Kris Askey | Photographer

Every year, the first Saturday in May is reserved for World Wet Plate Day. What better reason to recap on the last 3 years I’ve been doing this amazing (yet laborious) photographic process. I’m still unsure if this is my midlife crisis? After travelling all the way to Madrid airport, handing over money for a camera inside the airport like a mega dodgy deal, and then flying immediately back home, all I can say is the last few years have been worth it. And dare I say it, I think I’m getting decent at creating these things called ‘tintypes’. Way back in 1851, almost 175 years ago, Frederick Scott Archer gave the world this process and pretty much democratised photography for everyone. Tintypes are ‘one of a kind’ images that are created on a metal plate, using a process that requires not only specific techniques, but a chemically intensive & time-sensitive sequence to guarantee a final image. Once varnished, the image can last more than 200 years, acting as a perfect heirloom for families, and a wonderful way to have a record of your true self. It’s a great ‘side part’ of my photography business as each week I work seamlessly from digital to analogue, all the way to this victorian realm of photography. After many failings, crap plates and lessons learned, I feel like I have enough experience and understanding of the chemistry to create a tintype from -almost- any situation. I currently do not have a dedicated studio space that we can walk into (yet), so I’m always travelling to different places and working in different spaces. However, I have become somewhat of an expert in working from the boot of my car, setting up my dark box on people’s drives or even making tiny little studio spaces in living rooms or workspaces. If you are interested in having a tintype done, you can drop me a message or email to find out more details. Thanks for reading & looking 🖤 For more info go to 👉 krisaskey.com/tintypes #photographer #tintype #wetplatecollodion #analogue

It’s a massive honour to announce that my portrait of Jessie, taken on the oncology ward at Birmingham Children’s Hospital (@bham_childrens ) has been selected as one of the 200 images to appear in Portrait of Britain (Volume 8). After a 10 year relationship with the children’s hospital and seeing all of the amazing things they do, this one really hits another level. Massive thanks to Aisling (@92tingaling ) who is usually my stomping buddy & fixer around the children’s & women’s hospitals, and also to Jessie’s fantastic mom Danielle who gave her full blessing for this portrait of her little girl to be submitted. I can’t wait to show Jessie and her family her portrait standing strong inside this years Portrait of Britain. I have everything crossed that we can get her on the big screens. I have put some words I wrote below which accompanied the submission.

This is Jessie, a sweet & confident little girl I photographed on Ward 18 - the oncology ward at Birmingham Children’s Hospital. On the 6th of April 2024, 3-year-old Jessie was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL), a rare type of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow. Jessie has already started the gruelling journey of chemotherapy which will last for 2.5 years to prevent relapse at a later stage. The next few years of Jessie’s life will be completely turned upside down with fundamental changes & missed opportunities such as nursery, first days at school, family holidays and many other milestones that children her age experience during this time. Jessie’s journey is a long one, but she has a strong family unit around her, supporting and cheering her on every step of the way. As a father to a little girl myself, I find these kinds of photographs hard to take and think about, but stories like Jessie’s are incredibly important to share.  Massive thank you to the judges this year: 
@rene.matic 
@sophie.parker 
@dennismorris 
@misserees 
@alicezoo 
@hohumha 
@tomboothwoodger 
@viviennegamble And also big thanks to @bjp1854 , @bluecoatpress and @WePresent for supporting this fantastic photography project. #photography #portrait #hospital #birmingham #portraitofbritain

A quick glance at a few recent 2025 weddings and some beautiful days from over the years ❤️✨. I always enjoy the incredible range of moments you can capture on a wedding day, the little glances, wild laughter, tender portraits and everything else in between. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the many more I’ve got coming up! 📷 Fun Fact: The last photo was captured whilst I was accidentally falling backwards into a fire pit on Kesh & Joe’s awesome day (there’s a video somewhere). p.s. I was fine - I’m just glad it wasn’t a river!). 🤣 I’m now booking 2026 & 2027 weddings! Drop me a message or head to krisaskey.com to find out more. #wedding #weddingphotographer #weddingphotography #photographer #naturalweddingphotography #candidweddingphotography #westmidlands #UK

On the 30th & 31st May I’ll be making tintypes at @sareholefestival ! The famous area that inspired J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Shire’. I’ll most likely be offering 4x5, 5x7 and 8x10 plates for anyone interested (tintype prices TBC nearer the time). If you are interested and want more info just drop me a message. This will be the first event where I’ll have an actual stand for making tintypes so I’m pretty excited! Tickets to the event are £8, there will be loads of stuff to do and you can find out more via sareholefestival.org + @sareholefestival . Massive thanks to the Sarhole organisers for asking me to be involved 🖤 #tintype #sarhole #wetplatecollodion #wetplatedarlings

