How do you take a photo of a mountain or coastline that doesn’t feel like a hackneyed homage to Ansel Adams? Instagram-esqe photo filters are the solution for many, but artist Emma Howell brings a fresh perspective to old vistas by exposing her photographs on handblown glass vessels.

“Most people are not able to experience a place that is unaffected by the human presence,” says Howell. “So I’m creating a way for others to experience this in a way that’s more than looking at a flat print of the cliché beach we all see and know.”

Instead of film or an SD card, Howell records her images on custom plates using the wet plate collodion process—a set of techniques and chemical formulations that predate the Civil War. Her workflow involves hiking to remote areas with a miniature chemistry lab and darkroom on her back, mixing up a batch of photosensitive chemicals, coating the glass, exposing the shot with a customized camera, and then developing the image—all within the space of 15 minutes.