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 Photography 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 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 David Prifti 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 ArtChemicals.Com Artcraft Chemicals Bostick and Sullivan Clarkson Labs Mavidon Medical Supplies Photographer's Formulary
Equipment & Camera Conversions Wayne Pierce, The Company Photographer The Star Camera Company 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
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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