Biography
Barney Melton

Barney Melton's Tintype project showcases his mastery of traditional photography techniques. As one of the few photographers in the UK who still uses the tintype process that dates back to 1851, Melton's portraits capture the people of the UK in a timeless and classic manner. Using traditional 5x4 and 10x8 large format cameras, he creates images that are both mechanical and endlessly repeatable, yet hold a special significance in an age of image duplication saturation.

 

Melton's Air project showcases his ability to capture the beauty and significance of the elements that sustain us. By using very technical photographic practices, he captures the split-second of the force of air through water, showcasing the unbelievable shapes and colors that the human eye cannot see.

 

Those project highlights Melton's ability to create images that not only stand out, but also provide a unique and lasting memory to treasure forever.

Barney Melton is a commercial advertising photographer from London, known for his expertise in high-technical photographic processes, encompassing both film and digital formats. Born in the 1980s in London, Barney was surrounded by the photographic world from an early age, with his mother being a fashion designer and father a commercial photographer. His brother too is a  commercial photographer based in the Midlands.

 

Melton's Project AiR showcases his technical prowess, utilizing advanced photographic equipment to capture fleeting moments of air in water, moments so fleeting they are beyond the grasp of the human eye. Over the course of a year, Melton captured this series of images, inviting the viewer to ponder and imagine. The detail and quality of the images, captured on the finest quality medium format digital cameras, is truly breathtaking.

 

In the realm of photographic portraiture, Barney Melton is also proficient in the historical tintype process, a variation of the Wet Plate Collodion process invented by Frederick Scott Archer in 1851. Using a sheet of metal coated with black paint instead of a glass plate, the tintype was more durable, inexpensive, and quicker to produce compared to its predecessor, the Daguerreotype. Each tintype image is made directly onto a metal plate within a camera, with the process requiring a certain level of skill in terms of chemistry, lighting, and timing. The final product is a handcrafted, one-of-a-kind historical document, with each tintype being considered a photographic sculpture, unique in its own right. Additionally, Melton Original Positive Paper Portraits are created using a blend of traditional darkroom techniques and modern materials, yielding a direct positive image in rich black and white tones.

 

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