Hunter Helmstaedter is an artist, film-maker, and photographer. Hunter was born in Denver but is now based in Brooklyn. Currently, Hunter is working with wet plate collodion as his medium of choice. Due to the pandemic, Hunter lost his job in television. So he decided to pick up his camera and start photographing the empty City. He states, “Normally the bustling streets of New York City are crowded with people. For the first time in modern history, the City has been slowed to a halt in response to the Coronavirus outbreak. I felt it was important to document this rare moment in history wherein deserted streets and empty scenes became a familiar sight to those living in New York City.”
He feels that this virus has forced people to slow down and “take in what is happening,” around them. For him, taking up the collodion process allowed him to practice something which is “very old.”
All photographs are copyrighted © by Hunter Helmstaedter
China Town, 04.01.2020
Coney Island, 04.14.2020
Coney Island, 04.14.2020
Coney Island, 04.14.2020
Dumbo, 04.28.2020
Dumbo, 04.28.2020
Grace Court Alley NYC Skyline Concrete Jungle, 05.02.2020
Grace Court Alley, 05.02.2020
Little Italy, 04.06.2020
Soho, 03.26.2020
Times Square, 03.26.2020
Tribeca, 04.06.2020
Check out Hunter's Instagram here and his Wet Plate series here.
