We all still miss the ECW, which last happened three years ago. But nobody ever really came together to bring it back. This year, though, two events were planned. One up in the north in September, but we’re already busy then. And one near Merzig, close to the French border – quick and easy for us to get to. A week before Whitsun – so no problem either, if we want to go to WGT Leipzig (Gothik Meeting at Whitsun every year) again to take photos.
So we went to Vogelsbüsch 33 in Wadern, at Herry’s Kulturgarten, the weekend before Whitsun. Before we went, I couldn’t really picture it – I was just curious. There wasn’t much information, but ten euros per person per night for camping in the van is surprisingly cheap.
When we rolled onto the farm on Friday, we both fell in love with the place straight away. The property includes a big house where Sylwia lives (she organised the event), with a large kitchen, toilets you can reach from outside (and a shower), lots of green space and room – plus a stage and a big covered area. Creative chaos everywhere, little lovely spots to discover, old gnarled trees, a swing – an absolute dream for a photographer’s weekend.
Lots of wet plate people we already knew turned up, which was just brilliant. Everyone has a routine now for setting up the darkroom tent, and it didn’t take long before the first wet plates were made.
Weekends like this are just perfect – to see what others are up to, what you can still learn, what knowledge you can pass on – and, of course, to party.
Herry was there too, and Mik, who’s also part of the farm. I took both of them into my heart straight away – such wonderful people. Of course we photographed them… and friends who came along too. A friend of Sylwia’s came by every lunchtime with food (it was great, and the price was donation-based). It was a bit cold and damp that weekend, but because everything was covered, a little shower was never too bad, and in the evenings we sat in the communal kitchen with music, food (pizza one night, and another night everyone brought something) and lots of laughter.
This time I took the group photo – on glass, 18×24 size – and got it spot on first try. But because someone had hidden in the darkroom, I made another one – also spot on. It feels so good when all that practice pays off and it just works straight away!
We’ll go again next year – what a cool location, lovely people, and so cosy!
Here are a few wet plates on glass (ambrotypes) that I made and took home with me. All the wet plates you can see in the phone pictures – I gave those away.
analog photos with leica and rolleiflex:
mobile-photos:
