Scully & Osterman present:
Dry Plate Collodion Negative & Salt Printing Workshop in Sicily
May 26-30 , 2025
Tuition: 3,800 euro: Welcome reception and dinner May 25th, Six nights lodging, all meals (breakfast, lunch & dinner) and all workshop materials.
Workshop for 6 participants.
If you’re ready to experience large format and alternative process photography, beautiful Sicilian scenery and amazing food, this is a rare opportunity. This workshop will be hosted by Gianni Cusumano and taught by Mark Osterman and France Scully Osterman on location in Sicily, Italy. The Ostermans are well known to the international photographic community as the leading experts in collodion processes.
Unlike wet collodion, this workshop features a rare dry variant of the collodion process introduced in the mid-1850s. Designed specifically for landscape photography, the technique allows shooting collodion negatives in the field without the use of a portable darkroom as required for wet collodion photography. The sensitive plates may be kept for several months before exposure making them the perfect medium for travel photography.
In this unique workshop, participants will receive instruction in the basic chemistry and concept of the process, hands-on instruction in the preparation, exposure and processing of 8”x10” negatives and making final proofs with salt prints. All instructional information is supplied including the manual, Scully & Osterman Basic Collodion Technique and supplemental instructions specific to wet and dry collodion negative-making.
On the first day, the Ostermans will guide you in preparing dry collodion plates in the darkroom at Gianni Cusumano laboratory in the center of Castelbuono, Sicily.
For the next 3 days, participants will shoot on location using a large format 8″x10″ view camera. The group will return to the darkroom at the end of each shooting session to develop the plates with the instructors. On the last day, participants will make salted paper prints from their best negatives.
Lodging, Food and Transportation
Lodging, food, and transportation to and from the laboratory is included in the cost of the workshop.
Lodging and food include: 6 nights accommodation with breakfast, lunch and dinner. The rooms are comfortable single room. To request double or triple room including meals for extra guests not attending workshop, please email Gianni Cusumano for prices & availability before booking.
Accommodations will be held at Agriturismo Bergi, an educational farm and B&B with twenty acres of gardens, orchards and olive groves. Using local products, the hosts highlight ancient flavors of healthy Sicilian kitchen. The farm is two miles away from the laboratory where the workshop will take place.
Location Information
The workshop will be held at Gianni Cusumano laboratory located in the center of Castelbuono, a town in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in Sicily. Castelbuono owes its origins to Ventimiglia, Lords of the County of Geraci, which in the 14th century decided to build a castle. Its position is important at the foot of the beautiful valley Madonie, inhabited in the Neolithic and rich in Greek, Roman and Arabic testimonies.
Tuition and Booking
Please email us if you plan to attend
The cost for the 5 day workshop (with lodging and food included) is 3.800 €. To reserve a space in the workshop, participants must pay the total cost in advance. In the US, please send a check payable in current equivalent USD to Scully & Osterman, 186 Rockingham St., Rochester, NY 14620.
For payments outside the US, please email Gianni Cusumano for instructions on sending payment.
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