Camp Tintype Comes to Town

John Coffer singing the praises of tintype on the sidewalks of the town
of Penn Yan in the old Burned-Over District

A reader wrote to tell me that he would really enjoy a film/darkroom post about once a month (he thought once a week would be to much). That was the reason for Sunday's post about the beautiful enlarger. I hope this doesn't qualify as a second darkroom post, then, because if it does, the Internet will start to hum with nasty comments about how the guy at The Online Photographer hates digital! I don't, honest. I just love all photography, that's all.

But you see that big box on the tripod at the left side of the picture? That's John Coffer's darkroom.

I first met John, who certainly qualifies as an interesting guy, at his show at the Arts Center of Yates County when it opened last month. Not only has he devoted thirty years of work to a photographic medium that was essentially an American invention back in the 1850s (America's first major contribution to photography), but he lives his entire life as if it were still the mid-1800s. He lives in a tiny log cabin way out in the woods, grows his own food, and although he does have a web page, he doesn't have electricity. He told me yesterday that the reason he settled in this area is that the horse and buggy he uses to get around in wouldn't seem peculiar here, because there are lots of horse-and-buggy Amish and Mennonite church groups hereabouts, and buggies on the highway and the streets of Penn Yan are a common sight. He can blend in here.

Does he cheat on 1850? Well, a little. He owns a Model T Ford. And his girlfriend has a car, in which he sometimes rides.

Student group portrait from a tintype workshop: Edith Weiler, John,
Doug Lloyd, C.J. Taylor and Doyle Bussey

...But he deserves that. For seven years, John crisscrossed North America in a wagon drawn by a horse named Brownie, making tintypes, doing public demonstrations, and teaching. He's settled down now, on his farm in Dundee, NY, dubbed "Camp Tintype," where he conducts a popular series of three-day workshops throughout the temperate months for students from around the country and around the world.

Not a dime a dozen
Did you know the expression "dime a dozen" originated with tintypes? That's how much they cost at first, and that was very cheap compared to the competition. Tintypes—the real name was ferrotype, after the iron plates used—was definitely a lower-class medium. Prosperous people would have had first Daguerreotypes, then wet-collodion cartes de visite made. Tintypes are in-camera originals, each one-of-a-kind, and they're almost "instant"—John probably took no more than ten minutes making each of the three he made on the sidewalk. That doesn't include japanning the plate. As John's portable darkroom box demonstrates, you don't need much in the way of a darkroom, either.

Tintypes are popular among Civil War re-enactors and Old West buffs, but as John explained, Mathew Brady never would have made tintypes. He was a high society portraitist, and during the Civil War his idea was to sell large editions of prints. He made glass plate negatives.

One thing I thought was poignantly amusing—it turns out that a lot of tintype aficionados use pre-made aluminum plates these days—apparently they're made and sold for trophies and plaques—and John considers this to be a regrettable selling-out to...what else, convenience. Real tintype artists use proper iron or steel plates, hand-lacquered. And it's often "found metal"—one of John's students, Mark Richards, who showed me a whole stack of his (excellent) work, mentioned that I ought to look at the back of each plate to see where the metal came from. Sure enough, some of his tintypes were made on metal from old cookie tins, old ammo tins, and old coffee cans.

John's tintypes aren't a dime a dozen, though. He routinely sells them at prices up to $8,000 in New York City galleries. (He's been featured in the New York Times—the writer back then made merry about his single state at that time, but I met John's girlfriend Ann, and she seems very nice.)

I won't go on too much about John's photography because I'm not able to show it to you, but my impression is that he's a genuine creative photographer who plays with his chosen medium and pushes its boundaries. He made the first-even mammoth tintypes, for instance, and one of his pictures is of a metal container that somebody shot full of holes. John then put a few bullets through the tintype itself for echo and emphasis. Makes viewers smile.

