Silver screen

The dramatic scenery of Dartmoor provides the perfect backdrop for Nicky Thompson's portraits, using one of the oldest photographic methods to capture her striking images, as featured in the inspiring new book, Artisans of Dartmoor

- SUZY BENNETT

Nicky Thompson wades knee-deep into the river, silhouetted against the glare of the midday sun. Positioning herself in front of her subjects – two swimmers resting on mossy boulders – she huddles beneath a ruby-red cape and sets her vintage camera to record the scene with a 19th-century photographic process that allows no room for error. With a six-second exposure, the pair must stay completely still despite the stiff breeze because even the slightest movement will ruin the image. This is their third attempt – and with clouds rolling in, the last.

A few minutes later, in a mobile darkroom on the riverbank, Nicky sees a silvery, dreamlike image of the swimmers appear on a pane of glass. At last. Dating from the 1850s, wet-plate collodion is one of the world’s earliest photography techniques, which demands an immense amount of patience, both from the photographer and the subject.