First Combat Zone Tintype Photos Created Since the Civil War

[n2doc]

Michael Zhang · Jul 10, 2013



Ed Drew is an artist who’s studying at the San Francisco Art Institute, pursuing a BFA in sculpture with a minor in photography. He’s also a defensive heavy weapons and tactics specialist for the California Air National Guard.

When Drew was deployed to Helmand Province, Afghanistan this past April as a helicopter aerial gunner, he decided to bring his passion for photography with him. What resulted were the first tintype photos to be created in a combat zone since the Civil War.

The Brooklyn-born photographer tells us that his motivation for the project was to stay sharp and not get rusty while he was away from home. “I was really interested in making art while I was in Afghanistan so I wouldn’t lose my momentum in my absence from art school,” he says.

Many of the photographs are of his fellow soldiers who fly Air Force rescue helicopters. Some of the images show the helicopters themselves.



Creating tintypes on the battlefield was a challenging experience. In between flying on combat missions, Drew found that his chemicals would react to the harsh environment there in ways that you wouldn’t see in the quiet safety of a photo studio. It made him “really appreciate every plate’s individual creation,” he says.

more

http://petapixel.com/2013/07/10/these-are-the-first-combat-zone-tintype-photos-created-since-the-civil-war/

[alfredo]

1. That looks like something I'd like to try. I've always loved Tintype

I just read up on the process, I just don't have the space for such a task.

[Stevenmarc]

2. I know a photographer doing a similar project

Melissa Cacciola: War and Peace
Tintype portraiture dates back to the Civil War and is one of the earliest photographic processes in history. With the one-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary of the Civil War, and the eleventh year marking the attacks on September 11th, 2001, this project presents forty-eight tintype portraits of active duty military and veterans from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Marines as a kind of confessional before the camera. This project will feature fifteen men and nine women of various ethnicities, ages, and roles from the armed forces in uniform and civilian attire in an exploration of war, identity, and what serving in the armed forces means. These double portraits contrast each individual and his or her role in the military against his or her identity in a contemporary world that is constantly shifting culturally and politically.

http://melissacacciola.com/war-and-peace