Musician Tunde Adebimpe at Kilby Block Party — wet plate collodion

Tunde Adebimpe of TV on the Radio, in a wet plate studio backstage at Kilby Block Party.

Tintype Portraits in Salt Lake City — Selected Work

I make portraits by hand, on metal, one plate at a time. The process is from the 1850s. The photographs do not look like they belong to any decade.

The aim is timeless, not period. A wet plate collodion portrait has no negative behind it — what comes out of the camera is the photograph, silver held on blackened metal. I scan every plate and film the process, so you leave with the object and can add the files and the video to it.

This is the work I'm proudest of. Portrait sessions, commissioned editorial, and personal projects — made in the studio in Salt Lake City, around Utah, and further out.

A blindfolded woman in a pale slip, draped in long strands of pearls, with rope tied over her eyes and bound around her arms and waist. Wet plate collodion tintype.

The band Gelli Haha, five of them posed close together on one plate with their hands raised beside their faces. Wet plate collodion tintype.

A man in a wide-brimmed hat and a striped wool poncho, a fringed scarf at his neck — a Clint Eastwood looking fella. Wet plate collodion tintype.

A bearded man in a ribbed knit beanie and a dark jacket, looking off to one side. The wet plate photographer Conrad Young. Wet plate collodion tintype.

A woman against a brick wall, bare-shouldered, her hair falling in loose waves, holding up her middle finger in front of her face. A pale carved ring sits at its base. Wet plate collodion tintype.

Emma Chamberlain in dark sunglasses and hoop earrings, made backstage at Kilby Block Party. Her hair is cropped short and bleached. Wet plate collodion tintype.

A woman holding a live chicken across her chest. Both are looking at the camera. Wet plate collodion tintype.

Franz Lyons of Turnstile, centre, grinning under a ball cap and sunglasses, holds up a Crusher Cup trophy plaque with its lettering reversed. Six friends blur behind. Wet plate collodion tintype.

A freckled woman with long straight hair, bare-shouldered, half-smiling. The collodion prints her freckles very dark. Made on a 5x7 plate. Wet plate collodion tintype.

A pointer with long soft ears and a ticked coat, in a pale bandana, sitting square to the camera, mouth open, head turned up. Pour marks wisp down the background. Wet plate collodion tintype.

Tintype Portraits in Salt Lake City — Selected Work

Browse MY portfolio

Testimonials