POV

I've been searching for a photographic project to do just for the sheer enjoyment of doing it.  I've always been interested in experimental photography, and one process I've really gotten a lot of pleasure pursuing is tintype, which is the method of photography done back in the 1800's where photographs were exposed and printed on sheets of metal.  I do use an alternative emulsion as the original chemicals are extremely toxic and almost impossible to transport from place to place.  Using my method, I can coat any number of tins that I want, let them dry, put them in a box away from the light and go on my travels.  I change my plates in a changing bag, which allows me to change these plates without any damage from light.  When I get home, then I can develop all the tins that I have shot.

The part of this that is intriguing to me is that the camera I am using to shoot my images is a Holga plastic camera.  Holgas are extremely cheap and have become very popular in an alternative, pop-culture kind of way.  This means that the images I take are processed on a piece of tin that is 2 inches by 2 inches.  These images attached to this post are originally 2x2, so they appear much larger on screen than the size of the original tin.  At first I thought the images were ok; however, closer examination with a magnifying glass revealed a clarity of these images that I did not think was possible for an image so small.  The scanned images so far don't do justice to the original plates; maybe as I go along I'll be able to produce better scans in order to post how much detail is actually in these photos.

I've come up with the term "micro-photography" or "miniature photography."  There's a whole microcosm hiding on each plate.

I was inspired to start this project after viewing YouTube videos about this young photographer who has been doing some extremely interesting (at least to me) tintype photography.  His work has included sizes from 2"x2" up to 4'x5', and his camera is the back of a large truck.  His name is Ian Ruhter, a name I urge anyone who is interested in photography to look up.

Now that I know this process actually does work, I'm ready to take it out into the world and explore different ways that I can make this work.  More will be coming.