Wet Plate Collodion Process
THE COLLODION PROCESS IS AN EARLY PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESS, INVENTED BY FREDERICK SCOTT ARCHER. IT WAS INTRODUCED IN THE 1850'S AND BY THE END OF THAT DECADE, IT HAD ALMOST ENTIRELY REPLACED THE FIRST PRACTICAL PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESS, THE DAGUERREOTYPE.
"COLLODION PROCESS' IS USUALLY TAKEN TO BE SYNONYMOUS WITH THE 'COLLODION WET PLATE PROCESS," A VERY INCONVENIENT FORM WHICH THE PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIAL TO BE COATED, SENSITIZED, EXPOSED AND DEVELOPED WITHIN THE SPAN OF ABOUT FIFTEEN MINUTES, NECESSITATING A PORTABLE DARKROOM FOR USE IN THE FIELD. ALTHOUGH COLLODION WAS NORMALLY USED IN THIS WET FORM, THE MATERIAL COULD ALSO BE USED IN HUMID ("PRESERVED") OR DRY FORM, BUT AT THE COST OF GREATLY INCREASED EXPOSURE TIME, MAKING THESE FORMS UNSUITABLE FOR THE USUAL WORK OF MOST PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS—PORTRAITURE. THEIR USE WAS THEREFORE CONFINED TO LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY AND OTHER SPECIAL APPLICATIONS WHERE MINUTES-LONG EXPOSURE TIMES WERE TOLERABLE.
COLLODION PROCESSES WERE CAPABLE OF RECORDING MICROSCOPICALLY FIND DETAIL, SO THEIR USE FOR SOME SPECIAL PURPOSES CONTINUED LONG AFTER THE ADVENT OF THE GELATIN DRY PLATE. THE WET PLATE COLLODION PROCESS WAS STILL IN USE IN THE PRINTING INDUSTRY IN THE 1960S FOR LINE AND TONE WORK (MOSTLY PRINTED MATERIAL INVOLVING BLACK TYPE AGAINST A WHITE BACKGROUND) AS FOR LARGE WORK IT WAS MUCH CHEAPER THAN GELATIN FILM. ONE COLLODION PROCESS, THE TINTYPE, WAS STILL IN LIMITED USE FOR CASUAL PORTRAITURE BY SOME ITINERANT AND AMUSEMENT PARK PHOTOGRAPHERS AS LATE AS THE 1930'S, BY WHICH TIME TINTYPES WERE ALREADY REGARDED AS QUAINTLY OLD-FASHIONED.
THE WET PLATE COLLODION PROCESS HAS UNDERGONE A REVIVAL AS A HISTORICAL TECHNIQUE OVER THE PAST FEW DECADES. THERE ARE SEVERAL PRACTICING AMBROTYPISTS AND TINTYPISTS WHO REGULARLY SET UP AND DO IMAGES AT CIVIL WAR RE-ENACTMENTS. MANY FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHER ALSO USE THE PROCESS AND ITS HAND-CRAFTED INDIVIDUALITY FOR GALLERY SHOWINGS AND PERSONAL WORK.
THERE ARE SEVERAL MAKERS OF REPRODUCTION EQUIPMENT FOR THE CONTEMPORARY PRACTITIONER. THE PROCESS IS TAUGHT IN WORKSHOPS AROUND THE WORLD AND SEVERAL WORKBOOKS AND MANUALS ARE CURRENTLY IN PRINT.