Adopted by many contemporary photographers attracted by the challenges and the beauty of this historical process, wet collodion photography relies on principles not only of science, but of faith. The recipes and procedures, only recently less obscured from public consumption, are often difficult to find and take years to master. A sort of controlled chaos, collodion can react to time, temperature and mysterious forces that can result in beautiful imagery, or failed, cloudy attempts at image making. The skill and fortitude of a collodion photographer treads that line between belief and pure skill. The realm of the portrait, coupled with the sublime unknown of this process, has shown me more than an individual can intend to show. In each likeness, I have begun to catch a glimpse of what is alive and true.