P&P ONLINE CATALOG - CIVIL WAR PHOTOGRAPHS
Taking Photographs During the Civil War
Wagons and camera of
Sam A. Cooley,
U.S. photographer,
Department of
the South
LC-DIG-cwpb-03518 |
During the Civil War, the process of taking photographs was complex
and time-consuming.
- Photographers mixed their own chemicals and prepared
their own wet plate glass negatives.
- The negatives had to be prepared,
exposed, and developed within minutes, before the emulsion dried.
It was a difficult process to master in a studio setting and even more
difficult to work outdoors. Photographers transported their supplies
in a wagon,
improvised a darkroom, and learned to use their chemicals in both
the
blistering heat and bitter cold.
The
Wet Plate Process
Producing photographs from wet plates involved many steps.
- A clean sheet
of glass was evenly coated with collodion.
- In a darkroom or a light-tight
chamber, the coated plate was
immersed in a silver nitrate solution, sensitizing it to light.
- After
it was sensitized, the wet negative was placed in a light-tight holder
and inserted into the camera, which already had been positioned and
focused.
- The "dark slide," which protected the negative from
light, and the lens cap were removed for several seconds, allowing
light to
expose the plate.
- The "dark slide" was inserted back into
the plate holder, which was then removed from the camera.
- In the darkroom,
the glass plate negative was removed from the plate holder and
developed, washed in water, and fixed so that the image would not
fade, then washed
again and dried.
- Usually the negatives were coated with a varnish to
protect the surface.
- After development, the photographs were printed
on paper and mounted.
In the 1880s dry plate negatives were introduced. These glass negatives
were commercially available and did not need to be developed immediately
after the exposure.
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Library
of Congress
(
October 31, 2003
) |