RE: Tintype Workshop Dan
Carmen, Mark and France Scully Osterman will be teaching numerous wet plate workshops over the next few months in both Texas and New York. Check out their website (www.collodion.org) or email France directly. They are arguably the best living practitioners of this process and two of the most generous people I've ever come across. John Coffer was recommended and that would be a good option as well, but only if you plan to work in the field. <Backstory> Nearly every living wet plate practitioner can trace their training to either Mark Osterman or John Coffer. There are some exceptions, but I won't deal with them here. Most of us were either trained by Mark or John or one of their students. By design or circumstance they have radically different approaches. I'm about to make some distinctions and generalizations which may sound unfair, so let me say for the record that they are both world-class artists, both represented by big New York galleries and both highly respected. My comments are not meant to disparage either of them. For the record, I've been a formal student of Coffer's (slept in the tepee) and an informal student of Mark and France (never met them, but have sought out their assistance on numerous occasions over the past 3 years which they gave without ever meeting me or getting anything in return). Osterman vs. Coffer Art vs. Craft (I mean this respectively) Studio vs. Field Contemporary vs. Historic Osterman's have trained many world-class artists on this process, including Sally Mann. Although they cover how to work in the field and have that experience their practice is primarily studio based. If you plan to primarily shoot in the field, Coffer is a much better choice. He is a marvel outdoors. He will teach you how to make darkboxs, plate helper tools, adjust your chemistry for heat and humidity, how to make cases, etc. As Joe pointed out, his Doers guide is worth every penny! Coffer also tends to be historic minded. Meaning he won't use a collodion mix that isn't close to an original recipe. Osterman, on the other hand, is informed by historical precedent, but disregards the unnecessary. You will use trophy aluminum in Osterman's class for tintypes, but Coffer is more likely to serve you canned beans for lunch, then cut up the can, hammer it, jappan it and then use it for a tintype--sounds romantic, but this is laborious. Osterman will teach you how to make plates with an enlarger, coat the back of your plates with colored paint, and make contemporary oretones. Anyway, hope this is helpful. Mark -----Original Message----- From: Dan Haygood [mailto:dan@haygoods.org] Sent: Saturday, April 12, 2008 12:43 AM To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca Subject: RE: Tintype Workshop Dan You're right Robert, that degree of dark humor was inappropriate. My apologies to Carmen, yourself, and others offended by that. One can list the hazards of the workaday world without end, but tintypes do have inherent dangers, riskier than many of those associated with other processes. And from her latest post, it's clear Carmen appreciates those dangers. - Dan -----Original Message----- From: Robert Newcomb [mailto:newcombr@uga.edu] Sent: Friday, April 11, 2008 5:35 AM To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca Subject: Re: Tintype Workshop Dan Don't sugar coat it so much Dan, tell us how you really feel! What a non supportive response to someone's enthusiasm about attending a workshop. A note of caution is one thing but the "after mom is gone" was a bit too much. Just make sure you don't breath or drink the dichromate doing gum, or splash the bleach in your eye when toning, or get electrocuted when using a mercury vapor printer or get hit by a car on the way to the work shop or ..... Robert Newcomb On Apr 10, 2008, at 7:53 PM, Dan Haygood wrote: > Tintypes, as in nitrocelulose, ether, potassium cyanide, etc.? > > Make sure the grandparents are OK with babysitting after Mom is > gone, too! > > Seriously, there must be safer techniques after 160 years...can > someone > post a rundown of the process used today? > > - Dan > >> Hi All, I am looking to take a tintype workshop. It >> could be in New York or Texas. Can anyone recommend >> one? (grandparents are in both states , so I have free >> baby sitting for my kids!) >> Thank you kindly, >> Carmen > >
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