Pre-Digital Photography

Wet plate collodion photography was one of the first photographic processes. According to the video on the wet plate collodion process, “it was invented in 1851 by the Englishman Frederick Scott Archer, who was looking for a process that could produce fine detail and negatives”. The wet plate collodion process was complicated and took a lot of time compared to digital photography today. The video on wet plate collodion describes that the process begins with a piece of glass. The clear glass is used for negatives and the black glass is used for positives. The video on the wet plate collodion process simplifies the process into seven steps, which are demurring the glass, cleaning the glass, flowing the plate, sensitizing the plate, exposing the plate, developing the plate, and fixing the plate. The glass plate is coated in a mixture of a soluble iodide and a solution of collodion. After that, the glass plate is put into silver nitrate. As Professor Nordell states in his video, “you would put different chemicals on these glass plates and while they were still wet put them in the camera, take the picture, and then immediately put those plates back in the chemicals,”. The wet plate collodion video states that the exposure time depends on the lighting and what the photographer wants the photograph to look like. 

Photo by Quinn Jacobson

Image Source: http://www.cpacphoto.org/classes/introduction-to-wet-plate-collodian-2/

The wet plate collodion process affected photojournalism greatly. Before wet plate collodion, the main photographic processes were calotype and daguerreotype. There were problems with both of these processes and wet plate collodion improved on those two techniques. Wet plate collodion allowed photographers to make an unlimited number of prints. Also, the wet plate collodion process allowed for a shorter exposure time. Previously, photographers were only able to take photographs of very still scenes, but the decrease in exposure time significantly helped photographers take better photographs. Although there were many advantages to wet plate collodion photography, there were some major disadvantages. Not only did the wet plate collodion process affect photojournalism, but it greatly affected the families of those who were being photographed. The photographers that used wet plate collodion during the Civil War were able to share photographs of those in war with the families. Also, the photographs helped make citizens have a better connection with their leaders. According to the discovery.com article, President Lincoln, “famously joked that he wouldnt have been reelected without the portrait of him taken by photographer Matthew Brady,”. For the first time, photographs were leaving a huge impact on people and the wet plate collodion process helped immensely. 

Photo by Matthew Brady

Image Source: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/lincoln/the-run-for-president.html

There were major disadvantages of the wet collodion process. It was used during the Civil War. However, the photographs that were taken could only be of still items. If a soldier was moving, the photographer could not take a good picture. The photograph would come out blurry. Another disadvantage was how complex the process was. There were a lot of chemicals needed for the process to be completed correctly. Also, there needed to be a dark room for the photos to process. The glass panes and chemicals were very fragile and needed to remain intact in order to take the photograph.  A photographer often had to have a van or other type of vehicle to carry all of the supplies needed for the wet plate collodion process. During the Crimean War, photographers like Roger Fenton, had a photographic van to carry all of his supplies. These photographers went through a lot to produce their photographs. 

Photo by Lyndsey Letourneau

I took the photograph above with a Canon EOS Rebel T1i. This type of camera is a digital SLR camera, which means single lens reflex. According to the Robert Mackin website, “DSLR camera’s use a prism and mirror based system which allows the photographer to see exactly what they are photographing,”. The camera autofocuses on the subject and can take multiple pictures at a time. Also, there are different settings on the camera depending on the type of photograph a person would like to take. Digital photography has become increasingly advanced over the years and has had a huge impact on society. As digital photography developed, it was much easier and better photographs were taken. As photography developed, there was a camera called the twin lens reflex camera. This camera looks very different from my Canon EOS Rebel T1i. Instead of looking straight through the view finder, the twin lens reflex camera forced a person to look down on the camera. In Professor Nordell's second video, he states that the camera has two lenses. One of the lenses displayed what the picture would be and the other lens took the actual picture. A person would never really know what their photograph would be of. It is amazing to see the advances in technology that have taken place and allow people to take brilliant pictures today. Compared to the wet plate collodion process, it is much easier to take a picture with a digital camera. There is no equipment besides the camera, the image quality is spectacular, and the ease of sharing these images has increased with the advances in technology.