TexasTripper Travel Blog

Tintype Exhibit Opening at Houston Museum of Natural History

The Houston Museum of Natural History (of the country's most visited museums) will be opening the Robb Kendrick’s Texas Tintypes exhibit on Feb. 16. This exhibit is a unique look at the cowboys of today's ranches portrayed using a 19th century photographic technique: tintypes.

Revealing Character: Robb Kendrick’s Texas Tintypes features 66 tintypes of cowboys taken all over the Lone Star State as well as 12 enlarged prints of tintype images. Four cowgirls, primarily from West Texas, are also highlighted in this exhibit, which was initially commissioned by Frost as a campaign in Texas Monthly. The images struck such a chord that Frost felt it was important to share these tintypes with Texans across the state, and tapped Margaret Blagg, executive director of the Old Jail Art Center in Albany, Texas, to curate the exhibit.

What's a Tintype? Tintypes are created through a labor-intensive process that involves coating a thin metal plate with emulsion, sensitizing it in a silver nitrate, and exposing it in the camera before the emulsion dries. A lavender varnish is flowed onto the tintypes after the photo is taken to preserve the image. Making even a few tintypes requires hours of work.

About the Photographer: Robb Kendrick, a native Texan whose work has been featured in such publications as National Geographic, Audubon, and Smithsonian, notes that he is one of very few photographers in the United States that use the tintype process. “Tintypes are a challenging medium because they require the subject to stay still for a number of seconds as the image burns onto the plate, but the process provides so much reward in terms of truly capturing someone’s soul,” said Kendrick. “It’s a perfect medium for exploring a subject matter like character, and there is no better place to find that character than in today’s Texas cowboys. I’ve been privileged to meet so many of these men and women through my travels, and to spend the time with them that this photographic process demands. I hope that Texans will see a little of themselves and their ancestors in this exhibit as it travels across the state. It’s an honor to share these stories and photographs.”

Dates: The exhibit will be on display at the Houston Museum of Natural Science from February 16 – May 4, 2008.

Price: Tickets for the exhibition are included in general admission to the Museum; $9 for adults; $7 for children (3 – 11), seniors (62+), and college students with a valid ID; free for Museum members; $2.50 school groups; and $4.50 for groups of 20 or more.

For more information:
• visit www.hmns.org
• call (713) 639-4629

Photo by Robb Kendrick; courtesy Houston Museum of Natural Science

Labels: Houston

posted by Paris & John @ 12:01 PM