TINTYPE TOWN

Tintype Town was an art exhibit created for the TMU Maximum Exposure Art Exhibition. It features tintype/wet plate printed images of Toronto construction sites to highlight the material the image is printed on. All the frames are made of scrap metal from around the workshop at TMU and welded together. Small construction site workers, equipment, and sculptures are also welded to make the town seem more immersive.

The idea came from my experience growing up in coastal towns in Nova Scotia, full of colourful wooden houses and then moving to downtown Toronto. The shift from vibrant colour to cold and sad concrete took a toll on me. I knew it was a concrete jungle, but I didn’t realize just how gray everything is. When given the chance to work with wetplate tintype printing, I knew I wanted it to be related to architecture and construction. They share a colour palette and material.