Arts in Letters has featured the historical letters of a few 19th century photographers, including Matthew Brady, Julia Margaret Cameron, and Charles Dodgson. Since early photographic processes involved working with complex chemical solutions and reactions, these photographers had to be scientists as well as artists.
Cameron’s letter mentioned working with a collodion emulsion. She would have mixed this herself, meaning that she had to become comfortable working with potentially dangerous chemicals.
Here is an example of how a collodion solution might be prepared, according to Wikipedia:
- – 4.9 grams of pyroxylin are dissolved in 81.3 ml of alcohol, and 148 ml of ether.
- 13 grams of zinc bromide are dissolved in 29.6 ml of alcohol. Four or five drops of nitric acid are added. This is added to half the collodion made above.
- 21.4 grams of silver nitrate are dissolved in 7.4 ml of water. 29.6 ml of alcohol are added. This is then poured into the other half of the collodion; the brominated collodion is dropped in, slowly, while stirring.
- The result is an emulsion of silver bromide. It is left to ripen for 10 to 20 hours until it attains a creamy consistency. It may then be used or washed, as outlined below.
- To wash, the emulsion is poured into a dish and the solvents are evaporated until the collodion becomes gelatinous. It is then washed with water, followed by washing in alcohol. After washing, it is redissolved in a mixture of ether and alcohol and is then ready for use.
Whew, what a lot of work! Preparing the collodian solution was just one part of the lengthy and complex process of creating a photographic image. The light levels, time of exposure, preparation and processing of the glass plates, photographers had to be willing to do much more than try to catch pretty pictures!
In fact, many of the earliest photographers were as interested in the science of photography as they were in the photographs they created. It was photographers such as Cameron who saw the potential for using photography to create art, and a new artistic genre quickly became popular.
The largest collection of Cameron’s photographs is held at the Albert and Victoria Museum, where she was also given the distinction of being the Museum’s first artist-in-residence. You can see an overview of the collection here.
You’ll also see and hear Cameron’s letter featured in Arts in Letters. The letter was addressed to Sir Henry Cole, who happened to have produced the first commercial Christmas cards. But that’s a story for another day!
