Against the Grain is an immersive workshop for photographers, artists, and curious image-makers who want to explore tintype not just as a historical process, but as a contemporary act of creative resistance. In a culture dominated by digital speed, algorithmic visibility, filters, photoshop and endless image production, participants investigate what it means to choose a slow, physical, imperfect medium on purpose.
The workshop begins with a discussion on photography’s relationship to power and capitalism —who controls images, who profits from them, and how photographic technologies have been used both to oppress and to resist. Participants examine tintype as a refusal of disposability, the embrace of imperfection, and as a process that demands intention, consent, and presence.
Participants then engage in a hands-on demonstration and guided practice: learning the very basic fundamentals of tintype chemistry, exposure, and development while collaboratively making test plates and experimenting with portraiture, objects, or gestures of resistance. Emphasis is placed on process over perfection, and on ethics over aesthetics.
Following the workshop, participants are invited to opt in to a paid tintype portrait session—either individually or in collaboration with another participant—where they can embody their personal relationship to creative resistance.
Participants are encouraged to purchased tintypes but it's not a requirement to participate in the workshop. Below are the prices for tintypes.
4x5- $70
5x7- $85
The workshop is free with the price of general admission.