Introduction to Tintypes

Introduction to Tintypes       

Instructor Name: Luther Gerlach

Date(s): October 8, 2022

Time(s): 9:00 – 4:30

Location: Five Points Art Center Landscape

Ages: 18+

Cost: $250

Class Cap: 5 participants per session

Workshop Description

An introduction to tintype photography for everyone! This Civil War-era process produces a direct positive black and white image on metal using pure elemental silver. It was the first widely available and affordable form of photography - producing a nearly instantaneous image; it was the Polaroid of its day. This is an opportunity to get your hands dirty and make beautiful images with one-on-one guidance from your teacher – an expert in alternative processes for the last 30 years. We will be producing 5x7” stereo portraits using a studio camera and lenses from my personal collection. Students will learn safety protocols, watch a live demonstration, mix chemistry, pour plates, and develop images to take home.

Required Materials

Wear clothes you don’t mind getting stained!

Instructor Bio

Luther Gerlach has been working in historical photographic processes for the past 40 years, highlighting the role of constraints in creative production and the hand-made, tactile connection between the artist and his work. Known for nude portraits and urban scenes of downtown LA in his early career, more recently Gerlach has pioneered the re-emergence of plein air wet plate collodion landscapes. His work distills detailed images of the natural world, particularly trees, seaweeds, and grasses, to emphasize pure light and line, endowing his images with a subtly abstract quality.

Gerlach apprenticed with Brett Weston in Carmel and Hawaii in the 1980’s, before learning the wet plate process which he still works in today. He led lectures and demonstrations at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles for nearly twenty years. He has exhibited at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the Ventura Museum of Art, the Schaknow Museum of Fine Art, Miami, the Denver Art Museum, and The Palace of the Governors, Santa Fe. Selected permanent collections include the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The J. Paul Getty Museum, and the Michael G. Wilson Centre for Photography, among others.

The artist lives and works in historic Hampton, Connecticut where he offers workshops, master printing services, and darkroom rentals from his English style barn, Little River Studio.

Instructor Website

 www.luthergerlach.net