Tintype Portraits at the Jazz Age Lawn Party in New York City

Once a year for the past 12 years, people descend upon Governor’s Island in New York City to experience the sights and sounds of the 1920s through the Jazz Age Lawn Party. And for the past 4 years, the Penumbra Tintype Studio has been on hand shooting tintype portraits of the attendees.

“Jazz Age Lawn Party […] is the world’s original and largest prohibition era inspired gathering,” the party’s website reads. “This historically sold out event attracts thousands of time travelers each year, who come together to discover the music and zeitgeist of the 1920s.”

“Consistently selected by the New York Times as one of the year’s most memorable events, Jazz Age Lawn Party offers a unique, interactive opportunity to relive one of the most colorful and formative epochs in American history.”

Penumbra Foundation, a non-profit that promotes the art and science of photography, was offering 4×5″ and 5×7″ tintype portraits on the lawn. They used a 4×5 Graflex Super Speed Graflex with two different lenses (Voigtlander 9″ f3.8 Petzval from the 1860s and a 6″ f3.8 Petzval lens from the 1890s).

“We also shot with a Ansco Agfa 5×7 studio portrait camera,” says photographer Jolene Lupo of Penumbra. “It also has a 4×5 reduction back so both 4×5 and 5×7 could be shot. Lenses were a Zeiss Tessar 250mm f/3.5 and a Dallmeyer 3D 12″ f/6.”

Here is a selection of the favorite portraits created by Penumbra at the party:

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Image credits: Header photos by Geoffrey Berliner and Larson Harley, and courtesy Penumbra Foundation