The Times article reports that he has a computer, but no more I guess. If you want to inquire about taking a workshop, the fastest way to get hold of him is to write him a letter. I mean on paper, in an envelope with a stamp. It's faster than email, which a friend prints out for him and mails to him every few weeks.

His address, if you're interested, is:

John A. Coffer
Camp Tintype
1236 Dombroski Rd.
Dundee, NY 14837

Mike
(Thanks to Llewellyn and Laurel)

Original contents copyright 2016 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

TOP's links!

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Ed Kirkpatrick: "Mike, I was scheduled, paid up and ready to go to one of John's weeklong camps back in May 2005. He sent me his book/manual and DVDs, all handwritten in pencil but Xeroxed (not the DVDs of course) which I read cover to cover twice. Three weeks before the camp, the Army decided that weekend was the deployment date for my son Scott's second tour to Iraq and I decided to forego the camp in favor of seeing him off. I wrote to John explaining the circumstance and that I understood if he could not refund the tuition but I felt this was more important. John wrote right back and refunded the entire amount and said to keep the book and DVDs. I thought that was very generous and resolved to take another of his camps as soon as it could be arranged.

"It never happened. Three months later Scott was killed as you know and that weekend was the last time we were together. I lost interest in everything for a long time and as I recovered my interest in photography it veered to digital. When we sold our farm to travel full time in our RV I sold all my film gear. I often think back to the 'what if I had skipped' his deployment and the certain guilt of that decision and am thankful for kindness of people in the world like John. I wish there was some way, someday I could manage that experience. Maybe, who knows. Thanks for this post."

Comments

[Steve D]

I don't know if the technology would be appropriate for the historical period but it would be cool to see him at a Civil war reenactment.

[Steve D]

Never mind... I should read the articles more carefully.. or at all :/

[Robert Hudyma]

John looks like he has a "halo" over his head. I took a double-take. It sheds a whole new light on his portrait.

[Greg Brophy]

I bought his book and have sent leters back and forth a few times to him. He responds pretty fast and seems like a really nice guy. I hope to take his workshop one day. I had a friend who did and loved it.

[Dennis Huteson]

John strikes me as a 'Leon Redbone' of the photography world...and that's no bad thing.

[Doug Chadwick]

I find it surprising that he seems to use a modern tripod, Looks quite out of place. Two of the three wet plate shooters do the same thing (and at least one of them have done a camp with Coffer)

I often use a digital or other "modern" camera on a 19th century tripod. To my eye it's odd but not as glaringly off. But of course I do most of my serious work with cameras with one foot in the 19th century so I have lots of period tripods.

The third wet plate shooter I know does use period tripods, though his Ford is a Model A, which I hate to say, is a much better car than the T for long distance work. Maybe there is a picture of it on his web-site,
http://www.ronkleinphotos.com/

[Bob Rosinsky]

Tintypes democratized photography just as the Ford Model T democratized the automobile. Perhaps the same can be said for the first Macintosh computer.

[Frank]

The Ed Kirkpatrick story brought a tear, thanks to both for sharing

[Miserere]

It is often said that the best way to make a small fortune in photography is to start with a large one. I think John Coffer might have found another way: Lower your yearly expenses to $2,000 (if that!) and after a few years of Tintype photography, and the associated lifestyle, you'll have a small fortune in your bank account.

Just pray the Jesse James gang doesn't hit your bank!

[Dalvorius]

Ahem... *too* much

p.s. Mike you eye for correctness is normally better than this (one of the reasons I appreciate your work)

Dalvorius :)

[Steve Jacob]

I may be a confirmed digiphile, but I would be very sad if the practice of historical photography were forgotten.

For the same reason I love restored classic cars and historic flying aircraft, I love to get that sense of connection to the basic elements of the invention.

They are as relevant now as they ever were, but that is easily forgotten when you can pick up a camera and use it in full auto mode.

