Sit for your portrait as an artist at the Honfleur Gallery in Historic Anacostia (1241 Good Hope Rd. SE) immortalizes your image as part of Anacostia history. There are two opportunities, on Friday, June 10 and Saturday, June 11.
Artist Elena Volkova created this participatory art project that uses a historic photographic process to create a visual archive celebrating the people who make up the Anacostia region of the District of Columbia.
In this revival of the 19th-century tintype, individuals with a connection to the community are invited to portrait sessions with photographer Elena Volkova at the Anacostia Arts Center. Each sitting produces two portraits, one for the participant and one for the Anacostia Arts Center Collection.
This event is free for participants. Anacostia residents and people who are otherwise connected to the community are invited to participate, with given priority to Anacostia residents and waiting list spots to people with roots in the region.
Register online via the Honfleur Gallery.
A tintype (or, wet plate collodion) is a photograph made by creating a direct positive on a thin sheet of metal coated with collodion and light-sensitive silver nitrate. During the sessions, each plate is hand-coated, exposed in camera, and developed instantly, with the process visible to the participants.
Tintypes enjoyed their widest use during the 1860s and 1870s, and have been revived as a fine art form in the 21st century. Two tintypes will be produced in a session: one for the sitter(s) and one to be placed in Anacostia Arts Center’s collection. The sitter will receive a digital copy of the tintype within two weeks, and may be able to pick up the plates from Anacostia Arts Center.
The Honfleur will host a final installation of the portraits produced through Volkova’s project from May 6 through June 18, 2022, with a reception on Saturday, May 14, 2022, at 4 pm. Nearly 100 original photographic plates and digital enlargements will be on display.
Anacostia Portraits is supported by a grant from Corcoran Women’s Committee and ARCH Development Corporation.
Questions should be directed to anacostiaportraits@gmail.com
Note: The process requires a powerful flash of strobes to produce an image and is not suitable for small children or animals.
