Iggybug is a 40-something mad scientist and experimental photographer from Sacramento, California. Iggybug taught himself how to develop film and make silver gelatin prints between graduate school classes at UC Davis. He shoots with a variety of inexpensive film cameras mostly sourced from thift stores, and uses an ice fishing tent in his garage as a darkroom.
Since prehistoric times, artists have struggled to capture the grace, fascination, strength, vulnerability, and raw beauty of the female form. Iggybug is proud to be a celebrant of this ancient artistic tradition, but he is aware of the perils and baggage that accompany it. Because of this, Iggybug loathes cliche and nude art that dehumanizes women and instead works to produce art that is visually compelling and emotionally rich, and that celebrates a woman's beauty, mystery, power, and sensuality. Iggybug works with the wet plate collodion, cyanotype (with hand-applied 24k gold leaf), and lumen alternative processes.
Iggybug's work has been selected for inclusion in two juried exhibitions: the 2019 Texas Photographic Society contemporary artist print program, and the 2024 (s)Light of Hand alternative process competition produced by The Photographer's Eye creative collective in Escondido, California.
Process Description: Wet Plate Tintypes
The wet plate collodion photographic process for producing ambrotypes (on glass) and tintypes (on sheets of metal) was invented by Frederic Scott Archer in 1848. The wet plate collodion process became commercially successful and eclipsed the daguerreotype process to become the most popular photographic process of the 19th century until it was superseded by more modern techniques and materials.
Wet plate photography is, as the name suggests, wet: the plate must be coated with collodion, sensitized in a silver nitrate bath, exposed in camera for anywhere from five to thirty seconds, and developed before it dries out. The resulting imagery is haunting, and the final result is a tintype that proudly carries the unique imperfections that are the hallmarks of a 100% analog hand process.
After thoroughly drying, each tintype is hand-varnished with shellac to protect the extraordinarily fragile image-bearing collodion layer. Varnished tintypes are archival and may be handled safely. Iggybug's tintypes are produced using a 19th century collodion recipe on 8x10" black aluminum plates.
Process Description: Gilded Cyanotypes
The cyanotype printing process was invented in 1842 and was commonly used to print blueprints throughout the 20th century. Unlike most analog photographic processes, which commonly use silver nitrate for light sensitivity, the cyanotype process uses certain light-sensitive forms of iron. To make a cyanotype print, Iggybug mixes solutions of ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide and then hand coats this solution onto a high-quality paper. The coated paper is now light-sensitive and is ready to be used to make a cyanotype print after it dries. After the cyanotype print has been exposed and developed, Iggybug painstakingly hand-applies 24k gold leaf to certain portions of the print to heighten its visual interest and to add a layer of majesty or quasi-religious intensity to the finished print. Iggybug's cyanotypes are printed on Arches Aquarelle Hot Press 100% cotton rag watercolor paper. They are archival and will last a lifetime with proper care.
Process Description: Psychedelic Analog Photography
Iggybug uses an assortment of antique and toy 35mm film cameras and techniques including double exposures, intentional film damage, mirror prisms, false-color recombination, and special-effects film to produce psychedelic nudes.
1. What inspires you about the nude female figure?
As a heterosexual male, it would be disingenuous of me to say anything other than that I find women compelling, fascinating, mysterious, a touch intimidating, and, of course, extraordinarily beautiful. Nude women have been celebrated in art since the stone age, and I’m just another celebrant of an ancient artistic tradition.
I take very seriously my work with models. It’s a lot of fun to collaborate with them on a shoot’s look, theme, and location. They’re my creative partners throughout the process, from concept brainstorming to final image editing and presentation. At the same time, I feel a lot of pressure during a shoot: By agreeing to pose nude for me, a model is placing a lot of trust in me as a photographer and creative partner. It’s my responsibility to justify that trust by producing the most visually compelling and emotionally rich imagery that I’m capable of. I loathe cliché, and really hate nude photography that dehumanizes models by treating them like pretty mannequins or anatomy specimens. It’s not all serious, though: My favorite shoots have been filled with laughter, silliness, and spontaneity. Best of all, when everything clicks, I get to create art that celebrates a woman’s beauty, mystery, power, and sensuality.
2. How do you feel about being censored continuously in social media?
Censorship is insulting to the models with whom I collaborate, and to me as a photographer. It implies prurience and shame. The fact that social media applies a sexual double-standard to women is especially infuriating; male nipples are perfectly acceptable to show, but female nipples are taboo. I believe that the Silicon Valley geniuses could engineer a technical solution that would keep folks who don’t want to see nude art separated from that art, but instead they cave to advertising pressures and puritanical impulses. This has resulted in chilled artistic expression and the jeopardized livelihood of nude models through selective enforcement of content guidelines. Put differently, I find it quite problematic that Instagram, a $100 billion dollar company, essentially relies on pearl-clutching users (and trolls) to arbitrarily enforce censorship site-wide instead of designing a more equitable system that would allow artists and models to express themselves, while still protecting people who would prefer not to see nude art. That said, I feel forced to use Instagram because that’s where my audience is. There are better content-sharing platforms out there, but they don’t generate anywhere near the traffic that Instagram does.
3. What got you into alternative processes?
A few years ago, I went all-out on a shoot: I put a lot of effort and money into booking an experienced model and traveling for hours to reach a carefully chosen, jaw-droppingly beautiful location. Unfortunately, but for a single exception, the shots from that day were unremarkable. They were technically sound but felt flat and uninspired. The one frame from that shoot that worked was an accidental double-exposure. Call it kismet or serendipity, but that one accidental double-exposure felt magic, chaotic, and alive. Since then, I’ve tried to intentionally add elements of chaos and imperfection to my photography by incorporating intentional light leaks, double-exposures, and deviations from standard film development into my creative process. Giving up the pursuit of technical perfection has been very liberating! I take more risks with my photography, and my art has improved as a result.
4. Why have you decided on film as your medium?
I started shooting seriously back in 2001. When I started in photography, I desperately wanted (but could not afford) a digital camera. I could afford a nice 35mm film camera, however, so that's what I shot. Taking sterile, technically perfect pictures with a digital wünderkamera is easy. Film makes you work for it. Developing film is a messy, wet, time-consuming alchemy that is integral to my creative process. I love the thrill I get when peeking at my wet negatives straight out the wash -- the delayed gratification and built-up anticipation for getting that first look is sweet indeed. Finally, and maybe most importantly, I just think that people look better on film shot through old lenses than they do on digital shot through modern, harshly sharp lenses.