thumb|right|450px|Tintype of two girls in front of a painted background of the [[Cliff House, San Francisco|Cliff House and Seal Rocks in San Francisco, ]]

thumb|300px|Studio tent of ferrotypist J. Q. Galusha, 12,7 × 17,7 cm, USA, c. 1880–1900

A tintype, also known as a melanotype or ferrotype, is a photograph made by creating a direct positive on a thin sheet of metal, colloquially called 'tin' (though not actually tin-coated), coated with a dark lacquer or enamel and used as the support for the photographic emulsion. It was introduced in 1853 by Adolphe Alexandre Martin in Paris. It competed with both the ambrotype process and the older and established daguerreotype, finding particular adoption in North America. Tintypes enjoyed their widest use during the 1860s and 1870s, but lesser use of the medium persisted into 1930s and it has been revived as a novelty and fine art form in the 21st century. It has been described as the first "truly democratic" medium for mass portraiture. The tintype's immediate predecessor, the ambrotype, was done by the same process of using a sheet of glass as the support. The glass was either of a dark color or provided with a black backing so that, as with a tintype, the underexposed negative image in the emulsion appeared as a positive. Tintypes were sturdy and did not require mounting in a protective hard case like ambrotypes and daguerreotypes.

Technical details

thumb|right|300px|Tintype portrait in a paper mat, taken at Pease's Nantasket Tintype Gallery, circa 1900

There are two historic tintype processes: wet and dry. In the wet process, a collodion emulsion containing suspended silver halide crystals had to be formed on the plate just before it was exposed in the camera while still wet. Chemical treatment then reduced the crystals to microscopic particles of metallic silver in proportion to the intensity and duration of their exposure to light, resulting in a visible positive image. The later prefabricated, hence more convenient dry process was similar but used a gelatin emulsion which could be exposed in the camera dry.

In both processes, a very underexposed negative image was produced in the emulsion. Its densest areas, corresponding to the lightest parts of the subject, appeared gray by reflected light. The areas with the least amount of silver, corresponding to the darkest areas of the subject, were essentially transparent and appeared black when seen against the dark background provided by the lacquer. The image as a whole therefore appeared to be a dull-toned positive. This ability to employ underexposed images allowed shorter exposure times to be used, a great advantage in portraiture.

To obtain as light-toned an image as possible, potassium cyanide was normally employed as the photographic fixer. It was perhaps the most acutely hazardous of all the several highly toxic chemicals originally used in this and many other early photographic processes.

left|thumb|Tintype portraits in an album, circa late 1800s-early 1900s

To overcome the uniqueness of each picture, multi-lensed cameras and single-lens cameras with a movable back holding the plate were invented. Three men from Boston are to name here. John Roberts first made use of multiple lenses, mounting as many as 32 of them on one camera. A twelve-lensed camera for example, developed in 1858, made a dozen so-called "gem" portraits with one exposure. a rival manufacturer of the iron plates, then finally tintype.

Ambrotype as a precursor

The ambrotype was the first use of the wet-plate collodion process as a positive image. Such collodion glass positives had been invented by Frederick Scott Archer in 1851. Although it is a widely held belief James Ambrose Cutting might have named the process after himself, in actuality, "ambrotype" was first coined by Marcus Aurelius Root, a well known daguerreotypist, in his gallery as documented in the 1864 book The Camera and the Pencil.

The tintype was essentially a variant of the ambrotype, replacing the latter's glass plate with a thin sheet of japanned iron (hence ferro). Ambrotypes often exhibit some flaking of their black back coating, cracking or detachment of the image-bearing emulsion layer, or other deterioration, but the image layer on a tintype has proven to be typically very durable, although the iron support might oxidize at its corners.

Success of the tintype

thumb|The only surviving portrait of [[Billy the Kid, Fort Sumner, ]]

Compared to their most important predecessor, the daguerreotype, tintypes were not only very inexpensive, they were also relatively easy and quick to make. His book and the introduction of low cost variants known as "Gem ferrotypes" and the invention of the photo booth in 1888, helped to sustain the tintype's longevity.

