How Phoenix photography studio Silver and Cedar uses old ways to make new photos

The art of photography didn’t start with cellphones or other digital means. That may be obvious for some, but to others who grew up in the digital age, an analog camera is as useless as a rotary phone.

That being the case, the concept of nostalgia has lost some of its spirit. Even though Gen Z only recently discovered the nuance of using 20-year-old megapixel cameras for their social media posts, it’s a trend that probably won’t last; eventually, they'll find another piece of vintage hardware to covet from their parents' garage.

But there is a place in Phoenix where film photography will never go out of style. It’s called Silver and Cedar, and owner Matthew Stella isn’t trying to start a trend, he is preserving an artistic tradition.

His types of pictures resemble those of the Old West, not unlike the mock-ups you find at an amusement park where you put on old-timey costumes and pose in front of a camera. However, while those studios might use digital photography and tinting tricks, Stella does the real thing with a 19th-century technique called tintype.

“Without getting too scientific, the tintype process dates back to the late 1800s and is one of the oldest known forms of photography,” Stella says. “It all starts with a thin black sheet of metal that has had chemicals hand-poured on top, creating a working piece of film. After taking the photo with one of those big old accordion-style cameras you see in the movies, it is then developed into a black-and-white image that you get to see come to life right on the spot.”


With all of its anachronistic technology, there is still one thing even modern artists need: inspiration. It’s the power cell that fuels the entire process, making the artist and the subject connected for a lifetime.

Stella’s biggest inspiration are the people who take up space in his viewfinder. “With every person comes a story, and that inspires me to keep creating those stories,” he says, claiming that in terms of artistry, it’s a symbiotic relationship.

“I think my clients become the artist by giving me whatever emotion they are feeling at that time, but then I guess I’m the artist for being able to pull that emotion from the inside to the outside and capture it.”

That also could be interpreted as capturing their marrow of spirit and indelibly documenting it on photo paper. Stella says he is able to do that: “I think my soul is just good at reading when to capture the subject's soul.”

It would seem that such talent takes good communication, and it does, but as the saying goes, “a picture is worth 1,000 words,” for Stella, it’s the actual photograph that speaks for him.

He admits to communicating a hundred times better with pictures rather than words. It’s like a universal language.

“I could go days without talking and be completely fine,” he says. “I feel like there are people who are amazing at creating stories with words, but I will always be better at telling a story visually.”

That story has a happy ending when the tintype goes home with its forever family and becomes integrated into the essence of the household.

They are conversation pieces and elevate any kind of decor. Stella recommends putting them on display in public view.

“They give the home a nostalgic feel, almost like when you were a kid walking down your grandparent’s photo-covered halls,” he says.

The cost for your very own tintype portrait varies; packages are available for couples, families of three or four people and solo portraits. By way of example, the couples package costs $375 for a 90-minute session that includes an 8"-by-10" couples portrait, two individual 5"-by-7" portraits and high-resolution digital images of each photo.

As for the future, Stella is thinking big. He wants to continue to grow his Silver and Cedar business, a decision he made in 2022 after stepping away from a 12-year career as a professional tattoo artist. "I definitely have a lot of future plans," he says. "Bigger studio, bigger tintypes, camera making, more educating — the list goes on."

Silver and Cedar is located at 10637 N. Cave Creek Road.