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Links, Resources, and Bibliography
This article has provided a very brief introduction to the wetplate collodion process.
It has only scratched the surface. Much more information is available in various manuals and available workshops. I highly recommend reading several texts on the process as well as attending a workshop before attempting to work the process.
Information on building darkboxes, preparing genuine ferrotype plates, making collodion negatives for albumen printing, remedying problematic baths or solutions, and general tips and tales can be discovered in these resources.
You will find the chemistry can be adapted for different conditions and effects, other tricks of the trade, and a wealth of information on troubleshooting this somewhat finicky process is available if you investigate the following resources.
Gallery of Wetplate Photographs
by Joseph Smigiel
(Be forewarned that the gallery contains photographs of nude figures.)
Workshops
John Coffer
Michael Mazzeo at Peter’s Valley Craft Center
France Scully and Mark Osterman
Northlight Photographic Workshops
Center For Alternative and Historic Processes
Will Dunniway
Kerik Kouklis
Manuals, Articles, and Texts
Frederick Scott Archer, Inventor of the Wet Collodion Process
The Doer’s Guide to Wetplate Photography, DVD and Manual, by John Coffer
Coming Into Focus, chapter on wetplate, by Scully and Osterman
The Wet-Plate Process, A Working Guide, by Scully & Osterman
Wet Collodion Photography, A Short Manual, by George Berkhofer
The Contemporary Wetplate Collodion Experience, by Quinn Jacobson
The Silver Sunbeam, by John Towler, MD
A Popular Treatise on Photography, by Désiré van Monckhoven (online)
A Manual of Photography, by Mathew Carey Lea
The Albumen and Salted Paper Book, by James M. Reilly (online)
Bill Jay's Essays, including “Dangers in the Dark”, “Move a Muscle and I'll Blow Your Brains Out”
and “The Black Art”
How a Woman Makes Landscape Photographs by Eliza W. Withington, 1876 (online)
Internet Resources
The Wetplate Collodion Forum
The Civil War Reenactor's Collodion Photography Discussion Forum
Flickr Wetplate Photography Group Image Pool
Disactis (A French Daguerreotype and Wetplate Site)
Wetplate Photographers
Jody Ake
Allan Barnes
Robert Benson
Stephen Berkman
Melitte Buchman
Quinn Jacobson
Luther Gerlach
Robb Kendrick
Kerik Kouklis
Matt Larkin
Sally Mann
Robert Maxwell
Michael Mazzeo
Ken Merfeld
Eric Mertens
Mark Osterman
David Prifti
France Scully
Keilly Anderson-Staley
Joni Sternbach
Ellen Susan
Reenactor Photographers
John Coffer
Will Dunniway
Steve Ingram
Seán MacKenna
Christopher Morgan
Wayne L. Pierce
Robert Szabo
Chemistry Supplies
Artcraft Chemicals
Bostick and Sullivan
Chemsavers.com
Clarkson Labs
Mavidon Medical Supplies
Photographer's Formulary
Equipment & Camera Conversions
Wayne Pierce, The Company Photographer
The Star Camera Company
Steve Silipigni/Black Art Woodcraft
How to Adapt a Film Holder to Wetplate
Safety Links
Cadmium Bromide MSDS
Cadmium Iodide MSDS
Collodion USP MSDS
Ether Hazards
Ether Storage
Ethyl Ether MSDS
Nitrocellulose (guncotton, pyroxiline) Information
Potassium Cyanide MSDS
Silver Nitrate MSDS
US Dept. of Energy Office of Health, Safety, and Security article on
Management of Time Sensitive Chemicals
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THE CHEMICALS USED IN THIS PROCESS ARE EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS AND ANYONE CONSIDERING WORKING IN THIS PROCESS SHOULD INVESTIGATE THE MATERIAL SAFETY DATA SHEETS FOR EACH CHEMICAL
AND BE FAMILIAR AND COMFORTABLE WITH THE PROPER HANDLING OF THESE MATERIALS TO MINIMIZE ANY POTENTIAL HAZARDS.
THIS ARTICLE IS PROVIDED FOR GENERAL EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES AND IS NOT
INTENDED TO BE ENDORSEMENT OF THE USE OF THE CHEMICALS BY UNTRAINED INDIVIDUALS.
AGAIN, THE AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER OF THIS ARTICLE ACCEPT NO RESPONSIBILITY NOR
LIABILITY RESULTING FROM THE IMPROPER USE OF THESE CHEMICALS BY OTHER INDIVIDUALS.
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© 2008 by Joseph P. Smigiel
No part of this article may be reproduced without permission of the author.
Thanks to Bill Schwab for providing several location photographs used in this article.
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