Jerry Spagnoli recently spent time teaching workshops in Australia, Craig Tuffin sent us this account with images from his iphone of the proceedings:

“It was a very exciting time in the weeks leading up to Jerry Spagnoli’s visit to Australia. Jerry had been the very first person approached by Ellie Young from GoldStreet studios in Victoria to run two three-day workshops and act as the keynote speaker at Australia’s very first ‘Alternative Photographic Process Symposium’. Ellie has a very passionate group of people regularly attending her workshops and numerous other photographic events, but this was the first time daguerreotypy had been on offer. Photographers ranging from the purely amateur to the seasoned professional rushed to fill the limited places that were available. As a result, both of Jerry’s workshops were filled weeks before his arrival.

It was soon discovered that Jerry is not only a very humble and approachable guy, but also an entertaining speaker, all too willing to share his vast knowledge of this beautiful process. Personally, after many years of working with wet plate collodion, I was awestruck by what the daguerreotype had to offer. Not only could I travel away from my mobile darkroom with this process (not limited by a rapidly drying plate), but the daguerreotypes themselves were everything I had hoped for…perfect!

Jerry made sure everyone in the workshops received his personal attention. Each participant went home with many successful plates and a working knowledge of the Becquerel process. Eventually we allowed him to travel back to New York, but only after he agreed to return ‘Down Under’ in 2014. Phone-calls from people desperate to book places immediately started pouring in, filling next years workshops almost to capacity. I think we can safely say that Jerry’s visit was a huge success and CDags.org can look for a few extra Aussie faces amongst their membership in the coming months and years.”