Bill Hao’s portfolio was selected for special recognition for the 2025 Denis Roussel Awards.
Would you please tell us about yourself?
I am an off grid landscape wetplate photographer. I have built a huge 32X48 inch format camera and converted a tour bus into a mobile darkroom so I can take my 170-year-old dream on the road, in the mountains. I am based in Canada taking only one picture a day or more. I believe that photography is an art, a kind of enjoyment, which requires a sense of ritual and respect.
Where did you get your photographic training?
When I was 16, my father bought me my first camera. Later, I studied photography at a vocational college, specializing in color printing techniques. After that, I also studied a program called Mass Communication, which is similar to today’s advertising studies.
Who has had an influence on your creative process?
If we’re talking about artistic style, Ansel Adams is the photographer who has influenced me the most. And if we’re talking about the wetplate process I would say that John Coffer and Roger Fenton have been my greatest inspirations.
Please tell us about an image (not your own) that has stayed with you over time.
“The Tetons and the Snake River”, by Ansel Adams 1942.
What image of yours would you say taught you an important lesson?
I have taken over five hundred wet-plate photography images. Especially after I built my 48-inch camera and converted a bus into a mobile darkroom, I started producing large-format wet-plate landscape photographs. Currently, I primarily use 32×48-inch and 20×24-inch transparent glass plates for my photography. The Rocky Mountains are my favourite place, I have been to the Rocky Mountains almost hundred times. I observed how the landscape changes, how beautiful natural features disappear. My collodion plate may last for two hundred years, but some landscapes may not – they may disappear in the future.
Please tell us about the work you submitted to Denis Roussel Award
These photos were taken in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, primarily in Banff National Park and Jasper National Park. We know that Jasper National Park suffered significant damage from wildfires last year. The largest wildfire in a century destroyed half of the town of Jasper and 32,000 hectares of forest. There were 57 wildfires burning so far in 2025.
It is very difficult to get details of sky and clouds because of Wetplate collodion characteristics. I selected the work with a beautiful sky, clouds, and mountains to submit to the Denis Roussel Award 2025.
How do you work through times when nothing seems to work?
I would choose to stop, return to my home thousands of miles away, and then take my time to think things through. Once my ideas are fully developed, I will come back, either in a few months or next year. So, the best solution is time.
What tools have you found essential in the making of your work?
A power drill? You might not believe it, but it’s true. It helps me with focusing. Focusing with my large format camera is very difficult, especially when I need to simultaneously view the image on the focusing screen. A power drill is incredibly helpful.
Is there something in photography that you would like to try in the future?
I have tried some contact printing process before, such as the carbon transfer process, cyanotype, and emulsion lift. But I spend the vast majority of my time on the wet plate collodion process, and I think I still need a lot of time for this.
How does your art affect the way you see the world?
For me, first and foremost, it has given me a sense of inner peace, allowing me to understand nature with compassion. It has also instilled in me the confidence that I can make a difference in changing people’s attitudes towards nature.
What’s on the horizon?
I don’t know how much time I have left, but every day I strive to make my life meaningful. I’ll be back in the Rocky Mountains, carefully capturing each image, day after day, year after year.
Thank you Bill. To learn more about the work of Bill Hao please click on his name.
