Shane Balkowitsch

Shane Balkowitsch
Self Portrait, a wet plate collodion photograph of Balkowitsch.
Born (1969-01-24) January 24, 1969 (age 57)
Bismarck, North Dakota
OccupationsWet plate photographer, and founder of Balkowitsch Enterprises
Websitesharoncol.balkowitsch.com/wetplate.htm

Shane Balkowitsch (/ˈbɔːlkəwɪtʃ/ BAWL-kə-witch; born January 24, 1969) is an American wet plate photographer from Bismarck, North Dakota.

Career

Prior to beginning his career as a photographer, Balkowitsch founded Balkowitsch Enterprises, Inc. in 1998. He retired and sold the company in June 2023.

In 2012, Balkowitsch began researching the process of wet plate photography after reading a manual on the subject by tintype photographer John Coffer. With little experience in photography, Balkowitsch experimented with the process and took his first successful photo the same year. He holds demonstrations in North Dakota with the use of a portable darkroom.

No Spiritual Surrender - Floris White Bull

In 2016 Balkowitsch's photograph of Evander Holyfield was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution and is now part of the National Portrait Gallery. The same year, Balkowitsch captured images of the encampment of the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. In 2019, No Spiritual Surrender, one of the photographs he took there, was awarded Best Photograph by the North Dakota Human Rights Art Festival.

Greta Thunberg in Wet Plate Collodion by Shane Balkowitsch "Standing For Us All"

In 2019, a photo of Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg created by Balkowitsch at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota was archived at the Library of Congress. and later was featured in National Geographic Magazine on October 28, 2020. The same year, the documentary film “Balkowitsch”, about Balkowitsch's life and work, debuted at the North Dakota Human Rights Film Festival.

Greta Thunberg mural

In February 2020 a seven-foot mural of the work Standing For Us All by Balkowitsch was going to be displayed on the side of a bakery business in Bismarck, North Dakota. A Bismarck TV station reported on the planned mural and threats of vandalism and boycotts from the community followed. The mural Liberty Trudges Through Injustice by Balkowitsch and on display in Bismarck since the Spring of 2019 was vandalized on February 13, 2020. Standing For Us All is an image showing Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg looking off into the distance taken by Balkowitsch during Thunberg's visit to Standing Rock Indian Reservation in October 2019. After plans to display the mural were cancelled in Bismarck, a former Fargo, North Dakota city commissioner spearheaded plans to bring the mural to the eastern North Dakota city. The mural of Thunberg will go on permanent display in downtown Fargo in March 2020.

See also

Books

References

  1. ↑ "Unedited Interview of Shane Balkowitsch by Phillip Litton at Nostalgic Glass Wet Plate Studio". YouTube. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  2. ↑ "Meet Shane Balkowitsch". Canvas Rebel. January 22, 2024. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
  3. ↑ "Bismarck man to recreate historic Custer photograph". Bismarcktribune.com. 25 November 2013. Retrieved 2016-09-18.
  4. ↑ "Recreating a little piece of history". Mandan-news.com. Retrieved 2016-09-18.
  5. ↑ Olson, Chris (2015-01-15). "Souls of Silver exhibit on at the Arts Center". Jamestown Sun. Retrieved 2016-09-18.
  6. ↑ "Balkowitsch's "immortal impressions" in glass and silver | High Plains Reader, Fargo ND". Hpr1.com. Retrieved 2016-09-18.
  7. ↑ "Documenting ND pipeline protests with 'time-machine' tech". Inforum.com. 16 August 2016. Retrieved 2016-09-18.
  8. ↑ "Evander Holyfield, "The Real Deal"". npg.si.edu. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  9. ↑ Pangburn, DJ (6 March 2017). "Photographer Uses 166-Year-Old Process to Capture the Spirit of North Dakota". creators.vice.com. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  10. ↑ Keller, Jeff. "Photographer uses 'antique' photo technique to illustrate struggles of Native Americans". dpreview.com. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  11. ↑ "2019 NORTH DAKOTA HUMAN RIGHTS ARTS FESTIVAL AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED". human-family.org. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  12. ↑ Associated Press. "Greta Thunberg's North Dakota Photo Is at National Library". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2026.
  13. ↑ Whang, Oliver. "Greta Thunberg reflects on living through multiple crises in a 'post-truth society". nationalgeographic.com. Archived from the original on October 29, 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  14. ↑ ""BALKOWITSCH" TO SCREEN AT HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL". human-family.org. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  15. ↑ Armus, Teo. "Greta Thunberg mural plan falls to threats of vandalism and boycott in Bismarck, N.D." washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  16. ↑ Hagen, CS (13 February 2020). "Nixed in Bismarck after backlash, Greta Thunberg mural appears destined for Fargo". inforum.com. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  17. ↑ "Rebuffed in Bismarck Thunberg mural likely headed to Fargo". twincities.com. 14 February 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  18. ↑ "Thunberg mural to be permanently displayed in downtown Fargo". kfgo.com. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  19. ↑ Balkowitsch, Shane (October 31, 2019). Northern Plains Native Americans: A Modern Wet Plate Perspective. New York: Glitterati Incorporated. p. 128. ISBN 978-1943876082. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  20. ↑ Hagen, C.S. "A warrior in his lifetime: photographic book of natives receives more than acclaim". hpr1.com. Retrieved 1 July 2019.