[Joseph Brunjes]

I don't think using aluminum is a sell out. I would say 90%+ of all current tintypers use aluminum. It is a better choice from iron which rusts, and you can recycle unwanted plates. I would have to imagine that most photographers during the Civil War would have used trophy aluminum if it was available. The whole idea of making positives on metal (which are actually underexposed negatives on a black background) was to get photographs made as quickly and cheaply as possible. Glass negatives took 2-3x the amount of exposure and then required albumen prints for positives.

[Kevin Purcell]

John Coffer would be called "hardcore" (or progressive) by Civil War re-enactors.

He shoots a period appropriate process. Lives in log cabin without electricity in real life. Rides a buggy in an area where he blends in. That's harder than even the most obsessed hardcore re-enactor will attain.

But he does seem a bit farby too.

The tripod is not period authentic. Aluminum was rarer than gold at that time.

Are his eyeglasses period authentic? This a major issue for myope re-enactors who probably would never made the battlefield!

And the shoes are cropped in the shot. Getting real old boots is a hardcore dream and rarely realized. Along with period appropriate underwear.

It's an odd combination. I'd be curious to hear his views on his lifestyle versus hardcore re-enacting.

P.S. One of the best bits of writing about "hardcore re-enactors" is a chapter in Tony Horowitz's book Confederates in the Attic.

[There's also a great chapter about it in "The Same Axe Twice." --Mike]

[Mark L]

I love this bloke, would like to go on a course of his (not going to happen, I live in Australia), but I am surprised that he does not cause the same reaction you had to infra-red photography years ago, I remember the article in your Lulu book. If a photograph is good, it does not need to be infra-red, or tintype or anything other than a good photograph. Over here, tintypes are everywhere and they get boring quite quickly.

[Dean Johnston]

Hey ho!

> the reason he settled in this area is that the horse and buggy he uses to
> get around in wouldn't seem peculiar here,

At first I misread that as "settled in this era..." and it made perfect sense until after the comma.

[Kimball]

John normally uses an old wood tripod. As he explained to the crowd, he only used the modern tripod because he was shooting on the sidewalk, and the legs of the wooden tripod can slip on that surface - it is best used on the bare ground. This was not a re-enactment. He is stereotyped as some sort of uncompromising hardcore who thinks it's still the 19th century - but he has solar panels, a windmill, an electric bicycle, and is offering a primer on use of electric lights with wetplate. He likes ferrotypes because the blacks are blacker, they offer a heft and ruggedness that aluminum plates don't- and the images affix to magnets! Yes - they are much harder work to create - but that makes his work all the more unique. Lastly, all three of John's vehicles are indeed all Model Ts. The truck is a 1927 TT. He also has a 1924 ? Model T Coupe & a 1923 Model T Touring Car. All Model Ts. Not Model As.

[Frank]

What I like best about the hobo tin that John uses is, it's cool in many ways: it's cheap (you can pull the tins out of the free bin at yard sales), the quality of the black is deeper than what you get with aluminum, it's "green" in that it recycles trash that otherwise would be bound for the landfill, it's very much handmade, and each plate is entirely unique. Also, it's not just about the image, it's about holding the object in your hand, the feel and the weight of it (real ferrotypes are heavier than lightweight aluminum), and then of course, the back of the plate has a picture or graphics on it - unlike with aluminum. Sadly, nowadays, it seems that all people want is a transient image to scan and post on instagram or facebook. They don't care about the solid metal object you hold in your hand that will last over 100 years. Second comment ( I was at the event ) to the "farby" critic above. Maybe it wasn't clear, but this was a demo for on art gallery - John was out on the sidewalk in front of the art gallery, and we even watched while he shot a picture out in the busy main street (full of very noisy cars) with a brownie 3B camera. He clearly wasn't making any attempt whatsoever to put on a reenacting portrayal, which I know he does do, because I saw him once years ago at the Genesee Country Museum, where he did have the old glasses and the homespun clothes (black stains all over the apron) and the traveling photographic van pulled by his horse and all that.