All images © by Paul Nitsche 1991-2024.
Crossing Swords
My second tintype, Crossing Swords, was included in the special issue of Black and White photography magazine as part of their 2023 Single Image Contest Winners. Currently available where magazines are sold, it is Issue 165, April 2024, and I’m on page 208. My many thanks for all at Black and White for including me, and I especially like that they used my image to begin their Mindscape/Surrealism section.
Crossing swords, my second tintype, was sculpted over the summer and fall of 2021, and finally photographed a year later on July 31, 2022. During the time of its creation, I was thinking about union, division, and civil war. The skeletons were fabricated out of Epoxy Sculpt, resin, and acrylic paint. The miniature sword props were made from steel, aluminum, wood, and acrylic paint. The Hoplite sword was chosen for its graceful leaf shaped blade and Greek origins. Greece, being the cradle of democracy.
The sculpture was photographed with my 8x10 Korona View camera and Darlot barrel lens, Paris, FR, circa 1860. Invaluable assistance was again provided by photographer Eric Baillies, who opened his studio, darkroom, and collodion skills to me.
Crossing Swords
2022. 8x10.
Tintype of an original sculpture. Photographed with an 1860s Darlot lens.