My First Tintypes

In the midst of collaborations and stretching I've been experimenting as well! All good things to keep me sharp and growing creatively. Last semester my friend and colleague taught an alternative process photography class, which didn't fit well into my schedule, so I didn't ever attend, but I did get to see many of his students and what they were working on. One of those students came through lab one day proudly showing off something that truly captured my attention: a tintype.



Tintype photographs are literally a piece of black metal that has a photo emulsion applied to it. When exposed and processed, a pale negative (and reversed) image is produced, creating an often eerie effect. The original tintypes were a wet plate process, meaning that the plate had to be coated, exposed and developed while the emulsion was still wet. While there are modern artists who use wet plate processes, there is also a company that has developed a dry plate process for tintypes. This dry plate process allows for plates to be coated at one time, and exposed and developed at separate times, much like film.



The combination of the warm brown tones, eerie qualities and relative ease of the modern tintype instantly attracted me. It wasn't long after I saw that first student's own tintype that I ordered my own chemical kit and then, after the holidays were past, got another student to come assist me and share what she had learned working the process. (No need to repeat the mistakes of others when they can be learned from!)



So these are my first tintypes - shot last week from my front porch when it was raining, because that was the day my darkroom partner could spare the time. I was barely paying attention to what I photographed or how I would use them, as I was so focused on the process itself. The second plate was an experiment in exposure, which resulted in being underexposed and possibly then over-developed, but I find it appealing in its own way nonetheless.

I have since thought more about how I'll be using these treasures in my larger works and I'll be doing more in that direction soon...