Will Wilson revives the platinum process to emphasize the intersection of imagery, technology, and power in the photographic representation of indigenous peoples. His ongoing series Critical Indigenous Photographic Exchange, or CIPX (2012–present), grapples with the exploitative practices of early photographers toward Native sitters. Wilson encourages sitters to pose themselves before his non-digital view camera and records their portraits on a tintype, a unique metal photograph. He scans the tintype and gives it to the sitter in exchange for the continued use of his or her likeness. From digitally-derived negatives, Wilson then makes platinum prints in the darkroom.

Wilson uses the platinum process as a direct challenge to the art photography of the past, which still shapes popular ideas of indigenous Americans. With his large-scale platinum print portraits, Wilson confronts our continued misconceptions.