Entry No. 106 — the Chicago file — filed under: hands-on

Jen Jansen Tintype Studio

Jen Jansen photographs sitters on a fully restored 1920s Chicago-made Deardorff 11x14 studio camera using wet-plate collodion — a 19th-century process — pouring chemistry onto tin and glass plates and developing each portrait by hand while it's still wet.

The move: Book a wet-plate portrait sitting together: you pose under the antique bellows camera while Jansen pours, exposes, and develops your image on the spot, and you leave with a one-of-a-kind tintype that can't be duplicated.

• 📍 Bucktown
• 💸 $$
• ⚡ Up for anything
• 🌗 Indoors

Where: 2012 N Western Ave, Chicago, IL 60647

Hours: Added 2026-07-19 — confirm current hours before you go.

Plan a visit & invite your people →

Further reading: chicagoreader.com · Official site

last checked: 2026-07-19