In 1856 Hamilton L. Smith of Ohio patented a new photographic method that came to be known as tintype. These one-of-a-kind images are made directly on a thin iron plate that has been coated with chemicals, exposed in a camera while still wet, and developed on the spot. Because the plates are iron, not tin, the more proper term is ferrotype, but the photographs have been commonly called tintypes from the beginning. The process, less expensive than daguerreotype and more durable than other earlier methods of photographic portraiture, became very popular during the Civil War and remained so into the 20th century until newer processes that could produce multiple images took over.

Robb Kendrick is one of a handful of people nationwide who knows how to make a tintype in the original method. Having collected them for a number of years, he sought out John Coffer, a historical re-enactor and tintype photographer who lives in upstate New York, for a lesson a few years ago. After a bit of practice and time to collect the necessary equipment, materials, and chemicals, Robb was ready to make tintypes of his own.

For this project, Robb traveled in a crew-cab truck with a slide-in camper in the bed, pulling a 7’ x 12’ portable darkroom trailer—mandatory since tintypes must be exposed when wet and developed immediately. The trailer also allowed him to carry 40 gallons of fresh water and to store tintypes on drying racks. It has air conditioning and heating and a vent fan to remove the fumes from the chemicals used in the process. Extreme temperatures and the humidity level can affect the chemicals and how they work. The optimum temperature is 68° F, but on this project Robb has shot in temperatures ranging from 21° to 103° F.

All the chemicals Robb uses to make his tintypes were historically used in the 1850’s. Prior to departing on any trip to shoot tintypes, it takes him about seven hours to mix chemicals and prepare the darkroom trailer for the trip.

The chemicals he uses are:

Collodion (gun cotton and ether) - the emulsion on the plate that holds the image.
Silver nitrate - used to sensitize the plate so it will be light-sensitive.
Iron sulfate/Ever clear mixture - used to develop the plate after exposure.
Potassium cyanide - used to fix the plate and turn it into a positive.
Lavender varnish - used after the plate is washed and dried to protect the plate and give it a rich tonality and sheen.

A typical day of shooting begins at 5:30 a.m., when Robb and his assistant, Jason Bryant (himself a blossoming documentary photographer), make coffee, grab a bite of breakfast, and then depart for the ranch they will work on for the day, arriving usually by 7 a.m. While Jason sets up the darkroom, Robb talks about the project with the cowboys, showing them tintypes and establishing a rapport with them prior to shooting. He photographs them in whatever clothing and gear they are wearing that day for their work. Photographing begins around 8:30 a.m., in a collaboration that requires total concentration and commitment from both the subject and the photographer. The subjects of the tintype portraits cannot move during the exposure, which is usually 1-7 seconds long (although Robb has done exposures as long as 14 seconds). The 19th-century lenses Robb uses have a very narrow depth of field, so moving even 1/4 of an inch will affect the portrait. Robb exposes one plate at a time and asks the cowboys to enter the darkroom trailer to watch the plates develop. Many times it takes several attempts to get just the right plate. He says that unfailingly he and the cowboys experience the moment the image comes up in the fixer as “pure magic.” All the posing, plate preparation, exposing, and developing can take 30-60 minutes per person.

In Robb’s own words, here is how the process goes from start to finish:

I first flow the collodion onto a blackened tin plate, then place it in silver nitrate for four to six minutes. While the plate is sensitizing I check focus on the camera and get the camera ready as well as the subject, also determining—based on light conditions—how long to make the exposure. Next I remove the plate from the silver nitrate tank, dry off any excess silver nitrate, place it in the holder (which is light-tight), and bring it out to the camera. Once removed from the silver nitrate, the plate must be exposed and developed in four to nine minutes—hence the name “wet-plate photography.” I place the holder in the camera, pull out the darkslide, which has been protecting the plate from light, and remove the lens cover to make the exposure. Then I replace the lens cover, push the darkslide back down, remove the holder from the camera, and go back to the darkroom trailer. Once inside, I flow the collodion onto the next plate and place it in the silver nitrate (to save down time). I then remove the plate that was just exposed from the holder and place it in the developer for 15-25 seconds; then I place it in three trays of water for 20 seconds each to stop the development process and wash out any developer that might be in the emulsion. All the above steps are done while under amber safelight conditions. At this point I can turn the light on and place the plate in the potassium cyanide for 30 seconds. The tintype transforms from a bluish image on a plate to a positive in the clear tank. It really is magical every time. After the cyanide fixer, I must carefully clean off any residue of silver nitrate from the image so the wet emulsion is not scratched. I wash the plate thoroughly, dry it, and put it up into the drying rack.

After a full day of shooting, we wrap up by breaking down the darkroom, filtering all chemicals before the next day’s shoot. We then have dinner, drive to our next shoot, park where we are going to camp for the night, and then I usually go into the darkroom trailer to varnish the plates. I heat each tintype with a torch and pour a lavender varnish onto the surface of the plate, tipping the excess back into a bottle. I hold the plate and heat it with a torch for two minutes to dry the varnish. After shooting 30-40 plates in a day, it takes about three hours per night to varnish the plates. The plates are then rack-dried for two days to cure the varnish. At that point they are ready to sleeve.

What Robb Kendrick produces in this labor of love are unique images—handmade photographs that are more akin to paintings or drawings than to the infinitely reproducible photographs common today. The tintype process does not produce negatives; hence, there cannot be multiple tintypes of a single image. (The images in this book result from scans made of the tintypes.) Some 19th-century cameras had multiple lenses that allowed duplicate tintypes to be made, but these were used in a commercial enterprise in which they were finished as uniformly as possible.

In contrast, Robb takes great care in composing and finishing each tintype. The arched framing or uneven borders in some of the tintypes are the result of how Robb flows the collodion emulsion on the plate when he first prepares it to receive the image. As an artist, Robb conceives the composition as he surveys the setting and talks with each cowboy prior to posing and shooting. He then prepares the plate, making a uniform coating of the emulsion or perhaps—as just stated—pouring the collodion in a more artistic manner.

Similarly, at the end of the process, Robb can enhance the image in a number of ways. The bluish color that is seen along the edges of many of his tintypes is a reaction between excess iron sulfate developer, which has clung to thickened collodion along one edge, and the potassium cyanide. Torch marks are seen in some images as burn patterns. Sometimes, if an image has been overexposed, Robb scratches the surface to put more contrast onto the plate and frame the face of the sitter.

A final challenge in the process of tintype making is worth mentioning. Robb uses an 8 x 10 camera mounted on a tripod with a hood. When Robb ducks under the hood to look through the lens to compose and focus the shot, he is looking at an image—projected onto glass by the lens—that is reversed and upside down. He must right the image in his mind and imagine how the final tintype will look—all this in just a few seconds, for the plate is being sensitized in the darkroom trailer and will not wait—then make adjustments to the pose of the cowboy before putting the lens cap back on and dashing back into the darkroom trailer to get the plate. To see Robb Kendrick work is to see a man in constant motion and in focused concentration.

Because the exposure is made directly onto a plate, the resulting tintype photograph is a mirror image. There is no negative to reverse the image as we are accustomed in modern photographs. Many say tintypes look more real than modern photographs, because “this is the way we really look,” meaning that this is the way we see ourselves in the mirror. A tintype is a permanent mirror.

Robb Kendrick’s tintypes, however, are much more than a surface mirror. The collaboration necessary between subject and photographer and the trust and mutual respect that quickly develop between them lead to images that reveal depths of character in carefully recorded faces.