America and the Tintype

[Unidentified Young Man with Bandaged Head] ca. 1875
Artist: Unidentified Photographer
Gift of Steven Kasher, 2007
courtesy International Center of Photography

[Double Exposure of Unidentified Boy] ca. 1870
Artist: Unidentified Photographercourtesy International Center of Photography

America and the Tintype, is an exhibition on view at the International Center of Photography, New York from September 19, 2008 through January 4, 2009. The exhibition features over 100 remarkable examples of this medium. The exhibition is co-organized by ICP Chief Curator Brian Wallis and writer and historian Steven Kasher.

The tintype was affordable, portable, unique, and available almost everywhere.It provides a candid record of the political upheavals that rocked the four decades following the American Civil War, and the personal anxieties they induced.

Yes, this is interesting. I selected two images from the show that set my eyes on fire. If you happen to have some tintypes laying around at home, why not send them to 591 and we could have a Tintype-party!