Hold still: Photo technique back in the frame

London – Louis Vuitton has launched a digital film project combining old photographic techniques with modern online distribution.

The Double Exposure project will invite four subjects to sit for a portrait using the 19th-century wet plate collodion process. The revived technique involves the sitter holding a pose for 12 seconds, while their image is exposed on a photographic wet plate. These images will then be distributed through Louis Vuitton’s Facebook page, with an accompanying film in which the sitter presents objects and personal possessions that have special significance to them.

For the first subject, artist and film-maker Sam Taylor-Wood, the languid process is an interesting juxtaposition to contemporary forms of distribution. ‘It’s a beautifully slow, arduous and painstaking process, and I like that,’ says Taylor-Wood. ‘I like the difference between this and how speedy everything is today, including the way we take pictures.’

LS:N Global has reported on the growing interest in revived methods and techniques. For more information see our Revivalism micro trend report.