Contemporary usage

John Coffer, as profiled in a 2006 New York Times article, travels by horse-drawn wagon creating tintypes.

In 2013, California Air National Guard member and artist Ed Drew took the first tintypes in a war zone since the Civil War, when he photographed Air Force pilots serving in the Afghan War.

The contemporary photographer Victoria Will created a series of tintypes of Hollywood stars at the 2014 and 2015 Sundance Film Festivals, including portraits of Anne Hathaway, Nick Cave, and Ewan McGregor. The portraits were later published as a book.

Organisations such as Penumbra Foundation continue to use this technique, offering tintype photography sessions. Their work has been featured in the New York Times.

Different utilizations and genres of ferrotype and their settings, arranged chronologically.

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Formal portrait of three African American women in formal dress with hands clasped together, tinted and with gilded jewelry, ca. 1856. (17378092466).jpg|Formal portrait of three African American women in formal dress with hands clasped together, tinted and with gilded jewelry, studio-ferrotype in typical casing, c. 1856

Portrait of a young woman, ca. 1856-1900. (4731908937).jpg|Portrait of a young Norwegian woman in the US, partly tinted, c. 1856–1900

Lincoln button 1860 (cropped).jpg|Campaign button for Abraham Lincoln, 1860, on flip side his vice presidential running mate Hannibal Hamlin

Girl in mourning dress holding framed photograph of her father.jpg|Girl in mourning dress holding framed photograph of her father, USA, encased, c. 1861–1870

Painted tintype of Samuel Spencer Ives, C.S.A..jpg|Painted tintype of Samuel Spencer Ives, a colonel of the 35th Alabama Infantry, C.S.A., 12 January 1862 (Alabama Department of Archives and History)

Butcher, late 19th century.jpg|Butcher with his tools, c. 1875

Bewoners voor hun houten huis, RP-F-2010-106.jpg|A house portrait, 16 × 21 cm, 1860–1900

Atelier van ferrotypist (huis), RP-F-2009-98.jpg|Studio of a ferrotypist, 9,2 × 11 cm, USA, c. 1880–1900

Twee mannen en twee vrouwen op de Eiffeltoren, RP-F-2008-112.jpg|Two men and two women on the Eiffel tower, Paris, France, Neurdein Frères, c. 1889–1914

Bosco Ferrotypie Front.jpg|Ferrotype from a Bosco photo booth, Hamburg, Germany, after 1890

Groepsportret van bergwandelaars in een geïmproviseerde studio, RP-F-2009-270.jpg|Portrait of a group of sixteen men and women on a hiking trip under makeshift stilted cloths, USA, c. 1890–1915

Lovingly Yours (titel op object), RP-F-2009-55.jpg|Tintype in a paper mat as greeting card, USA, 1900–1920

Portret van een man en twee vrouwen voor een geschilderd achtergronddoek (boom, meer en bergen) en een bordje met de tekst 'Huntington FAIR 1905', RP-F-2007-367.jpg|Portrait of a man and two women holding a signboard reading "Huntington Fair 1905"

Portret van een kind met badmuts in de zee (bij het strand bij Valkeveen), RP-F-2000-183.jpg|A snapshot-like tintype on the beach of Valkeveen in the Netherlands, c. 1915–1925

Dean Family 1855 to 1910 20241014 0021.jpg|Brom Kellie Taken Oct 25 1877

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See also

  • Albumen print
  • Ambrotype
  • Calotype
  • Collodion process
  • Daguerreotype
  • Lippmann plate

References

  • Step by Step Wet Plate Photography
  • Making a Photograph During the Brady Era
  • Civil War Photographs from the National Archive
  • Tintypes Collection at the American Antiquarian Society
  • Tintype collection at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History
  • Tintype street camera
  • American Large Plate Tintypes
  • https://vimeo.com/64989295