Tin Questions

In this season's summer bonus episode, you may be surprised to hear that the lowly vintage ferrotype plate still receives some academic and scientific research, 150+ years after its introduction. My guest, Dr. Corina Rogge, is the Director of Conservation at the Menil Collection in Houston, Texas and has went where few have dared to go in the research of the tintype. Cory has written multiple articles on the constituents of vintage varnish and the recipes and manufacturing methods of japan plates. Listen in and discover that sometimes, what we read in the historic texts doesn't always line up with reality when in comes to tintype recipes.

You may have heard the historical announcement "One if by land, two if by sea". Before Paul Revere made his midnight ride through the country side, he crafted with silver. My next photographic duo, based in Revere, Massachusetts, are also artists of silver, but use it to capture light. Maureen Feeley and Dave Caramello were looking for something to keep them occupied during the pandemic and by chance saw examples of wetplate collodion online. Learning the process over FaceTime, they opened up Evoke Tintype to create portraits and viral TikTok posts using the wetplate process.

We're heading to the home town of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in this episode to talk about mixing collodion and vinyl records. Experimental collodion artist Greg Martin has been shooting for years and constantly pushing the boundaries of the art with new mediums and trying out the funkiest lens you've probably never thought of. Listen in as we chat about all things collodion, taking or making images and get an insider's view of the annual Tintype Jamboree.

In this episode, we get to check in with another tintypist who, along with her trusty travel companion Rosemary, decided to spend more time on the open road capturing not only the beauty of nature but portraits of those she meets along the way. Developing a love for analog photography in high school, Megan Karson added the wetplate collodion process to her film photography work and continues to use this process as she travels the country.

After having his photo taken by John Coffer during a Civil War reenactment event, my next guest decided that being a vintage photographer may be more exciting, or at least less strenuous, than being a participant. Having some background in wedding photography in the 1980s, Bob Szabo decided a change in his photographic practices was due. While his Civil War styled images are easily mistaken for originals, he's also had the chance to photograph landscapes in a manner inspired by another historical photographer, Carleton Watkins.

In this week's episode, we learn that starting down one career path doesn't necessarily mean that's the road you're stuck on. Moving from culinary school to the tattoo shop, tintypist Matthew Stella, decided to give wetplate photography a try when a friend asked him to do "something involving photography" at a tattoo convention. Starting with just the basics, he was able to pick up the art and decided that maybe another career changeup was past due.

Is there a place for collodion in today's world of photography? This week's guest thinks so and decided being a teacher, FAA drone pilot and professional commercial photographer wasn't enough. While familiar with Victorian photography and the works of famous Civil War photographers, Jon Haverstick decided to reach out to modern day wetplaters during the COVID-19 shutdown and developed a love for this vintage process. Sit back and learn about Jon's work on sci-fi western promos, spirit photography and what it's like to hold photographic history that's been to the moon and back.

Let's mix this batch up - engineer dad + a creative background in music, painting, film photography + love of the old and vintage items + a chance trip to a Gettysburg tintype studio. What comes out of this mixture is Chicago based photographer Jennifer Froula Weber. Listen in as we talk about her dreamy wetplate collodion images, her creative process and how Berber the bear became her first sitter.

In ages long past, before the dawn of the smartphone and the instant image, a different kind of magic unfolded. Photographers embarked on quests with cumbersome contraptions of brass and glass. They wrestled with this strange alchemy, capturing the fleeting moments of a world yet unfrozen. Much that once was is lost, for none now live who remember it. We didn't quite make it to that place with collodion, but we came close. In this episode, we talk to another pioneer - a Godfather of sorts - who continued this quest and joined a small fellowship of others seeking out the ways of wetplate. That's enough reference to the Tolkien classic, for now, but Brian Scadden of Carterton, New Zealand, has a lot to talk about when it comes to collodion and how being isolated from the rest of the wetplate world didn't stop him becoming a dedicated practitioner and teacher of the process. So grab your pipe, settle in by the campfire, and prepare to hear how the search for the wisdom of collodion turned into an obsession rivaling that of Gollum.

In this week's episode, we get to talk to a relative newcomer in the collodion world that's already making a name for herself. Currently residing in Fargo, North Dakota, Kary Janousek wanted to learn more about the process after seeing it first hand for a set of promotional images for her other business - vintage hat repair and sales. Kary shares more on her millinery work and how a love of vintage things brought her to wetplate.

