Tintypes Photograph Series

This series centers on my tintype photographs, a body of work I began in 2019. I was drawn to tintype photography not only for its material beauty, but for the discipline, patience, and presence the process demands. In an era of instantaneous images and digital excess, it feels necessary to understand — and not forget — the origins of photography. Early photographic processes such as tintype require slowness, intention, and a deep engagement with materials. They remind us that images were once precious objects, made to last and meant to be cared for.

Tintype photography is a 19th-century wet-plate process that produces direct positive images on blackened metal plates, often lasting for generations — over 100 years. The process requires coating a metal plate with collodion, sensitizing it in silver nitrate, exposing the image while the plate is still wet, and developing it immediately. Every step is time-sensitive and irreversible, embedding chance, touch, and vulnerability into the final image. For me, this physicality mirrors the labor and intimacy found in weaving.

I continue to experiment with merging photography and fiber within my practice. One series began by creating tintype images on metal plates, printing them onto photographic paper, cutting them into strips, and weaving them onto a fabricated loom. Through this process, photography becomes thread, and weaving becomes image. The resulting works exist at the intersection of disciplines, forming a new visual language where craft, memory, and material converge — honoring both the origins of photography and the enduring power of hand-based making.