Small Tintype Portraits

The tintype photography (ferrotype) was very popular in the 1860s. The small portraits on a sheet of metal (not tin !) were much easier to carry and lasted longer than the Carte-de-Visite on cardboard. Many tintypes were made outside at markets and events, where you could take the photo with you after a few minutes. All tintypes are therefore unique. Very often they were trimmed with scissors to fit in an album or to fit in a brooche. The size a tintype is different, depending on the type of camera with different numbers of lenses. They are are reversed like the visit card, but there were cameras with mirrors that could take an 'original photo'. Most tintypes are underexposed due to the development process. In this gallery all photos have not been edited and are from one album probably from the USA. The size varies by 0.6 x 1 inch.