185 - Tintypes, Roller Derby, and Rewriting Photography's Power Dynamics

Host Casey Fatchett talks with alternative process photographer Britt Bradley, known professionally as Nitrate Fox, about wet plate collodion photography, the history and politics baked into a 170-year-old medium, and Bradley's self-published photo book Jamnesia, which documents the roller derby community in tintype.

In this episode:

• Why Bradley chose a non-gender-specific artist name — and how it changed their exhibition acceptance rate
• Collodion's history as "a perpetual representation of the white male gaze," and how seating, standing, and exposure time shaped who was centered in 19th-century photographs
• How collodion's UV sensitivity affects the rendering of different skin tones
• Sharing copyright and physical plates with sitters as a way of redistributing power in the photographer/subject relationship
• The physical demands of wet plate: working within feet of a darkroom, racing the clock before a plate dries, and a 120-degree, quarter-mile sprint story from shooting on Fremont Street in Las Vegas
• What "truth" in photography really means — from treaty photographs to Dorothea Lange's contact sheets to Pete Souza's approach to documenting the White House
• Museum and archive access: how members of the public can actually request to view historic photographic collections
• Studio rules: "no negative self-talk" and "we always ask for consent" — and the story of photographing derby skater Aveda after her double mastectomy
• Why Bradley shoots roller derby "from the inside out" as a skater themself, rather than as an outside documentarian
• What three years, six states, 50+ leagues, and 500+ tintypes taught Bradley about derby community, care, and identity
• Embracing collodion's unpredictable artifacts as part of the story, not a flaw to eliminate
• Advice for anyone starting out in alternative process photography

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About My Guest

Britt Bradley (Nitrate Fox) alternative process photographer and artist. Her work explores identity, empowerment, subculture, and personal narrative through hand-crafted photographic processes that bridge contemporary storytelling with 19th-century techniques. Bradley's work has been exhibited nationally and was recognized as a Photolucida Critical Mass Top 50 photographer and a LensCulture Critics' Choice selection. She is the author of Jamnesia, a monograph documenting the world of roller derby through Wet Plate Collodion.

Website: nitratefox.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/Nitrate_Fox

TikTok: https://tiktok.com/Nitrate_Fox

Book: Jamnesia: The Alternative Art of Athleticism — self-published, limited edition, available now at nitratefox.com

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About The Podcast

The Nerdy Photographer Podcast is written and produced by Casey Fatchett. Casey is a professional photographer in the New York City / Northern New Jersey with more than 20 years of experience. He just wants to help people and make them laugh. You can view Casey's wedding work at https://fatchett.com or his non-wedding work at https://caseyfatchettphotography.com

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