A portion of this Interview by Michael Behlen was originally published in Issue 1 of Analog Forever Magazine in 2019.

Lynn Bierbaum, Analog Forever’s Social Media and Community Manager, is an alternative process photographer and glassblower from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Although Lynn hails from Minnesota, to say she is from there wouldn’t be correct, as she has never considered this place home. Lynn spent the majority of her childhood moving from place to place, from six months to two years at a time, due to her father’s job as an airline computer systems expert. This meant constant travel and little consistency, which has had a deep effect on Lynn’s emotional search for a place and community to call her own. Her constant irregularity of location through her adolescent years did have one positive: she found her love of photography while she was living abroad in Australia, via an old Mickey Mouse film camera that her parents purchased for her. Though digital photography was on the upswing during these years, she began to use this camera obsessively. She recalls the excitement of traveling to the local Target or film lab to develop her film, and living in her negatives, became her favorite place to call home during this period in her life.

Lynn did eventually end up in Minnesota as she grew older and spent the majority of her late teenage years there attending high school. It was here where she discovered her passion for the technical nature of photography. So much so, that decided to pursue the medium when she enrolled at the University of Wisconsin River Falls, where she graduated in 2017 with a degree in Photography and a minor in Graphic Design. During the time she spent at university she became increasingly interested in pursuing consistently more challenging processes of alternative and traditional photography methods. With the aid of her professors and mentors, she quickly mastered the art of printing and processing on platinum-palladium, salt, van dyke brown, cyanotype, and many others. However, it was when she took a glass blowing class that her eyes were opened to the fact that she could create 3D pieces instead of relying on the traditional 2D format of traditional processes. Her time at university was an immensely rewarding and educational experience, but she knew in her heart that after receiving her degrees, Wisconsin wouldn't be the place she would call her permanent home either.

After graduating, Lynn traveled the world and interviewed individuals on their musings of how they came to find their permanent home. Lynn has taken these ideas and combined them with her formal education to create three-dimensional photography sculptures from a hybrid process of wet plate collodion and blown glass that conveys her own search for a sense of belonging to the people she met. Lynn’s unique pieces are her way of striving to find a balance between two and three-dimensional planes, which creates a unique perspective for the viewer to observe, hold, and touch the work she creates. The 3D vessels created demonstrate the delicately complex nature of social connections between people and their communities via the perceived fragility. Often viewers are wary of holding them in their hands due to how scared they are to break them, but Lynn notes, “The idea that glass is both strong and yet can be easily broken is a great metaphor for personal relationships.” This concept is further developed by the addition of the wet-plate collodion images printed on them, which unless varnished, can be easily scraped away and destroyed. She shared with us that, “Home is more than just a place, it’s about finding the right partner, community, culture, and artifacts that make that place a home.”

We are fortunate to explore more of Lynn’s ideas on what makes a place home, how she came to create her glass vessels, and dive deeper into the experiences that have inspired her to create her one-of-a-kind photographic creations in the following interview. Connect with Lynn Bierbaum on her Website and Instagram!

INTERVIEW

Michael Behlen: Hi Lynn! I am excited to republish this interview I originally did with you in 2019! How has the last two years been since we first spoke? How has your artistic and professional life grown?

Lynn Bierbaum: Been doing really well, I have spent a lot of energy the last couple years focusing on my glass and photography work. I spent some time working in Phoenix, AZ at a glassblowing studio called Circle 6 Studios. While there I got to work on expanding my technical skills in the glass world by making some new work. I have also been continuing on in exploring my wet plate collodion on blown glass pieces with the “Holding Hands” and “Telling Hands” series.

MB: I know that you started to take photography seriously for the first time in high school, can you tell us more about what led you down that road?

LB: I took photography as an elective because I have always loved photography, ever since I was really little. I lived in Australia with my family and they bought me this tiny little Mickey Mouse film camera that I used. I remember going to Target or the closest film lab to get my film developed and my favorite thing was looking at the negatives. So when I had the option to take a class in high school, my first thought was of course I am going to try my hand at film photography. That class reignited the passion for film photography that I had when I was a little kid in Australia.

MB: You live in New York now, but spent a lot of time in Minnesota growing up. How did your family come to be in Australia to allow you to spend time there, did your parents work internationally?

LB: At the time my dad worked for Unisis and Northwest Airlines, and now Delta Airlines, on their loyalty systems. So different airlines would contract him to work on their systems which made us travel all around the world. We actually stayed and lived in Australia for a couple of years.

MB: That is a lot of moving around. Would you say that's why we see a recurring theme in your work of finding a sense of home and belonging?

LB: Yeah, definitely. I think having traveled around so much when I was little and being exposed to so many different cultures growing up, it pushed me to search for more than what was just in my backyard. The place I spent the majority of my time was in Minnesota. Since graduating from college, I've traveled and backpacked around Europe, lived in North Carolina, and now in New York. I am just trying to find a place that feels like home, somewhere I belong.