Growing up, I was fascinated by folk tales about Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan and other characters from American history. In this season 3 opener, I finally tracked down the Johnny Appleseed of wetplate, John Coffer. Making an 11,000 mile journey across the United State in a horse drawn wagon, John made his way town to town, figuring out the collodion process in the mid 1970's and capturing authentic ferrotype images at every stop. John is a great story teller, so get comfortable and listen to this larger than life character talk about traveling the country, life on the farm and teaching collodion as a wetplate pioneer.

Has it really been this long? I know, I said a bonus episode was coming in a few weeks after the last episode. But something special like this needed to marinate for a little while. While this episode includes a who's who in collodion, it's really about the life and influence of one California man named Will Dunniway. I've collected some of his closest friends, family and students to introduce the Tin Questions audience to another pioneer in the process who, unfortunately, left us too soon.

In this season's finale of Tin Questions, I get to sit down with a chemist turned wetplater turned wetplate chemical supplier, Brian Cuyler. Starting out in collodion at the beginning of the recent renaissance period, Brian used his background in chemistry to investigate some of the historical recipes that we all use and tweak them to produce collodions specialized for different situations. Seeing a gap in the market for these craft collodions, Brian started his own wetplate chemical supply business, UV Photographics. Listen in and hear why you should always "Respect the Chemistry!"

We all had to start somewhere and I thought it would be good to hear from somebody new in this episode of Tin Questions. I met Andrew Pignatelli recently while another traveling tintypist was passing through a local brewery. With little background in photography and even less in collodion, Drew became intrigued by seeing the wetplate work of others online and decided to start Golden Tintype, based in Golden, Colorado. Listen in as we try to find out why people are still getting into collodion in 2023.

Have you ever had a subject that seemed too big to capture in a way that accurately showed the scale and majesty of how it truly exists? My next guest had a big dream that started with a chance finding of a 1907 ultra large format camera - weighing in at 70kg and 2 meters long, this "baby" camera was just what was needed to kickstart a dream project, pulling a well known videographer into the world of collodion. Growing up in the shadows of the Dolomites in northern Italy, Kurt Moser started big and stayed big, taking 24" by 24" landscape and portrait ambrotypes with his newly found camera and the help of his production partner, Barbara Holzknecht. Listen in as Kurt talks about the challenges of large scale photography using the collodion process in the mountains and in his quaint Italian atelier.

Inspiration comes in many forms. Sometimes it's a guy making an 11,000 mile journey across the US in a horse drawn wagon taking tintypes. Originally from England, Texas transplant Adrian Whipp learned about John Coffer's trip and decided he wanted to do the same, minus Brownie the horse. Looking for a career change, Adrian decided to put together a mobile tintype studio that he could take anywhere and started Lumiere Tintype Photography. Listen in as we chat about slinging tin in Texas and why 15,000 images captured is only a start.

It was once said that "all roads lead to Rome". If you were to ever to trace your genealogy in the learning of wetplate collodion, it is very likely that these roots wind their way back to New York state. This week's episode is a little different than most in that I have not one, but two guests that share their experience and learnings with others all over the globe. France Scully Osterman and Mark Osterman have been involved with researching, practicing and teaching a multitude of historical photographic processes for decades. I'm really grateful to these two for sitting down and sharing some great stories about their impact in the world of collodion.

I recently went camping and got ate up by mosquitos. My next guest, Austrian wetplate photographer Markus Hofstätter, lives in a town known for these pesky insects. Not only is Markus a well known European photographer, he is also a great resource to the wetplate community, sharing his knowledge, doing equipment reviews and similar to "Tin Questions", conducting the occasional interview. Hear how a love of shooting pool with both sticks and cameras eventually turned into a desire to slow down and create beautiful images using a historic process.

This week's guest is a fellow wetplater that has shared her portraits with millions of viewers on TV. Currently working as a Director of Photography for Paramount+, Sarah Coulter pitched an idea to capture the cast of the hit show "Yellowstone" using the wetplate process. After these successful images, she then turned her camera towards getting period accurate images of the cast for the follow on hit "1883". Afterwards, she was surprised to learn that these images would be a part of the series opening credits. Listen in to Sarah talk about how she got started in the wetplate and what it takes to use this historic process in modern media.

We're not talking about ruby slippers on Tin Questions, but we might have a word about ruby bellows. In this episode, I'm chatting with Dallas-Fort Worth photographer Sheena Dorton who is making a name for herself in the world of tintype. Sheena is one of the first guests on the show that was recommended by listeners that I talk to. Not only is she shooting photos at her Texas studio "Ruby Bellows Tintype", but Sheena was also on the the crew that took amazing photos of the cast starring in the hit TV series "1883".