20 NEBRASKAland • DECEMBER 2015
ABOVE: Blue Birds, C-Print, Sioux County
OPPOSITE: Agate Academic, Toned Silver Gelatin Print, Agate Fossil Beds National Monument
I
remember, as a young boy, visiting my grandparents'
ranch in the Sandhills of rural Rock County. Sometimes my
cousins and I would play in the area where the old dump
used to be and dig up relics from the past. These little pieces
of buried bottles and cans, and the stories they could tell from
a time long past, would fascinate me.
When I began photography full time, I was already a history
enthusiast and quickly gravitated to the historical processes
of photography. I found myself drawn away from digital
photography and into processes of the past. I began by
making simple silver gelatin prints, and moved back in time
to working with bromoil prints, tintypes and salt prints. I even
began making my own cameras and lenses.
Intersection of
History and
Nature
Photos and story by Jay Jilg
