Here is a fascinating series of wet plate collodion photos of the American West from the 1870s by Timothy O'Sullivan. Very interesting stuff.
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.I wonder how many folks here are using "a primitive wet plate box camera"?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.
They don't look like the wet plate shots I'm accustomed to seeing in the image sharing threads here.
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