Am trying to educate folks about wet plate on a Canada Arts Facebook page.
SPS Top contributor
Wow, that technology goes back into the mid to late 1800! Must be fun to make those pictures talk!
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- GY AuthorSPS yes it was invented in 1851 by an Englishman named Frederic Scott Archer, he never patented it, sort of gave it to the world. Basically, Ambrotypes are a Victorian age polaroid. You need to process the image on site, within about 10-20 minutes while the emulsion is still wet (wet plate) or you lose the image forever. That is the reason you need to travel with a darkroom. If you go to eBay and type in ambrotype, you will see a ton of old portraits. Wet plate collodion (the process) is done on glass (Ambrotypes) or metal (Tintypes). Many photog/artists around the world have started up the process over the last 30 years or so. It is complicated, potentially dangerous, very difficult but so rewarding if you get it right. For me, I love Ambrotypes because it is as if the subject is alive INSIDE THE GLASS. A really unique and wonderous thing.
