Cowboy tintype or when the modern day cowboys meet the 19th century photographer

This tintype picture is a group portrait of 5 cowboys, the real kind of cowboys. The men are lined up against a wall wearing the classic cowboy attire and they have quite the serious look on their faces. The way that these men are photographed really represents the image of what cowboys are. Hard working men with no frills, dressed in clothes that are durable and practical in the same style that cowboys have been wearing for hundreds of years, standing straight and solid and looking right ahead.

The picture was most likely taken on an overcast day. There is barely any shadow on the wall behind the cowboys or on their faces from the hats. I think that a flash was probably used or some kind of light that was aimed directly at the subjects, but most likely a flash. In this image we can see a range of tones but the contrast is pretty low. The dark areas, like the horse, are almost black but the shirts that are probably white in real life appear to be a creamy gray on the picture. There is very little details in the image, especially in the darker areas and that is most likely due to the technology used to make the image.

To me this image is really interesting. There is more than a portrait of 5 cowboys with a horse in the image. The fact that the technology used to make the image is almost as old as the cowboy occupation itself gives this picture a bigger, more meaningful impact. If it wasn't for the sunglasses that one men is wearing there would be very little clues that this picture was taken in the 21st century. By using the tintype technique , the photographers emphasize on the historical side of the cowboy occupation and how little things have changed since the 19th century.