While working in Manhattan recently, I just happened to be
walking on East 30th Street with my husband one evening. We saw a
woman inside a store with what looked like tintype photographs and
daguerreotype cameras. Even though the studio was closed, she saw us looking in
the windows and invited us in to see the Center for Alternative Photography
Tintype studio. This is the educational division of the Penumbra Foundation-a
non-profit organization “dedicated to preserving historic and emulsion-based
photographic processes and maintaining its relevance in the digital age”. (Quote taken from their flyer)
After talking for some time, Jolene Lupo, Manager of the Center for Alternative Photography’s Tintype
Studio, agreed to discuss her work for our class, demonstrating some of the
processes she goes through when making tintype photos. They run courses and
workshops on Albumen, Bromoil, Calotype, Carbon printing, Chemistry mixing,
Cyanotype, Daugerreotype, Gum Bichromate, Platinum, Salted paper, Wet plate
collodion, Digital negatives, spirit photography, etc.
Here is an almost 12 minute edited video from my cell phone
of her speaking and going through some of the steps of tintype photography. The
last 5 minutes in the process room are most relevant for the preparation stage
of the tintype plate.
It was such a chance-amazing meeting of an incredible artist whose work and spirit went to
the heart of what we have been studying for the first part of our class. For
me, Jolene Lupo's demonstration said a thousand words…like a photo often does.
Penumbra Foundation 36 E.30th St New York, NY
10016
tintype@penumbrafoundation.org
This is fascinating!
ReplyDeleteSpirit photography workshop?! What a special peak into what they do there, and more interestingly how they do it (arsenic free!). I'm so happy you recorded it – thanks!
ReplyDelete