MB: Do you think you'll find it or do you think it may be an exercise in futility?

LB: Well, I haven't found that place yet, but that's what a lot of my glass vessel pieces are focused around: people and the places that are important to them. In the past, I have done a lot of work interviewing locals in different countries and photographing them in the places that they felt made their location feel like home. Previously, I did most of this work on platinum palladium prints; however, I have since moved on to channeling these ideas internally into my vessels. This allows me to display both sides of my story: as both a glassblower and a photographer.

MB: From all of your interviews, what were the key points and ideas that you took from those people who found the places they called home? Have you used any of their knowledge to help you on your own search for belonging?

LB: Definitely. One of the things that were pointed out most often was the community around them. A huge part of trying to find that community of people I would connect within both the fields I am in was a huge reason I came to Corning, New York. The alternative photography and glassblowing communities are very small, so trying to find and be around people that are interested in the same sort of processes and art forms has been a driving force for me. I also want to find a location that drives me creatively and spiritually. Spending my high school years in Minnesota, it being very flat and very cold, was never my ideal location. Being in New York, close to the mountains and the ocean, a place where there is more nature and hiking has been quite inspirational for me.

MB: So after high school, you went to the University of Wisconsin River Falls where you obtained your degree in Photography with a minor in Graphic Design, in 2017. How do you feel like you evolved in your photography practice during that time? Did the academic environment give you enough freedom to express yourself? What was that time in your life like?

LB: I definitely got a lot of time to express my own creativity, especially within photography. My professor, Brett Kallusky, was phenomenal at giving me my space within our studio. Since I was one of the few students who had an interest in alternative photography and he had some experience with it, he helped me reach out to Dan Estabrook, who I learned a lot from in the following years after his visit to River Falls. I eventually met Jill Enfield who was kind enough to take me under her wing as her studio assistant at Penland School of Crafts, and become one of my many mentors who would teach me the art of alternative photography. It was during that time that I refined my printing on platinum-palladium, salt, van dyke brown, cyanotype, and albumen. Kallusky supported me, and was instrumental throughout my whole college education, and assisted me with conceptually working through ideas, but allowed me to freely explore the technical parts of analog photography.

MB: With your work being so unique, being in a 3D form, have you found it hard to break into the glass blowing or alternative photography communities? How have you approached this and how have your results been?

LB: I have received a lot of great support since I began making these pieces. I know that if I don't just throw myself out there, and show others my art, I'm never going to have a chance to make it in the art world. Overall, people have been very supportive of my mixed media-based wet-plate collodion pieces shot on glass, in both the photo and glass worlds. I believe my ability to combine two long-standing (and historical) processes and combine them into a form viewers don’t see often is unique, and has allowed me to slowly make my name more well known. The only roadblock I run into is with photography galleries, not because they didn’t appreciate or enjoy my work, but because of the physical nature of them. From their point of view, a 3D photograph isn’t the best piece for galleries because you can’t hang them, and most don’t want to put a pedestal in the middle of an exhibition. To overcome this I have been playing around with creating backlit boxes as a new way to display and present my work to allow more gallery opportunities.

MB: At what point did you set out to create your hybrid 3D pieces and what was your inspiration? Was there an “aha” moment? What was the transition from 2D to 3D pieces like for you?

LB: While I was attending college I did a collaborative project with a ceramic artist where I used liquid light on his ceramic plates. It was through this process that I discovered how the images I was creating changed form when printed on 3D objects. I knew it was something that I wanted to explore further. My next semester I took a glassblowing class and the entire time I was there, I knew that I could begin using glass-blown pieces instead of the flat sheets traditionally used in wet plate collodion processes. I really started seriously on these glass pieces last year while working with Ty Pratumwon on our collaborative Thailand project. I then producing many of the wet plate collodion images on those forms while working under Jill Enfield, which has allowed me to hone my craft.

MB: How did discovering this idea change your idea of being a photographic artist?

LB: I was getting ready to go to grad school for photography and that’s when I found glassblowing, it changed my perception of what kind of art I want to create. I used to think “I'm 100% an alternative process photographer,” when I found glassblowing I was like, “Oh no, I love this too.” I knew right then my artwork had forever changed.

MB: Your blue glass vessels are important to you because it symbolizes where you are now and where you want to be. And my question to you is, where is it that you want to be? Is it a location or is it more of a state of being?

LB: I think that's kind of an ongoing process, trying to figure out where that is, whether it is a place, a person, or a community. I think there are so many different elements to what I am trying to find. I do know where I want to be in the art world and how that relates to my photography and glass blowing. I know that I can’t do one without the other anymore.

MB: At this point in your artistic career, do you feel like you have perfected this process, and do you plan to continue working with this medium? Where do you see this type of 3D work taking you?

LB: The images I am currently creating are definitely more striking when displayed via the glass form. It allows me to focus on the symbolism within the imagery I produce. Most of my current work is still life or symbolism. Glass is already such a physical thing, by adding imagery on top of them I am able to fill the emptiness inside of them. My future pieces I have planned will be more symbolic of ideas of partnership and connection. I’m hoping to create images that will allow viewers to hold the pieces and feel the intimacy behind them.

