We recently connected with Michael Chylinski and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Michael thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

I named my company Modern Tintype because I wanted to capture the idea that I am usually most interested in photographing a contemporary subject with the look of the wet plate emulsion and an older portrait lens. To me that combination of old and new can result in something timeless. I am actually not particularly invested in the idea that the wet plate collodion process was invented in the mid 19th century. I just feel that it is the most beautiful way to make a photograph.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am not one of those photographers who “always had an interest in photography.” I actually have more of a background in music, and only began my photographic journey after I was given a 35mm Lomo LC-A while living in London playing in a band in the late ‘90s. I started taking classes when I could fit them in, learning all of the stuff one learned back in the film era. I found I loved working in the darkroom, and also quickly began moving up in terms of film format, eventually shooting 4×5” and even 5×7” film.

Still, it did not become my job until I decided to learn the wet plate collodion process about eight years ago. For many wet plate photographers, tintypes are primarily associated with portraiture, and although I had never been someone who concentrated on shooting people (being more into urban landscapes, etc), I found that that was what I was drawn to, and that I loved it. It immediately began to seem more meaningful to me, and that sense has never left. I feel like I am creating something that has the potential to be appreciated a hundred years from now, by someone’s descendants. Especially in today’s more ephemeral world, that feels more and more like something worth doing.

Tintypes have really made a comeback in the last fifteen years or so, and there are a handful of studios spread around the country, and many more photographers who shoot portraits at events, etc. Everyone has their own approach — to the chemical side of the equation, lighting, composition, lens preferences, etc., But if I had to describe what may set me apart from other tintype photographers, I’d say it might have something to do with the fact that my approach tends to be fairly intuitive, and less studied. I try to intrude as little as I can. Essentially, someone sits down and I take their picture, as quickly and “invisibly” as I can, and without attempting to “direct” things too much. My hope it that that helps to create something natural.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of my photography has to do with what I touched on briefly in terms of me becoming more interested in portraiture shortly after I learned the wet plate process. The number of people I have met through this — in all respects, from those I photograph, to other wet plate photographers, workshop students, etc. — is incredible, and consistently inspiring. Most of the time I have no idea who is about to walk through the door, but it is almost always someone interesting. (It is to some degree a self-selecting process, as someone usually has to have a certain sensibility to even be drawn to the idea of a tintype, and hence find me.)

To then spend an hour or two or even more collaborating, talking, often meeting their kids, etc., is virtually always a great experience. I often say I have zero idea what I’d be doing if I didn’t fall into this. Honestly, it’s a bit of an exaggeration, but in some ways I’d almost say it has saved my life at times.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

For better or worse (and it’s definitely both), my life has not followed any sort of standard route. I am someone who got married, had a child, went back to grad school and forged a new business all in what I’d term middle age. To say it’s not been easy would definitely be an understatement, and of course I’d change a few things (at least) if I could go back and do it all again. But I’ve tried to follow a path that felt genuine, even if it was slightly out of step with the norm, and if I have one thing to say about it all, it’s that sometimes it just takes a while to get to know yourself, to try a variety of things and maybe figure out that many weren’t necessarily for you, to just keep going through the ups and downs. Ideally, you finally emerge on the other side a bit wiser, if a little exhausted by the journey.

So yes, I’ve pivoted, in business and in life, and it can be a somewhat scary experience. But if it feels like something might be calling you, sometimes it is.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.moderntintype.photo/
• Instagram: moderntintype.photo
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/moderntintype/
• Twitter: @ModernTintype
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/modern-tintype-los-angeles

Image Credits
Photo of me by Jacob Moss