"chemistry is a lesson you take in college where you learn two plus two is 10, or something"

dennis "the worm" rodman

By 默默富酷

May 1^st, 2021

old dog new tricks

it has been years since i attended any workshops that i learn something new - never mind work-related workshops, skills acquired in those pastries laden training get obsolete faster than the latest iphone.

i had only 2 lessons on the technicalities of photography. the first was on medium format film photography taught personally by ts sim - who showed me how to load 120 film onto a hasselblad and how to retrieve it and transfer into a dark-bag. the first two plus two rolls (according to roadman's math) were either loaded in reverse or i extracted the paper backing instead of the negative in the dark bag.

key point is - i was and probably still am a bad student.

the 2nd lesson happened today, where i decided to learn about tintype photography. what i am going to do with that skill (or the lack of it), i don't know yet - just like other skills i have - throat singing, poison dart shooting, bonsai pruning and bending my knees the opposite direction.

p.s. coincidentally today is also world wet plate day.

hip xiong photo studio

enter ryan lee, the founder of hip xiong photo studio. for the clueless, the hip is part of the studio's name, not an indication of how fashionable and trendy it is (which it is). hip xiong is a colloquial hokkien term that means "to have a photo taken" or "staring at rival gang members in a cool manner".

ryan conducts tintype workshops on a regular basis for individuals as well as for buddies and couples. he also does portraits on tintypes - casual, dressed in your alter-ego or superhero or favourite politician

"chemistry is a lesson you take in college where you learn two plus two is 10, or something"

so wtf is tintype

if you are zillenial or younger, you can skip this section. in fact, you should be skipping this website and go back to dancing in front of your mobile.

in short, tintype is making a photo image on a thin sheet of metal coated with light sensitive enamel. tintype is the instagram of the 1860s, where people have friends they actually met.

tintype photography involves some knowledge of chemistry, a pair of steady hands and a good sense of sequence. yes, it is like chemistry class in school. and no, you cannot pour acid into your classmate's ph neutral water.

the workshop

this isn't the alcoholic anonymous support workshop where you start by announcing the number of days one is dry. one on one workshops are awkward, it is is like tuition lessons, no? not a lot of ice to break, just get on with the curriculum. to be fair, ryan is interactive and patient despite me being the delinquent student.

the workshop starts with theory, practice, demo and practical.

"wait, no graduation?" i thought in my mind and i realized i missed what the teacher was saying for a good 10 minutes now.

so apparently the guy who invented this is frederick archer. ryan even had a photo of the inventor which sets the gold standard how everyone should pose and look in a tintype - regal and sinister at the same time.

i made through most of the theory lesson by nodding (an invaluable corporate skill i honed during zoom calls). and ryan said "quiz time". i wanted to start the ball rolling by asking questions first but i was too slow.

"what were the 4 stages of a tintype process", the question was projected on the wall.

in short, i got all the 7 stages names wrong but i would like to think i scored on the essence.

"how many safety equipment do we use?", ryan asked.

"hey, that was not what was written on the wall", i protested. this is akin to those mock psle exam questions

"sally has 4 lemons, joe had twice the number in grapefruits and ali had chickenpox. what is the myers briggs personality of the fruit seller?"

demo

from here onward, the workshop starts to get fun (which in my language means things start to get funnily wrong). the theory is the ride up the roller coaster. one of the most important aspect of the tintype photo process is prepping the plate (negative for old timers, and the circle button of your mobile camera app for all the zillenials).

one of the key practice is to get the viscous emulsion evenly coated over the plate in a clockwise direction. no dripping, no wastage, no double dips. it is like military meal time.

ryan got me to practice without the liquid and imagine i was pouring, just like my friends pouring imaginary whiskey that they promised to treat me.

studio

after passing the make-belief stage, we proceeded to the studio above to fiddle with cameras 20 times the size of an iphone and shoot 1 image with 0 megapixels, and no selfie mode.

it is a beautiful studio i must add. functional and classy.

a lot of work (e.g lens focusing, checking on strobes and lights, directing the subject) just to prep the studio before the shoot. all these before preparing the tintype plate.

prepping the plate

after the studio is set up, it is time to prep the plate in the red room - i know it is dark room but this is after all in geylang. the name is fitting. in ordinary circumstance, only ryan goes into the red room. the subject remains in the adjacent studio and hold his/her pose and think narccistic thoughts such as "is my lashes thick and curly enough" or "i hope he return before my bicep flex turns into a cramp".

i wonder if ryan plays music when he leaves his subjects alone. i humbly suggest playing those horror jump-scare tracks during this 1-2 minute of his absence in the dark studio, when the subjects are alone.

back in the red room, ryan said he is letting me coat the plate with his mother emulsion - i.e. the genesis of his emulsion, aged since day 1. this is like the master chap in the kway chap store. i better not f**k this up and break this bottle.

anyway, he did the first plate. a flawless coat over the plate. i did the next 2 plates. they were flawless too. till i coated them.

in short, the sequence is something like this

subject in position -- focus camera and light -- go into red room -- prep plate -- coat emulsion -- dip in silver solution -- into camera back --- back to subject -- make a photo -- back to red room

red room

i like the red room. it is mysterious. you wear an apron, safety googles and gloves. there are timers and chemical equipment. the water is always running. there are plenty of measuring devices and many head-shots of people lying around in the room. there is shooting to be done outside.

this place is an episode of breaking bad.

the result

this was the 1st plate - he prepped the plate, executed the shot and developed it.

final step

so what if the photo turned out bad. can it be fixed? is there a meitu app equivalent in tintype world? this is what ryan did.

just kidding.

ryan was just adding a layer of vanish onto the 1st plate and was showing me. i had to do the other 2 myself at home and i must say i did not do a bad job.

p.s: see the botch of black in the left image? that is because i did not get enough of the chap onto the plate i practiced on. i took a sharpie and wrote on the black space to date it. when life give you lemons, ask for a high ball.