The old ways

Guy Bellingham shares the magic of shooting vintage tintypes

There’s something magical about tintypes. Despite it being one of the hardest photographic processes to master, the resulting images can be quite astonishing. It’s a mercurial and sometimes cruel mistress: the chemistry involved and the dexterity required present challenges that only the most obsessive photographer may have the persistence to master.

What drew me to this antiquated way of capturing images was their unique rendering: like an oil painting, each image is a one-off. There is only one resulting plate. The lenses and cameras I use truly are as simple as they come, but it’s amazing how much control over the image you have using both front and rear camera movements to adjust the ultra-narrow depth of field.

It’s a pleasure not only for me as the photographer to see the image appear in the fixer tray, but for my sitters, too. The wonder and astonishment on their faces as the image slowly transforms from negative to positive makes shooting tintypes not just a photo session, but a shared experience.

Unlike digital or film photography, this process has no grain or pixilation: it renders down to the molecular level. With an original plate in your hand, the level of detail is quite something to behold. Knowing that the work I produce – with images made of pure, real silver – will last for hundreds of years means I am not only capturing images, but creating a legacy. Beware: tintyping can rapidly become addictive.

www.guybellinghamphotography.co.uk