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Photo History -- Part 2 1851-1870. Collodion Wet-Plate Process. Developed by Frederick Scott Archer - 1851 Takes photography to a new level, combining the best of the Daguerrotype and Calotype. Collodion Process.
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Collodion Wet-Plate Process • Developed by Frederick Scott Archer - 1851 • Takes photography to a new level, combining the best of the Daguerrotype and Calotype
Collodion Process • A glass plate was coated with wet collodion and then sensitized by dipping it into a bath of silver nitrate • While still wet it was placed in the camera and an exposure was made • The plate was immediately developed, while still wet, to form the negative
Collodion Process • Collodion: a thick liquid made from gun cotton (nitrocellulose) which is saturated with nitric and sulfuric acids and dissolved in a solution of alcohol, ether, and potassium iodine • It is poured onto one side of a clean glass plate, which must be tilted continuously by hand to ensure even coverage • Plate is then emerged in a silver nitrate solution and the collodion becomes light sensitive
Collodion Process, contd. • Negative is exposed while the coating is still wet, and must be developed directly after exposure • Negatives are then used to print positive images onto sheets of paper treated with light-sensitive silver salts and albumen, a solution containing egg white as a binder • When working outdoors in remote locations, all chemicals and equipment necessary to prepare and develop negatives and a tent to function as a portable darkroom had to be brought along
Collodion Advantages • Superb, finely detailed quality • Very reproducible • Very light sensitive • Quick exposure time (under 5 seconds) • Less expensive than daguerreotype to produce
Ambrotypes(see class example) • The wet collodion negative is mounted with a black background followed by a vignette mask, and finally, glass • All pieces were mounted in a tooled leather holder. • The same method of mounting and construction was used for Daguerreotypes
Tintypes(see class example) • In 1853, the wet collodion process was used with black enameled iron • Smaller tintypes were called Gemtypes • Tintypes were very popular in America
The Reality of War Mathew Brady and the Civil War
Mathew Brady • One of the first photographers to use photography to chronicle national history • Known for photographing the famous, especially presidents • Credited with being the father of photojournalism
The Team • Brady turns his attention to the Civil War and assembles a brilliant team of photographers, including Timothy O’Sullivan and Alexander Gardner
Alexander Gardner1821-1882 • Scottish photographer who emigrated to the U.S. in 1856 • Best known for his civil war photographs, President Abraham Lincoln, and the execution of the conspirators to Lincoln’s assasination • Apprentice jeweler in Scotland
Alexander Gardner (contd.) • Worked with Matthew Brady, but eventually ended his work with Brady, who often attributed the photographic work to himself • Post-war work included photographing Native Americans who came to work treaties with the U.S. government in Washington, D.C.
The Battle of Gettysburg July 1-3, 1863 – by Timothy O’Sullivan
In the end, it was all too much for the public. Brady goes broke financing it all but makes an indelible mark on history.
Travel Photography 1865-1870
Maxime Du Camp • French photographer • Calotypist • Travels Middle East and Egypt • Documents great monuments of the world • Opens up a world of wonder to Europeans and Americans
Timothy O’Sullivan • Born in 1840, he worked with Matthew Brady and Alexander Gardner as a Civil War Photographer. • Moved beyond the superficial documentation of battlefields and the mundane activities of armies, and he began to photograph the grim reality of war • O’Sullivan is particularly noted for his photographs of battlefield dead
1867 • After the Civil War, he took a job with the US Geographical Survey Dept. • His job was to photograph geological and topographical landscapes
A Different Kind of Photographer • O‘Sullivan approached western landscape with the documentarian’s respect for the integrity of visible evidence AND the camera artist‘s understanding of how to isolate and frame decisive forms and structures in nature Fissure Vent - 1867
The American West • Because of photography, the American West begins to get explored Tufa Domes at Pyramid Lake, Nevada - 1867
Always Professional • O’Sullivan did his job masterfully, constantly maintaining an extraordinarily professional attitude under extremely difficult conditions Vermillion Creek - 1867
More Personal than Political • O’Sullivan was allowed to be his own master, not required to follow orders from the scientists • He took this job to document places never before seen Rocks Carved by Drifting Sand Arizona - 1871
Black Canyon - Colorado, 1871 (considered one of O’Sullivan’s masterpieces)
Final Days • O’Sullivan fell ill with Tuberculosis in late 1879 and dies in early 1880 at the age of 42 • Rare self-portrait of O’Sullivan while in Panama in the late 1870’s • After his death, he was essentially forgotten for nearly 60 years, until Ansel Adams and others discovered his photographs of the West
William Henry Jackson Castle Geyser and Crested Pool, Upper Geyser Basin, 1871 Crystal Falls, Crystal Creek, 1871
William Henry Jackson1843-1942 • Artist as a young man, Union soldier and Army artist • Geological survey photographer and explorer of the American West • Won job as photographer to document scenery along railroad lines for promotional purposes • Documented the Yellowstone region
William Henry Jackson Pack Trains of the U. S. Geological Survey, 1871
Carleton Watkins View from Mt. Josephine, 1860 Sentinal, Yosemite, 1861
Carleton Watkins1829-1916 • Photographer in 19th century California • Photos influenced the U.S. Congress to establish Yosemite Valley as a National Park in 1864 • Moved to CA from NY during the gold rush • Worked as an assistant in a SF portrait studio • Took a variety of images of California and Oregon
Carleton Watkins El Capitan, Yosemite, 1861 River View, Yosemite, 1861
Final Thoughts ". . . for O'Sullivan a photograph was equally an image chosen and organized by the artist and a specimen of pre-existing physical fact recorded by the technician. The perfectly balanced tension between these subjective and objective concerns is a central characteristic of his work.” ----Weston J. Naef
