He spent S$150K to arrange S’pore’s solely tintype picture studio

Meet the one individual doing skilled wet-plate tintype pictures in Singapore

For Ryan Lee, a few of his fondest childhood recollections had been made at household picture studios—selecting backdrops, adjusting poses, and ready for prints to develop. However by the point he was about to get married, these old-school movie studios had all however vanished in Singapore.

Feeling disheartened, Ryan promised himself that he would deliver that custom again. That promise took root when he stumbled upon a video of a photographer in San Francisco practising wet-plate tintype pictures: an antiquated Nineteenth-century course of that captures hauntingly stunning portraits on metallic plates.

Impressed, Ryan left his job as a artistic director and poured about S$150,000 of his financial savings into opening Hip Xiong Picture Studio at Geylang in Nov 2019. “I’ve been serving to others construct their model for many years, and determined that it was time to construct my very own model.” 

Sadly, the COVID-19 pandemic hit simply months after opening his studio, leaving Ryan to dwell off his financial savings till Might 2020. Nonetheless, he refused to surrender and spent three months researching the medium additional, experimenting with chemical substances, mild, and timing till he perfected the method on his personal.

When the world slowly reopened, Ryan’s studio drew curious guests wanting to expertise the identical old-world allure that impressed him within the first place.

I solely had one shot, right here’s how Ryan made it work

We reached out to Ryan to learn the way he learnt the ropes and the method behind wet-plate pictures, however he initially remained coy about it. “I favor not to enter an excessive amount of element, I feel it’s higher for individuals to expertise it themselves!” 

And that’s exactly what I did: I booked a photoshoot for myself to see what it’s all about. 

After I visited on a random Thursday morning, he warmly greeted me and led me upstairs to the second ground, the place his studio and darkroom had been positioned. He gave me a fast rundown on how the photoshoot can be performed, and I sat down within the chair the place he helped me with my posing and positioning.

I opted for the 4×5-inch tintype and paid S$300 for one plate, which meant I had just one likelihood to get the proper shot. I don’t take into account myself probably the most photogenic individual, so I felt nervous and self-conscious strolling into the studio. Regardless of that, Ryan took his time and patiently guided me, even chatting as he fine-tuned the lighting and focus, which helped me loosen up because the 45-minute session went on.

Then got here the chemistry. In his darkroom full of bottles, trays, and frames, Ryan ready every body by pouring a collodion answer diluted with ether and alcohol onto a black aluminium plate. 

The plate was then positioned right into a canister of silver nitrate, the place the silver particles certain with bromides and iodides from the collodion to type a movie of silver halides—a compound additionally present in black-and-white pictures.

“Basically, we’re making our personal movie,” mentioned Ryan. 

The movie is seen as a cheesy, white colored emulsion that’s delicate to mild and is loaded into the digital camera. After a three-second countdown and a flash of blinding mild, we had our shot.

Within the darkroom, Ryan poured a small quantity of developer over the plate, turning the silver halides into metallic silver to create a adverse picture. As soon as the adverse fashioned, he rinsed away the developer and poured on the fixer, dissolving the white emulsion to disclose the unique black plate and my portrait.

Whereas I might need moved barely from my unique place, I used to be happy with the way it turned out. It wasn’t probably the most polished image I’ve ever had, however its imperfections and the hassle behind it made the S$300 properly price it.

Studying a misplaced craft and passing it down

Not everyone seems to be satisfied that paying a whole bunch for one or two frames is justified. Ryan countered this by saying that his pricing displays each the fee and the worth of the expertise.

“It’s a steal!” Ryan exclaimed. “It’s a really distinctive type of pictures in comparison with a typical skilled shoot that may price hundreds; my tintype classes are extra about providing a significant, one-of-a-kind expertise for many who favor a single, lasting image fairly than a whole bunch of photographs.”

He defined that the supplies and month-to-month rental account for roughly 40% to 50% of his prices, and that he costs for the time, care, and alternative prices behind every shoot. Nevertheless, attaining the outcomes he needed took constant rounds of trial and error—a behavior he has maintained for the final 5 years since he began. 

Like a science experiment, each shot is determined by a number of variables, from chemical focus and humidity to temperature and even what color clothes the topic wears. “I can let you know what kind of lights and lenses I take advantage of, however you received’t get the identical end result,” added Ryan. “I’m at all times making small enhancements; the look of my earlier plates may be very totally different from those I do now.”

Because the craft was uncommon when he first began, Ryan usually requested questions on-line, however obtained no replies. So he taught himself and have become extra self-reliant.”I learnt extra via making my very own errors. If individuals spoonfed me the solutions, I might not have gotten thus far right this moment.”

To the 44-year-old, time works in another way when he’s within the darkroom. Whereas the method seems to be and sounds tedious to many, Ryan finds it gratifying to the purpose the place he might spend hours discovering the proper mixture of chemical substances and timing there with out realising.

“I had a finish purpose in thoughts and had a imaginative and prescient how I would like my work to be, it was very satisfying that each little change that I make within the course of brings me a step nearer to what I needed to realize.”

As the one individual doing wet-plate tintype pictures in Singapore, Ryan now makes use of his studio as a platform to reintroduce locals and vacationers to the craft. He conducts workshops the place members could make their very own tintype portraits, having refined the method to make it accessible to anybody curious sufficient to attempt.

A type of workshops even led to a particular alternative. A participant from American magnificence model Kiehl’s attended a session and famous that wet-plate pictures started in 1851: the identical 12 months the model was based. 

That coincidence led Kiehl’s to host its anniversary celebration on the bottom ground of Hip Xiong Picture Studio in 2021.

Beginning once more after a mini hiatus in 2024

All appeared to go properly for the enterprise, which was why I used to be shocked to be taught that Hip Xiong Picture Studio stopped working in 2024, 4 years after its inception. Ryan revealed that he determined to not renew the lease of his studio in November 2023, as he spent 80% of his time within the darkroom on the second ground, leaving the bottom ground underutilised.

He had additionally been on the lookout for a smaller, cheaper location that higher suited his wants. “I had this impression that regardless of the place I’m, if individuals really need my service, they’ll come to me,” he mentioned. “So the placement didn’t actually matter.” The pet store subsequent door additionally needed to develop and provided to take over the area. So, Ryan let it go.

However he didn’t cease practising. He started doing home calls, providing moist plate pictures providers on to purchasers’ houses. It allowed him to achieve individuals who couldn’t go to his studio, nevertheless it was exhausting work—the setup and transport of chemical substances and gear had been back-breaking, and he needed to cost larger costs to make every journey worthwhile.

As rental costs climbed, Ryan contemplated giving up wet-plate pictures altogether. However then his former property agent known as, providing him the possibility to reclaim his outdated area on the finish of 2024. He agreed with out hesitation.

Nevertheless, restarting from scratch proved difficult. Many post-pandemic prospects had been unfamiliar with wet-plate pictures, and provide chain disruptions added one other layer of frustration past his management.

Regardless of these hurdles, Ryan’s focus has by no means been on revenue. Preserving wet-plate tintype pictures and sharing it with like-minded individuals has at all times been his precedence. 

“I felt that if I needed one thing so badly, possibly somebody with the identical mindset would need the identical factor.” 

• Study extra about Hip Xiong Picture Studio right here.
• Learn extra tales we’ve written on Singaporean companies right here.

Featured Picture Credit score: Hip Xiong Picture Studio