Experience the enchantment of historical photography with wet-plate collodion (tintype) portraits.
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Since 2019, Louisville-based artist Rudy Salgado has been part of an international community reviving this 1851 technique, capturing unique, heirloom-quality images on metal or glass plates.
Why Choose River City Tintype?
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Each session creates a one-of-a-kind portrait, offering details unattainable by digital methods. Rudy's 20+ years of teaching experience ensure that guests of all ages feel at ease while celebrating important moments and learning about the history and science behind the art. Located in an 1885 house near downtown Louisville, Rudy's studio features a traditional darkroom and portrait parlor.
Your experience:
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During your session, you'll witness the entire process from coating a plate to developing an image. Afterward, Rudy will varnish and scan your plates, which you can either pick up a few days after your session or receive by mail. Because your image is made of silver, the varnish provides a protective coating so your plate will last forever.
A few more historical notes (we can't resist):​
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Introduced by sculptor Frederick Scott Archer in 1851, wet plate collodion photography was a primary documentation tool during the US Civil War, then a celebrated trade by itinerant photographers through the early 1900s. Part alchemy, part labor of love, wet plate collodion photography involves coating a metal or glass plate with light-sensitive chemistry to create an image.
Wet-plate collodion photography was invented before film photography. There are a limited amount of people working in wet-plate around the world, though the practice is growing with increased appreciation in physical, heirloom portraits. After exposure to a studio flash or sunlight, each image comes alive in pure silver highlights and black shadows, forever fixed on the plate. Every plate is a unique vision of its subject, and a product of many variables, chemical formulas, and techniques. Lovely in their imperfections, the metallic surface and high level of detail in tintypes could never be duplicated with a digital process or filter!
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The 19th-century tintype process used thinly-hammered iron as a substrate, but present-day tintypes use sheets of enameled aluminum, which will last for generations when properly cared for. I can't wait to share this historical process with you, and am sure we'll both learn something from one another. ​​​
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