How 21st-Century Tech Relaunched a 19th-Century Photo Studio
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Loading... - Karel Jezek
- 11 Jul 2022
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Tintype Photographic Studio, Silver and Cedar, has exploded in popularity over the last three years, largely thanks to an enthralled TikTok audience.
Matt and Katie run their wet plate studio that employs technology that was popular almost 200 years ago in the 1860s, to give their clients a truly unique photography product.
But despite the couple making use of 19th-century instruments, the couple tells PetaPixel that it’s a very 21st-century tool they utilize to grow their business.
“Right now, every portrait commission from the last three months has all come from TikTok,” explains Katie.
“As soon as the TikTok videos were going viral, we were booked out months in advance. It was going further than that, and we can’t book any further than two months ahead otherwise we wouldn’t have life.”
The couple estimate they have shot over 2,000 tintype portraits, and the success has allowed Katie to quit her corporate job, and Matt, who is a tattoo artist as well as a photographer, has cut down the number of days he’s inking skin.
A Surprise Success
Initially, Matt and Katie were skeptical that such an old-school business would work in modern-day. Matt was offered the opportunity to shoot photos live at a tattoo convention and wanted to do something different.
“I didn’t want to do anything too simple like polaroids or instant film, I wanted to do something more hands-on and make the experience a little bigger,” explains Matt.
“I’ve always known about tintype and I said, ‘screw it,’ and bought everything I needed. I bought pretty much all the wrong stuff initially, there was not much information at that time.” Read More...
