Tintypes - Cheap shots

Tintypes offered a relatively cheap way to make one-off photographic images. They became common in New Zealand in the 1880s and 1890s, though the technology had been around since the 1860s.

The images were produced on tin plates dipped in a chemical solution to make them sensitive to light. Because tintypes were cheap in materials and easy to produce, they became popular in places such as fairground stalls – somewhat like today’s instant photo booths. Ordinary working people often feature in these images.

Tintypes were usually very small and were robust enough to be posted, which added to their popularity.