Starting in 1978, photographer John Coffer and a horse named Brownie began an epic, years-long trek across the United States. Along the way, they made many friends, had multiple adventures and helped revive the 19th century’s greatest photographic achievement: The Wet plate collodion process.
When their travels ended, John and Brownie settled on a farm in Upstate New York where they continued to live the 1800s lifestyle and teach others about making tintypes, Ambrotypes and albumen prints.
I wrote, performed and recoded this song in Dundee, New York where John lives today. It’s as part of my “Alone Beside the Road” video series, though I clearly wasn’t alone for this one.
This DIY series of songs was inspired by a giant, wet plate collodion Ambrotype my friend Daniel Afzal shot of me and my Ural sidecar motorcycle at John’s Tintype Jamboree in the summer of 2022. It’s the picture you see at the start of the video.
