The Candid Frame: A Photography Podcast

Ken Merfeld owns and operates a commercial / fine art photography studio where he photographs fashion, advertising, portrait, and celebrity assignments.  His work has appeared in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Mademoiselle, Angelino, Zoom, Black and White, and Los Angeles magazines. Prior to his work in the world of Wet-Plate Collodion, Ken has worked on a personal portrait project (traditional silver prints) for more than 20 years which includes: dancers, bikers, people with their pets, autistic children, “little people”, transvestites, identical twins, women wearing masks. In response to the rapidly moving electronic image world, as well as his inherent desire to keep his traditional darkroom alive, Merfeld has chosen to embrace the ultimate, historical, hands-on technique of Wet-Plate Collodion (originally known as the “Black Art”) from the 1860’s.  Influenced by the 19th. Century portraits of Julia Margaret Cameron, whereby a single defining exposure is made on a piece of glass and processed immediately, Ken has