted by Dr. Mike Robinson, a modern master of the medium, this workshop covers the techniques perfected by commercial daguerreian artists in the 1850s and beyond. Open to all skill levels and expertise.
Overview
This 4-day workshop is designed for artists and historians with a serious interest in the evolution, aesthetics and process of Daguerreotype. Conducted by Dr. Mike Robinson, a modern master of the medium, this workshop covers the techniques perfected by commercial daguerreian artists in the 1850s.Open to all skill levels, participants will learn modern and traditional techniques of polishing using silver-clad copper plates. Each participant will have the opportunity to produce two half-plate, gilded daguerreotypes. The daguerreotypes will be developed with mercury vapour using equipment designed and built by Dr. Mike Robinson, which greatly improves user safety. Also covered will be advanced concepts of contrast control with bromine accelerated plates, chemical handling, and alternative fuming techniques. All processing equipment, cameras, and materials will be provided. Each participant will receive two plates, with all chemicals and solutions, and housing materials included as part of your tuition/materials fee.
SPRING 2025 – March 12 - 15
Workshop Details
| Daguerreotype: A Mystical Mirror Reflecting Yosemite | |
|---|---|
| INSTRUCTOR | Dr. Mike Robinson |
| FOCUS | Field and Darkroom |
| MEDIUM | Daguerreotype |
| LEVEL | Intermediate to Advanced |
| ATTENDEES | 6 |
| TUITION | $2375 (includes materials) |
About the Instructor
About Dr. Mike Robinson
Dr. Mike Robinson is an artist-practitioner, teacher, conservator, and historian of the daguerreotype process. In June 2017 he earned his PhD in Photographic History with a dissertation titled The Techniques and Material Aesthetics of the Daguerreotype. He has researched and written on the studio practice of Southworth and Hawes for the Young America catalog and for The Daguerreian Society Annual. Mike taught graduate and undergraduate courses in 19th Century Photographic Processes at Ryerson University in Toronto, and has lectured and taught daguerreotype workshops in Toronto, Rochester, New York City, Lacock Abbey UK, Bry-sur-Marne France, and Kolomna Russia.
Mike’s daguerreotypes are in the collections of The Portrait Gallery of Canada, The Art Gallery of Ontario, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Nelson-Atkins Museum, The Carnegie-Mellon, The Snite Museum, The Fox Talbot Museum, The George Eastman House International Museum of Photography, Musée Metienne, and The Russian Museum of Photography. Mike is also the President of Daguerreian Society, an international organization dedicated to the art, scholarship and preservation of the daguerreotype.
Mike’s website is www.CenturyDarkroom.com
Workshop FAQ
Find answers to your questions about our Photography Workshops in our FAQ. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you need additional help. You can reach us by email at photoed@anseladams.com or by phone (650) 692-3495.
Clothing / Dressing for the Elements
Physical Limitations
This workshop may involve some walking and hiking around uneven, hilly, and rocky locations that may present a challenge to some attendees. The gallery workshop team requests your individual judgment to abstain from workshop activities that may be beyond your capabilities.
Although the workshop instructors will try to accommodate all attendees, please be advised that the gallery relies on your abstinence should you feel that a site location may not be safe for you.
Cancellation Policy
The Ansel Adams Gallery Multiple Day Workshop Cancellation Policy: We rely on your confirmed attendance to make important arrangements for the workshop. If you need to cancel, please inform a gallery representative in writing no fewer than 60 days prior to the first day of your scheduled workshop for a partial refund of your tuition that reflects the 10% non-refundable administration charge. Refunds cannot be made for cancellations initiated within 60 days of the first day of the scheduled workshop, or for no-shows, for any reason.
If you are concerned with the possibility of cancellation, please consider purchasing travel insurance.
Workshop registration is NOT transferable.
In the extremely rare event that The Ansel Adams Gallery needs to cancel a workshop, the gallery will refund your full tuition. However, The Ansel Adams Gallery will not be responsible for non-refundable airline tickets, car rentals charges, lodging reservations, or any other expense outside of the workshop tuition.
Lodging reservations made through Yosemite Hospitality - Aramark are fully refundable 14 days in advance of the scheduled first day of check in.
It is recommended not to purchase airline tickets or make non-refundable deposits on lodging that cannot be canceled 14 days prior to the initiation of the workshop event.
The Ansel Adams Gallery highly recommends travel insurance to help with an unfortunate travel event.
This pre-workshop information may be emailed to the education coordinator at photoed@anseladams.com.
