Wet Plate Collodion in the 1870s
Here is a fascinating series of wet plate collodion photos of the American West from the 1870s by Timothy O'Sullivan. Very interesting stuff.
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From the article:
These remarkable 19th century sepia-tinted pictures show the American West as you have never seen it before - as it was charted for the first time. The photos, by Timothy O'Sullivan, are the first ever taken of the rocky and barren landscape.
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And then:
O'Sullivan used a primitive wet plate box camera which he would have to spend several minutes setting up every time he wanted to take a photograph.
He would have to assemble the device on a tripod, coat a glass plate with collodion - a flammable solution. The glass would then be put in a holder before being inserted into a camera.
After a few seconds exposure, he would rush the plate to his dark room wagon and cover it in chemicals to begin the development process.
I wonder how many folks here are using "a primitive wet plate box camera"? :D:D
They don't look like the wet plate shots I'm accustomed to seeing in the image sharing threads here.
Re: Wet Plate Collodion in the 1870s
That can't be wet collodion. Where are the fingerprints, peeling edges, comets, runs, and pinholes that let the viewer know it's alternative?
Re: Wet Plate Collodion in the 1870s
Thanks Mark. Nice article.
Re: Wet Plate Collodion in the 1870s
Funny how someone has put a copyright notice for Timothy O'Sullivan on them.
Re: Wet Plate Collodion in the 1870s
Great article and photos.
Re: Wet Plate Collodion in the 1870s
While researching the life of the polymath painter/photographer/writer...William James Stillman (1828 - 1901), I ran across Stillman's 1874 The Amateur's Photographic Guide Book, Being A Complete Resume of the Most Useful Dry and Wet Colodian Processes: https://archive.org/details/amateursphotogr00stilgoog
Stillman apprenticed under Fredrick Edwin Church, a leading figure of the Hudson School of landscape painting, and took up the camera in 1859. Until the end his life he was active and respected voice in 19th Century photography.
Enjoy,
Thomas
Re: Wet Plate Collodion in the 1870s
Re: Wet Plate Collodion in the 1870s
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Mark Stahlke
I wonder how many folks here are using "a primitive wet plate box camera"? :D:D
They don't look like the wet plate shots I'm accustomed to seeing in the image sharing threads here.
A hundred years from now, we'll be remembered as using "primitive i-phones"...
Most of the wet plates we post are tintypes, and the better-made ones look similar to the vintage tintypes. But yes, quite a few of us are enamored with the "Sally Mann" effect of layers of artifacts on top of the image. Few are making wet glass plate negatives for albumin printing, or closing down the old Petzvals for maximum depth of field and minimum lens signature. And most of us are wet plate dilettantes, shooting only occasionally. O'Sullivan, Watkins, Jackson, and their likes were full-time professional wet plate photographers.
