Entry No. 15 — the Santa Fe file — filed under: photography
Bostick & Sullivan
A working 19th-century photography supply house where the ancient wet-plate collodion process is still practiced: silver nitrate, ether, and glass or aluminum plates instead of a memory card. Multi-day tintype and platinum/palladium workshops run through 2026 (e.g. a wet-plate tintype portrait workshop April 23-25, 2026) with instructors Dana Sullivan and Rob Gibson, using 4x5, 5x7, and 8x10 view cameras.
The story
In an unassuming industrial park on the south side of Santa Fe, Bostick & Sullivan operates as a nerve center for alternative photography. While galleries downtown sell sleek modern prints, this working supply house keeps 19th-century darkroom alchemy strictly alive—blending raw palladium, silver nitrate, and ether for photographers who prefer volatile chemistry over digital sensors.
The core of the operation revolves around keeping forgotten photographic rites functional through multi-day workshops. Led by instructors like Dana Sullivan and Rob Gibson, these sessions dive deep into wet-plate collodion, platinum/palladium printing, and cyanotype. You don't just watch a demonstration; you load, focus, and expose massive 4x5, 5x7, and 8x10 view cameras, coating glass or aluminum plates by hand and developing them before the liquid emulsion dries.
What it's like
Pulling up to 1541 Center Drive feels entirely un-touristy—it is a functional industrial warehouse, not a museum. Inside, the air carries the faint, distinct smell of darkroom solvents, surrounded by shelves stocked with raw chemical jars, bromoil brushes, cyanotype kits, and heavy optical gear. If you sign up for a workshop, prepare for a methodical, hands-on rhythm: working under safe-lights, setting studio strobes for live models, and walking away with silver-stained fingers and genuine one-of-a-kind metallic prints.
The move: Sign up for a 3-day wet-plate tintype workshop together — you'll each walk out with a one-of-a-kind silvery portrait of the other, made the way daguerreotypists did it in the 1850s, plus you get to play with professional models and studio strobes as part of the course.
- 📍 Santa Fe (Siler Rd / south side)
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 1541 Center Dr, Santa Fe, NM 87507
Hours: Added 2026-07-20 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- Make Santa Fe — Continue the hands-on industrial craft route just down the road at this community makerspace dedicated to metalwork, welding, and fabrication.
- Meow Wolf: House of Eternal Return — Contrast 1850s darkroom chemistry with high-tech immersive art installed inside a converted bowling alley less than two miles away.
- Illuminated Perfume / School of the Lost Arts — Trade silver nitrate and view cameras for rare botanical extractions at another midtown studio preserving lost sensory arts.
Good to know
What photographic processes does Bostick & Sullivan cover?
They specialize in historical and alternative photographic techniques, specifically wet-plate collodion (tintypes), platinum and palladium printing, cyanotype, and bromoil.
What do you do during a wet-plate tintype workshop?
Over three days, you learn to pour liquid collodion onto metal plates, sensitize them in a silver nitrate bath, shoot with 4x5 to 8x10 view cameras under studio lights, and chemically develop one-of-a-kind portraits.
Do I need to bring my own view camera?
No, the workshop provides access to 4x5, 5x7, and 8x10 view cameras along with all darkroom chemicals, plates, and studio lighting equipment.
Can you buy raw chemistry and DIY printing kits on site?
Yes, Bostick & Sullivan is a full supply facility offering ready-made cyanotype kits, specialty paper, and raw chemical compounds for home alternative-process printing.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site
last checked: 2026-07-20