Horst Herget

Horst’s Tintype Portrait Booth is a complete portrait studio and darkroom facility creating photographs that are truly unique. Dating back to the 1850s, tintype photography is a process that captures an image directly onto a metal plate. Each tintype is one of a kind, and cannot be duplicated. Using chemistry recipes that are more than 150 years old and developed by hand these images make for a di

stinctive portrait of any subject. The slow, fastidious steps only permit a handful of portraits per hour. Many members of the public will be fascinated by the open air darkroom where many of the steps can be viewed. The booth also features informative panels detailing the process and history, as well as display samples. Horst previously introduced tintype to the Danforth community with his 2012 “Face the Danforth” show at Crema Coffee, a collection of tintype portraits celebrating the people that represent and contribute to the diverse character of the Danforth community. Work will resume shortly on this year’s edition of “Face the Danforth”. Horst is also involved in teaching the process through workshops, and hosts a number of family portrait sessions throughout the year at his home studio or on location at art fairs and wineries. A video documenting the process can be viewed at Horst’s website in the video section. Tintype photography was invented in 1851, and quickly gained popularity among North America's late nineteenth century's working class. Tintypes presented a low-cost, affordable opportunity for everyone to access a medium formerly reserved for the wealthy elite. The process had various names in the beginning – ferrotypes, melainotype - but ultimately the name tintype stuck because it sounded cheap, just like tin. The images, however, were never captured on tin plates, only thin iron plates and now most commonly on aluminum. Tintypes were immensely popular for about 30 or 40 years, but fell out of favour in about the 1890s with the introduction of celluloid roll film, only recently undergoing a well-deserved renaissance.