Fredrick Scott Archer was an Englishman who invented the ‘Wet Collodian Process’ in 1851 this was a faster process than the kalotype earlier invented by Fox Talbot and also allowed photographers to use this process indoors. I consisted of different steps:
1) Solution of Collodian, soluble iodide.
2) Pour on to a glass plate.
3) In a darkroom soak in silver nitrate.
4) Expose it whilst it’s still wet.
5) Develop in pyrogallic acid solution.
6) Fix in strong solution of sodium thiosulphate or potassium cyanide.
7) Other variations include using black velvet, Amber type or black japanned metal instead of glass.
To take photographs outside of landscapes the photographer would have people to carry around a portable darkroom with him to process the photographs as they had to be quick in developing them to keep them wet. In 1851 was the first exhibition at the Crystal Palace and Queen Victoria was crowned in 1837 so photography was needed to document all of the events that was taking place at this time in history.
Charles Dodgson or Lewis Carroll was a photographer and a writer. Carroll is the name of the author of ‘Alice in wonderland’ as he was both a writer and photographer he could intertwine these hobbies into one by taking a picture of a ragged Alice Liddell the subject of his stories. In these tales he uses photography to explain the happenings that Alice counters; for example that “pictures are more important than words”, he talks about the hole the rabbit jumps through as though it was the aperture on a camera lens where the world stepped into is upside down and the speed of the rabbit that Alice nearly missed with her eyes is parallel to the shutter speed of a camera to capture the rabbit in motion.
Andre Adolphe- Eugene Disden in 1854, created ‘Carte- de- visite’ which were essentially calling cards where people could leave them like social networking. These were several prints on 1 glass plate positioned into little photos so people could choose the ones they fell portrayed them well and how they wanted other people to see them; these were affordable so middle classes could get them but also Queen Victoria used this to have herself photographed whilst mourning Prince Albert; this was the first time ordinary people could purchase a photograph for 1 penny and see her for the first time. At that time every country has a history of photography but not all were documented so this was the beginning of documenting history.
Nadar took photographs of celebrities, this was a first. Sara Bernhardt was a singer and an actress and got her photograph taken by Nadar; the aims for these types of photos were to promote themselves in a way they want to be portrayed. This photograph is quite riskay with her shoulder bare and she is looking out of the frame which shows longing and reflective emotions but also it gives the viewer permission to look at her as an object with a voyeuristic eye. Gaspard Mix Tournachon photographed extravagant things from the rich people to out of hot air balloons; by having people looking straight down the camera gives a scarier feeling of closeness right to the audience. Baudelaire was photographed by Nadar in the romantic period, 1950’s, this was taken with the notion of Shakespeare rather than Ancient Greek, what it is like to be a human and the emotions we posses.
The census of photographers had changed so much in a short space of time. In London in 1841 there were only 3 professional establishments, in 1851 there were 51 photographers, then in 1861 there were recorded to have 2,5634 photographers on London; this doesn’t include amateurs and people helping the photographers in trade. This explosion was due to the ‘Wet Collodian Process’ and how it was easier and faster to produce photographs.
J.F.A Claudet made ‘the Geography lesson’ in 1851 using a “Stereoscopic daguerreotype” which is a box that is held up to the artists eyes to create a 3D effect as it shows two pictures slightly to one side of each other. Frith took photographs of the world the British Empire own and rule, for example Egypt, to learn and travel, to collect and exploit natural resources of everyday life throughout the Empire. Roger Fenton took photographs of soldiers in the Crimea war in 1855, these were seen as heroic as most people died of starvation or frostbite. Fenton’s photographs didn’t depict the war correctly as the British government selected the photos so it wouldn’t scare anyone at home with the horrors and so turn against them, the photographs deceived the public.
Roger Fenton also set up photographs; “The Shadow of death” is a famous one where he had placed most of the cannons on the path and rearranged them to be seen and deceived people so it looked worse than it was. Photography at that time was seen as it couldn’t lie and was a truthful, scientific mechanical device but the photographers could manipulate the scene before they took the photograph.
Henry Peach Robinson took several different composites and put them together to create a full and busy picture. He used natural light outside or North facing indoor studio to take photographs inside. At the time when Robinson was taking photographs ‘The Big Stink’ was happening, this was when the river Thames smelt so bad due to the sewage going into it, they even had to move the Houses of Parliament. People would drink the water then fall ill with Cholera; this was documented with his photographs like “fading away” when he had people to pose as though they were on their death bed using this technique. In 1851 they began to solve the problem; Joseph Baseljet crated the sewage system by using Mater which hardens when it’s wet. However, the death rate stayed the same so the argument that the disease was water borne got taken over by the air borne argument; it was discovered that the tide was bringing back the dirty water because the sewage pipes weren’t long enough to fully leave the sewage into the sea but when this problem was solved the disease became less of the cause of death. In the Victorian period photographs of dead children and people because it was a common sight. Oscar Gustav Rejlander is similar to Robinson where he takes different photographs then block out the figures he doesn’t want or haven’t come out correctly and print down the ones he wants. His work reflects morality and religion “The two ways of life” is his most famous work in 1857.
Spiritual photography became popular and in 1845 John Adams Whipple who was a hypnotist who would hypnotise people and take photographs of them posing whilst praying or with his hand over their heads to provide an electrical pulse. William Mumler claimed to photograph dead loved ones; by taking multiple exposures or getting people to stand in the background created the feeling and it was believable that the dead were there. He was taken to court but lost because of this and deceiving people who thought their dead family where there and wanting them to see them.
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