Barcelona: Take your portrait with a 19th century process

Gothic Quarter Barcelona, Barcelona



Have your portrait taken with one of the first photographic processes ever invented, while experiencing the whole process. Done by hand, from mixing the chemistry to developing the metal plate.

Highlights

  • Leave with a souvenir that will be one of a kind: a unique, timeless portrait.
  • Experience analog photography at its best, in a 19th cent. studio and darkroom.
  • Understand what it was to pose for a photograph as our great grandparents did.
  • Learn the basics of one of the most ancient photography processes.

Description

During a 1:30h session, you’ll experience what it was to have your portrait taken back in 1851. In a fully dedicated studio and darkroom in the very heart of Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter, you’ll see how chemicals were mixed and used, sit on a chair for around 20 seconds posing for the old wooden camera, and experience how your face appears under the developer. It’s having your own timeless portrait on a piece of metal, but it's also attending to a small workshop about how photography worked at the dawn of these artisanal processes. You’ll watch me work, and understand -and enjoy- how difficult and rewarding it was to make a picture that will last for centuries. By the end of the activity, you’ll have a portrait (or more than one), single, couple or group, that will be available for pick up after it's properly washed, dried and varnished.

Includes

Reception at the studio. Preparation of the plate the portrait will be taken onto. Taking of the portrait, working together on the pose. Developing the results. Posterior washing, drying and varnishing of the results. Local pickup at the studio after it's ready.

Important Information

  • Photography exposure times can be around 20 seconds. For better results, models need to stay the more still they can during the photographic exposure. This is why kids from 1 to 3yo or pets can be quite challenging to photograph in these old processes, and results may not be as expected.

Easy cancellation

Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund

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