For the past few months I’ve been quietly documenting Walsall Leather Museum using the Wet Plate Collodion process (‘Tintypes’), a photography process from 1851 onwards through the Victorian era, that creates one-of-a-kind images onto metal plates. The Leather Museum, opened in 1988 by Princess Anne (1 year after I was born 4 minutes away down the road), is an authentic Victorian factory building circa 1888–1891, that has been flying the flag about Walsall’s rise, from a small market town into a global saddle-making centre. Queen Elizabeth II reportedly felt “never fully dressed” without a Walsall-made leather handbag 👜. This has been an incredibly wonderful & challenging project to say the least. Tintypes need a lot of light (ISO 1 for the technical people) yet we have been smack bang in the middle of winter. For about 4 months this has really forced me to hone-in on this craft and learn, fail, learn, fail, learn, fail some more and then only start to get a few decent plates. I had an original and overly ambitious plan to make ‘50’ good plates of the place before it closes its doors. It has been very fulfilling to me that seconds & even minutes of this museum has been preserved & sealed into these plates. I hope I have done the place & people justice. Massive thanks to Fran & others at the Leather Museum who have been incredibly welcoming, helped me with equipment, let me have the only parking space at the back of the museum, & provided continuous amounts of coffee and good chat. I’ve honestly had a magnificent time. Special thanks to Lauren @lauren_broxton & Michelle @ellafromgeorgetown from Walsall Leather Heritage @walsall_leather_heritage , who have collaborated with me, realised how this project can evolve & how it can potentially move forward. Also thanks to Nikki @nkh_photography88 who has given up her time to come and be a helping hand on a few of my last visits. Lastly, huge thanks to my wife @lauraflemofficial who puts up with me doing this mad process with all its equipment & chaos. Here’s a few plates & little bits from the past few months. More to come. Thanks for reading 🖤 @leather_museum #wetplatecollodion #tintypes #walsall #leather

Amazing day again with the great @krisaskey preserving the fab building that is @leather_museum . Some amazing pictures created today 🫶 thanks again Kris

A few more images from my Hidden Daughter project. Still slowly clicking away. Damn the winter months are tough for photography motivation. But still exploring the relationship that our little girl has with this world/people around her, without putting the emphasis on her actual face or identity. Thanks for looking 🖤 #blackandwhitephotography #photography #family #daughter

Dawn & Barry. A really wonderful commission late last year making tintypes of this sweet pair. I photographed their daughter Lucy’s wedding at the end of May, and she wanted to give her parents a different kind of Christmas gift last year - a couples tintype session. I turned up to their house, set up a tiny studio in their living room and worked out of the boot of my car for half of the day with my ‘newly upgraded’ dark box. I really love the plates from this session and was chuffed I got to keep one of them for my physical archive of plates. 🖤 #tintypephotography #tintype #wetplatecollodion #wetplatedarlings #photography

Looking back at an incredible day for Meg & David’s wedding! Shot in the Wilderness in Kent, this day was a special one. Loads of joy, happy tears, impeccable bohemian vibes and too many photos to narrow down to a single post on the internet. I even stayed over in a tent and shared the evening with some great company. ❤️📷 #weddingphotographer #bohemianwedding

NSPCC ‘Reality’. Commercial photography for NSPCC I shot a few months ago whilst on set. Probably one of my favourite gigs from last year that focusses on an incredibly important subject matter. You can find a bunch of my photography all over the NSPCC website. I’ve included some of the many behind the scenes images I took because obviously I can’t help but click the camera when I’m around fantastic people making work. Massive thanks to Tom for recommending me for this one, and thanks to all the crew for welcoming a stills guy on the set. 🖤📷 Client: NSPCC @nspcc_official Production Comp: DTV / BlueBell Films Director: Bhulla Beghal @bhullabeghal Creative: Sara Sha’ath Producer: Holly Marling Assistant Producer: Daisy Young DoP: Tom Martin @tommartin_dop 1st AC: Ben Sansom @ben_sansom Sound: Peter Styles @_petestyles_ Art: Stephanie Webb @stephssets MUA: Amrita Mudan Stylist: Delilah Bannister Photographer: Kris Askey 🙋‍♂️ #nspcc #commercialphotographer #photography #behindthescenesphotographer

Few favourites from 2025 🖤📷 1. Jumper, Brighton Beach 2. Abergwesyn, Wales 3. Production at The REP, Birmingham 4. Summer in the garden, Worcestershire 5. Hands, Wales 6. House light, Worcestershire 7. Collapsed Barn, Shropshire 8. Colliery, Rhymney Valley, Wales. 9. Self Portrait Shadow, Worcestershire 10. BHS, Stratford 11. Under New Management, Wales. 12. Summer Shadow, Worcestershire 13. Ratcliffe-On-Soar 14. Summer, Walsall Arboretum 15. Paper Birds, Derbyshire Dales 16. Barmouth Beach 17. Pistyll Rhaeadr, Wales 18. Abandoned, Wales 19. Bog, Wales 20. Wilting flowers, Wales #photographer #blackandwhite

I’m signing out of work for Christmas and New Year 📷✨. It’s impossible to mention everyone, but I want to say a massive thank you to every single person, couple, brand or company that has taken an interest in my photography work in 2025. From the people who say nice words & keep my motivation going, to those that have booked or commissioned me, recommended me, or brought me into their teams, workspaces and projects. I am honestly so grateful. I am now entering my 10th full year of freelance photography and I can’t say I’m exactly sure how I’ve done it. I’m not interested in being viral on social media, following trends or building a photography empire, but I am fully passionate about making authentic (not Ai) photographs that people find valuable or interesting. All whilst finding that balance between private family life and earning enough to put food on the table. This is the same mindset I will continue to carry into 2026 and give it everything I’ve got once again. 

Thanks for looking, reading & keeping in touch. Look after yourselves & have a great Christmas & New Year. x #photographer #commercialphotography #tintypephotographer