Vintage-Inspired Portraits of Surfers

At first glance, photographer Joni Sternbach’s “SurfLand” series appears to be a collection of surfer images from the past, but the photos are actually part of a project she started in 2006. The only thing that is old about the photos is the process.

Sternbach uses the wet collodion process, which was developed in 1850s, for photographing surfers in tintype – a photograph made by creating a direct positive on a sheet of blackened metal.

The collodion solution is poured onto the metal surface and is then sensitized in silver nitrate. Once those steps are completed, the plate is placed in the camera back and is ready to shoot.

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The process, according to Sternbach, is “much better known for civil war photography and geological surveys of the western landscape, than pictures of surfers!”

“All of the process work is done in the field on location,” Sternbach told Weather.com. “You cannot take a picture and go home to develop it. The entire process must be done within a matter of minutes and while the plate remains wet.”

Since Sternbach develops photos in the field, the weather on location greatly affects her work.

“The major factor is temperature,” she said. “The chemical collodion is very weather sensitive. If it’s too hot, there is a chemical reaction on the plate called veiling and sometimes heat can fog the image. If it’s too cold, the chemicals don’t flow well and it’s hard to work outdoors when you’re freezing.”

The wind also affects her process because she uses a portable darkbox that sits on a table while she’s out on a shoot.

“If there are strong gusts, like 15 to 20 knots, I have to be concerned about the wind lifting up my darkbox and sending it sailing…The wind can also dry out the plate,” she explained.

See Sternbach’s collection of surfer photos, shot in Montauk, Rhode Island, California and Australia for her “SurfLand” series.

Click through this article to see more of Sternbach's incredible retro shots of modern surfers. To see more of Sternbach’s work, visit her website.

Vintage-Inspired Portraits of Surfers

Photographed in 2011, a woman stands proudly clutching her surfboard at The Pass in Australia.

Vintage-Inspired Portraits of Surfers

Two boys stand next to their surfboards in Australia in 2011.

Vintage-Inspired Portraits of Surfers

A couple enjoys the summer of 2013 at Emma Wood State Beach in California.

Vintage-Inspired Portraits of Surfers

Sternbach captured this intimate photo of a couple in Montauk, N.Y in 2012.

Vintage-Inspired Portraits of Surfers

A woman in Rincon, Calif. stands next to her rough-hewn wooden surf board in 2009.

Vintage-Inspired Portraits of Surfers

A woman shields her eyes from the sun as she stands submerged in the water of The Pass in Australia in 2011.

Vintage-Inspired Portraits of Surfers

A girls sits on a tree stump at a Montauk, N.Y. beach in the summer of 2011.

Vintage-Inspired Portraits of Surfers

Photographed in 2011, a man enjoys a day on the beach at The Pass in Australia.

Vintage-Inspired Portraits of Surfers

A man and woman horse around on the beach in Jalama, Calif. in 2011.

Vintage-Inspired Portraits of Surfers

Captured in 2010, a man stands looking pensively at the photographer in Oceanside, Calif.

Vintage-Inspired Portraits of Surfers

A brooding man looks ready to jump into the waves in Broken Head, Australia in 2011.

Vintage-Inspired Portraits of Surfers

Photographed in 20130, a girl ushers her dog along the beach in Refugio, Calif.

Vintage-Inspired Portraits of Surfers

A surfer in a wetsuit clutches an intricately-designed board in Rincon, Calif. in 2009.

Vintage-Inspired Portraits of Surfers

A man in San Onofre, Calif. heads toward the water in 2010.

Vintage-Inspired Portraits of Surfers

Photographed in 2010, two men in wetsuits get serious on the beach in Refugio, Calif.

Vintage-Inspired Portraits of Surfers

A relaxed woman leans against a branch at The Pass in Australia in 2011.

Vintage-Inspired Portraits of Surfers

Photographed in 2009, three men huddle around a checkerboard surfboard in Ditch Plains, N.Y.

Vintage-Inspired Portraits of Surfers

A man stands on the beach in Ditch Plains, N.Y. in the summer of 2007.

Vintage-Inspired Portraits of Surfers

A couple holds up a long -- and patriotic -- surfboard on the beach in Ditch Plains, N.Y. in the summer of 2007.

Vintage-Inspired Portraits of Surfers

A woman on the beach in Ditch Plains, N.Y. wears her wetsuit rolled down in the summer of 2007.

Vintage-Inspired Portraits of Surfers

Sternback captured a retro panorama shot at Turtle Cove, N.Y. in the summer of 2006.

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