Earlier this week I posted some images that I'd created in the colour darkroom, using Clematis seedheads (colloquial name 'old man's beard'). Last night whilst trawling through Google and Flickr I discovered some amazing images that have been created using this ethereal hairy plant.

Bill Westheimer's work is breathtaking. These images have such movement and drama, and the Collodion Glass Plate technique adds an unusual inky depth.

Clematis 17, original photogram on collodion glass plate by Bill Westheimer

Clematis 11, original photogram on collodion glass plate by Bill Westheimer

I don't know much about Sébastien Maloron but he publishes his work under the moniker Ventadour on Flickr and Deviantart. This image below has the distinctive finish of a Lith print - a technique that is created in the darkroom with specific Lith paper and developer, I love the grain and beautiful contrast.

lith print on Fomatone 132, Moersch Easylith 1+50, Homemade G253 1+100 by Sébastien Maloron

Finally, here's a Clematis ziatype (of the flower before it seeds) by German photographer Wolfgang Moersch. I must admit I didn't know what a Ziatype was until I googled and I found out more about it here, it seems to be an offshoot of the palladium-platinum printing system.
Clematis Ziatype by Wolfgang Moersch