A serious affair: Reviving a historical photography method

Tintype photography is old. Very old. So why is a photography studio in Pioneer Square still doing it?

You've probably seen a tintype photograph before. Think black and white, civil war era pictures of generals, or couples with stern looks on their faces.

Libby Bulloff and Stephen Robinson own Henrietta's Eye, a photography studio in Pioneer Square. They've been making tintype photographs for over eight years.

Ttintypes, which peaked in popularity in the 1860's, were the first easily accessible form of photography.

"It's the first time that you see people of color and images. It's the first time you see people playing around. There's actually a lot of humorous tintypes. And they last for an incredibly long amount of time."

Actually creating a tintype photograph is a complicated process. It starts with a plate of aluminium, and a series of chemicals.

"The three major components of the process are a substance called Salted Collodion, which goes on a metal plate. And that's what will almost make a literal film that we'll take your picture with. And then we have developer, which helps develop the image. And then we have the fix that sort of help it magically turn from a negative into a positive. The formulas are based on our modifications of old 1850's and 1860's recipes. None of these chemicals really have changed much over the years except for the consistency and the quality of them, which just better quality chemicals available now than back in the day."

Once the photo's been taken it's a matter of minutes before you get a glimpse at the final product.

It's a lot of work. But as Libby pointed out, "The feeling that you get when you've made a really good photo and you've made somebody feel really good about themselves is worth the sweat."