Our cover photo and the images in our piece about Shetland life were made by Jack Lowe using a Victorian process called wet plate collodion

Jack plans to visit all 237 RNLI crews as part of the Lifeboat Station Project, using his mobile darkroom (a former NHS ambulance). ‘From an early age, I knew that I wanted to be either a photographer or a lifeboat crew member when I grew up,' he says. 'Now I’m uniting the two dreams. I’m using a technique developed in the 1850s, in which the photographs are made directly onto glass plates. It really is magical – the final image is always a surprise, even to me.’

1. First, the glass plates are cleaned and polished with a mixture of calcium carbonate, ethanol and distilled water.

2. Jack must make sure he’s happy with the photo’s composition before continuing. Once the chemical process begins, there isn’t much time for discussion and rearrangement.

3. The collodion is poured over the plate, which is then placed in a bath of silver nitrate for around 3 minutes – to sensitise the glass ready to record the image.

4. The prepped plate is loaded into the camera. The key moment is when Jack removes the lens cap and the light hits the plate. Depending on conditions, the lens cap can be left off for anything from 4 seconds to 4 minutes.

5. With the darkroom door closed, the image is developed using ferrous sulphate. It appears as a negative in around 20 seconds. The process is stopped at just the right time with water.

6. Sodium thiosulphate is used as a fixer. The image switches from negative to positive. Jack is pleased with the result – and so is his subject, Aith Coxswain Hylton Henry. ‘Aren’t I gorgeous?’ he quips.

See more of Jack’s photos – and order prints – at lifeboatstationproject.com. You can also follow his progress on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.