With the cutting edge of technology available in a handheld device and all the benefits of digital image manipulation offered freely (mostly anyway) - it seems odd that vintage and retro forms of photography remain popular. Currently, it has been reported that Generation Z have latched on to older digital cameras ad early flip phones, for the 'vintage' look on Tik Tok and Instagram. Apparently, the pixelated and grainy shots are the current fad and sales of old tech are quite buoyant.
Personally, I can relate to the vintage aesthetic, but not to such recent models and styles. On the iPhone, there are a multitude of 'retro' camera apps that promise to recreate the Polaroid style, or the vintage Holga effect as well as dozens of other film emulations such as Velvia, Portra, Kodachrome and a personal favourite, Aerochrome.
However, there is one app, which takes the vintage feel right back to the victorian era and the production of Tintype effect photographs.
Way back in 1853, ferrotype or later 'tintype' prints became very popular because of the speed and durability of the process. Fairground and carnival or travelling photography booths, could take a photograph and be able to hand the customer a completed print on a metal base, while they waited. The base of thin metal plate would be coated with light sensitive chemicals and after exposure and processing, produced a very distinctive image. Due to the process and the distribution of the chemicals, the image was invariably found to have smears and streaks on the surface, as well as defects in the quality, dependent on how good he camera was. Tintypes found favour during the American Civil War, being favoured for their durability and portability for recording battlefield scenes. The Wild West also saw an increased uptake as the new invention of photography spread to the frontier towns with the travelling carnivals.
The Tintype app by Hipstamatic allows a user to both shoot in Tintype mode and import an existing image for processing. One of the most noticeable parts of victorian photographs are the eyes in portrait sitters, which invariably appear empty and slightly soulless. The app has the ability to work in concert with the iphone Portrait mode, detecting eyes in a photograph and giving the option to accentuate them in the final image.
It also allows for variable depth of field and variability of the amount of plate grain present on the final output.
It will work best in monochrome mode, but also allows for the addition of a traditional sepia tint, or a hand tinted colour mode, which bleaches and fades colour in the image to a subtle wash.
Architecture and landscapes benefit from shooting in Tintype, especially subjects with a lot of natural texture and contrast. Changing the DoF on an image, can vary the focus point and draw attention to specific parts of an image, by throwing detail into sharp focus and adding a blurred vignette to the image.