MB: Are any of these ideas taken from your personal life? Does this art allow you to channel these emotions?

LB: Though I am not in a relationship, I feel as though partnership has been on my mind more and more as I get older. A lot of my pieces also draw inspiration from the people that have come into my life for a short amount of time and left again. My pieces definitely translate the complex nature of social connections between people: the fragility of the glass and the wet plate pieces have two opposing characteristics. Wet plate images can be scraped off of my pieces unless I varnish them. This combined with the idea that glass is both strong and yet can be easily broken is a great metaphor for personal relationships.

MB: I know you are young and are still developing your career as an artist, but if you were to leave right now, what would be the thing you are most proud of and how would you want your work to be remembered?

LB: In regards to leaving a legacy behind: I feel that it is important that we focus on what we leave behind and how that affects others. I would eventually like to be a professor to teach photography, and possibly glassblowing. Leaving a legacy of that knowledge for future generations behind is important to me. I'm not someone who's afraid to share my process of how I do my art, because I think being able to bring that on to others and to have others learn from it is really important. I also want to be remembered as someone who was a hard worker, someone who has pushed myself to expand in my work. In my alternative work, I have always pursued the next hardest thing that was more difficult for me, I want to challenge myself. I think that’s a big reason why wet plate collodion clicked for me as a process.

MB: Where do you think you developed the drive against becoming stagnant and how would you inspire others to push themselves not just in their art, but in their lives?

LB: I think that pushing yourself is contagious. If you see people and the hard work they put in, you know that it’ll all pay off in the end. So being able to show other people every day that I work hard and that I am challenging myself to learn new things is inspiring. I think if you don't put 100% into what you're doing that you're never going to end up where you want to be. I learned that from my dad growing up, he was always 110% committed to every single thing he did.

MB: In order to create your pieces you utilize digital positives and combine them with this historic process to achieve your final works of art. How do you think analog and digital technologies can work together and how do you feel about the divide between the two communities in the photographer's world?

LB: I think digital technology can be used as a tool. However, I don't believe that it should be the entire process. There is something beautiful about being able to make something with your hands: mixing the chemicals and watching it develop before your eyes. It's a beautiful thing that I would never want to take away. I used to be very, very stubborn about not wanting to use digital at all. I always thought that “I can choose 4x5 film or 8x10 film, develop it and expose that onto my salt or my albumen prints,” and I wanted to be very pure. But when I started these glass vessels, I knew that I couldn’t continue making them solely in an analog way, I had to use the tools that I had at my disposal, which introduced digital technologies.

Analog photographers get very focused on the purity of the analog process; however, the alternative photographers I know are becoming more open to digital processes. I think that the people who were once closed off of it are slowly becoming a little more open to it. A lot of my mentors, including Jill and Dan, advocated for me to use digital positives in my work. They told me, “Use your resources and your tools to make the best prints you can.”

MB: Is there anything else you would like to add? Please be as long-winded as you want, this will be your closing words.

LB: These forms have been an ongoing experiment for me and I am excited to continue to expand on them in the upcoming future. I am so grateful to have found two amazing fields that both complement and connect to one another in so many ways. Analog photography and glass are both things that drive my passion for making and pushes me every day to explore and search for home. One day, I’ll be sure to find it.

MB: Last question! How has working with our team at Analog Forever Magazine been for you? What is the best part about being involved with our passion project publication?

LB: My favorite part is getting to see so many new artists work that I hadn’t seen before. Through AF I have been able to connect with so many new faces in the photo world. These people have helped me grow my field of view on the field of analog and alternative photography so much by learning new techniques, concepts and perspectives on life. I have also gotten the opportunity to curate some online exhibitions in sculptural photography and still life photography, two loves of mine. Curating was a fun challenge and great way to see so many great works being made in the field today.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael Behlen is an instant film addict and the founder and publisher of Analog Forever Magazine. For the last 6 years, Behlen has become an obsessive community organizer in the film photography world, including launching the independent publishing projects PRYME Magazine and PRYME Editions, two enterprises dedicated to the art of instant film. Through these endeavors, he has featured and published 200+ artists from around the globe via his print and online publications.

He has self-published two Polaroid photobooks -Searching for Stillness, Vol. 1 and I Was a Pioneer, literally a boxed set of his instant film work. His latest book, Searching for Stillness Vol. II was published in 2020 by Static Age. He has been published, been interviewed, and been reviewed in a quantity of magazines and online publications, from F-Stop and Blur Magazine to the Analog Talk Podcast. He loves the magic sensuality of instant film: its saturated, surreal colors; the unpredictability of the medium; it’s addictive qualities as you watch it develop. He spends his time shooting instant film and backpacking in the California wilderness, usually a combination of the two.

Connect with Michael Behlen on his Website and on Instagram!