A tintype ghost. "A bad Victorianish" painted backdrop has through wear become a ghastly apparition over this bloke's shoulder!
I spent five years looking "behind the sitter" in every tintype I could find putting together my book titled "The Painted Backdrop" available in easy $5.99 ebook form, ahem, HERE. I still can't break the habit. Which is fine, as the backdrops are often far more interesting than the people. In this case, particularly so.
$5.99 ebooks by Jim Linderman available HERE.
Tintype studio backdrops try to overpower the sitters in this little photo essay of staying dry while visiting the falls. These all appear in my book The Painted Backdrop but it is too expensive now. So if you are interested, buy the ebook instead.
The Painted Backdrop (EBOOK version) is HERE
Group of Tintype Photographs, circa 1870 - 1890 Collection Jim Linderman
Pioneering photography collector Robert Jackson wrote recently to tip me off to a few interesting tintypes available on eBay, so I bought them. Mr. Jackson, who is largely responsible for the vintage vernacular photography field had his staggering snapshot photo collection documented by no less than the National Gallery of Art and Princeton University Press five years ago now with THE ART OF THE AMERICAN SNAPSHOT 1888 - 1978. The lovely book is still available and still essential. When Robert told me "you can't go wrong" with the price on these photos, I thought the same about his book. You can't go wrong. It is 300 solid pages of extraordinary images and smart essays, worth every penny and more. As for the tintypes, they look mundane enough until you look behind the sitters. My interest in tintype photography lies in the plight of traveling folk art portrait painters when they were replaced by the invention of the camera. I attempt to prove they simply went on to paint backdrops instead in THE PAINTED BACKDROP: Behind the Sitter in American Tintype Photography. As far as I know, still the only examination into what was in virtually every one of the millions of tintypes taken in a studio...a painting! It is now available as an ebook for only $5.99, which is good, as the photographs look even better on your ipad.
Group of three tintype photographs with painted backdrops circa 1880 Collection Jim Linderman
Available NOW! The Painted Backdrop: Behind the Sitter in American Tintype Photography The previously untold story of 19th century painters and their influence on American photography during the tintype era. Never before examined in detail, the book contains over 75 rare, unpublished original tintype photographs from the Jim Linderman collection. A Grammy nominated writer and collector who has been called "the perfect subject for a Harvey Pekar comic" this book is informed with Linderman's wit and continues his examination of previously overlooked art and photography subjects. 80 Pages, 8' x 10" with essays by Jim Linderman and Kate Bloomquist. Linderman's most recent photography book was Camera Club Girls which tells the story of the amateur photographers who met to take nude photographs during the 1950s, discovered model Bettie Page, and started a revolution in erotic art...all through the work of one never before published artist. Behind the Sitter i...
By Jim Linderman DUL...
DULL TOOL DIM BULB Centerpiece of the Jim Linderman blog network. A blog about surface, wear, form and authenticity in art, antiques, design and photography. Dull Tool and Dim Bulb were the only swear words his father ever used. Items from the Jim Linderman collection of vernacular photography, folk art, ephemera and curiosities. Weird, wonderful, wicked, smart, essential and DAILY. http://dulltooldimbulb.blogspot.com/TAKE ME TO THE WATER: IMMERSION BAPTISM IN VINTAGE MUSIC AND PHOTOGRAPHY 1890-1950 Photographs from the Jim Linderman collection with a CD of historic early recordings. Produced by Steven Lance Ledbetter. Essays by Jim Linderman, Luc Sante. Published 2009 by Dust to Digital. Reviews, Film, Press Releases, etc. A published hardcover book 96 pages with CD 2009. Site contains film, reviews, press-kit, links. Available from Amazon and direct from the publisher. http://jimlinderman.blogspot.com/ THE PAINTED BACKDROP
The art of the hand-painted backdrop in 19th Century American Tintype Photography, this book will open a new dialog on the relationship between painting, art and photography. With stunning illustrations from the Jim Linderman collection and essays by prominent writers. To be published in a limited edition with a target date of early 2010, this will be the first book available with the "Dull Tool Dim Bulb" imprint, a new small press endeavor striving to produce unique, beautiful and profound books for the artistic audience in conjunction with Dust-to-Digital. http://thepaintedbackdrop.blogspot.com/ old time religion Vernacular religious detritus from the Jim Linderman collection of photography and ephemera. Jesus is my jet plane and I have the Lord on speed dial. Old Time Religion is a natural line extension from Dull Tool Dim Bulb, where posts of this nature occur every Saturday night while the rest of you are sinning. Wake up, it is Sunday morning! Praise the Lord and Click to Enlarge! http://old-time-religion.blogspot.com/
THE WONDROUS WORLD OF FRANK WENDT
Behold the wondrous world of Frank Wendt. Late of the Bowery, New York City and Boonton, New Jersey. HEREIN LIE MARVELS of HUMAN and ANIMAL WONDERMENT! Astounding feats of photographic portraiture created by the illustrious Frank Wendt from 1890 to 1900 entirely for your pleasure and amusement. Your eyes do not lie. You will most certainly tell your friends and family. You will return again and again! Presented by Jim Linderman. Step up, Scroll down and Click to Enlarge!
Last bathing opportunity of the season here (and the last swimming suit post of the year) The water temperature is around 65 degrees but that won't last long. The fences are going up on the beach to prevent drifting snand (a mixture of snow and sand). The Pronto Pup is closed and one may legally ride a bicycle through the 4 block long "downtown" again, though I don't think anyone was ever ticketed. The image is a tintype which will appear in the forthcoming book "The Painted Backdrop" in 2010. To see my other swimsuit posts, click blue subject heading below.
Untitled Tintype Photograph, c. 1890 Collection Jim Linderman
Announcing "The Painted Backdrop" a major new photography book examining the previously undocumented beauty of hand-painted studio backgrounds in 19th century tintype photographs.
Common wisdom holds the lowly painter was out of work when realistic images created by the camera came along in the 19th century. Maybe not! On the contrary, this beautiful book shows that some artists thrived during the period by creating extraordinary drapes, screens and sets for photographer's studios, both primitive and elaborate. With sublime illustrations from the collection of Jim Linderman, noted photography collector whose images were last used in "Take Me to the Water: Immersion Baptism in Vintage Music and Photography 1890-1950" and essays by prominent scholars, this groundbreaking book will be of considerable interest to any art, photography and history reader, library or book collector. It will open a new dialog on the relationship between painting, art and photography.
To be published in a limited edition with a target date of early 2010, this will be the first book available with the "Dull Tool Dim Bulb" imprint, a new small press endeavor striving to produce unique, beautiful and profound books for the artistic audience in conjunction with Dust-to-Digital.
STAY TUNED to DULL TOOL DIM BULB for further announcements.Seven Tintype Photographs, Circa 1880 Collection Jim Linderman
