Old school publicity photos

On Saturday morning, September 6, 2009, the combined casts of both one-act plays being produced this fall at USM gathered at a downtown Portland photo studio to make some very special publicity photos. Nineteenth century Russian playwright Anton Chekhov wrote his bite-sized comedic masterpieces "The Bear" and "The Proposal" at the tail end of the tintype era of photography. Tintypes were inexpensive instant photos made on sheets of blackened tin. The Department of Theatre's promotions manager, Troy R. Bennett, who is in charge of publicity materials for the theatre, is also one of a handful of tintype practitioners in the world today. It was an opportunity too cool to pass up. The images made that day may well be the first theatrical publicity tintypes produced in over a hundred years.


The combined casts, above, appear in an authentic tintype: from left Matthew Defiore of Mexico, Maine, Ellen White of Hallowell, Jake Cote of Bangor, Sarah Dube of Eagle Lake, Samuel Rapaport of Bangor and Joshua Adams of Amesbury, Mass.

The cast of Chekhov's "The Bear” from left, Matthew Defiore, a 2008 graduate of Mt. Valley High School from Mexico, Maine plays the brutish Smirnov, Jake Cote, a 2008 graduate of Bangor High School plays the harried and confused servant Luka, and Ellen White, a theatre major from Hallowell, plays the mourning Popova.

The cast of "The Proposal" from left, Joshua Adams of Amesbury, Mass, plays the hopeful, yet misguided suitor, Samuel Rapaport, a 2008 graduate of Bangor High School, plays the Chubukov, the frustrated father, and Sarah Dube of Eagle Lake, a 2006 graduate of Fort Kent Community High School, plays the lovely yet stubborn bride-to-be Stepanovna.

Englishman Frederick Scott Archer first introduced the wet-plate process, by which tintypes are made, in 1851. By 1860 it became the dominant method of picture making in America and abroad. It’s called the wet-plate process because the plate (a piece of blackened tin for tintypes and glass for negatives or ambrotypes) is coated, sensitized, shot, developed and fixed within just a few minutes, during which it remains wet.

First, Troy flowed plates, in this case black trophy aluminum, with collodion, a mixture of cellulose, acid and ether.

Collodion is what adheres the picture to the aluminum plate.

Then Troy dipped the plates in a lightproof bath of silver nitrate.

The silver nitrate makes the collodion sensitive to light.

In total darkness, the sensitized plates were loaded into the back of the camera and exposed.

Troy's camera is a replica of a 19th century model and was built last year by the Star Camera company of New Jersey. The lens was made in Germany around 1870. Troy used his baseball hat as a shutter and the exposure times were around 10 seconds.

After the plates were exposed they were developed with an iron sulfate and acid mixture inside the dark box. Troy's ever present furry assistant, Hook, was on hand to supervise the operation.

After the plates were developed they got a quick wash before going into the fixer.

The fixer takes away any undeveloped silver and reveals the image. Then more washing happened before the plates were set out to finally dry.

A rack full of plates, above, dry on the edge of the sink. When completely dry, plates are varnished with a mixture of alcohol, lavender and gum of sandarac to protect them.

Sarah Dube, Samuel Rapaport and Joshua Adams wait . The wet-plate process is a time consuming one.

The camera is set for the shot.

University of Southern Maine Department of Theatre Costume Director Kris Hall, above, fits Ellen White into a vintage 19th century Maine schoolteacher's dress lent by Dr. Assunta Kent for the photo shoot.

Costume designer and student Desiray Roy holds a false mustache on Jake Cote's face before the shoot.

Jake Cote, Samuel Rapaport and Joshua Adams sit for a test shot.