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Listen: The World ProgramDry Glass Plate Negatives
- Photographers could purchase presensitized gelatin dry plates off the shelf and shorten the time they had to spend in the darkroom.
- Although professional photographers didn’t quickly embrace gelatin dry plates, amateur photographers enjoyed the ease of using them.
- Silver gelatin prints dominated the market for almost 100 years because they were easier and more affordable to make compared to other prints.
History
Dry glass plate negatives, also called gelatin plates, are a refinement of the wet collodion process introduced by Richard L. Maddox in 1871. The improvement is right in the name; the emulsion of photographic chemicals was suspended in a dry gel rather than smeared on wet right before use. Whereas wet collodion processes like ambrotypes and tintypes required a photographer to prepare their plate, expose it and develop it all before the collodion dried, gelatin plates could be used for weeks after preparation.
Crucially, this feature meant that gelatin plates could be bought off the shelf, ready to use. This single difference opened up photography to countless amateurs, who no longer needed to understand as much of the chemistry required for successful photography. However, dry plates were only good for a single photograph, where a wet plate could theoretically be cleaned and used again. Professionals were slower to switch to the new product, but by the 1890s gelatin plates were common in studio photography. Popular gelatin dry plate brands at the turn of the century include Eastman Dry Plate Company, Keystone Plates, Cramer and Norden of St. Louis, and Defiance Plates.
Did You Know?
Gelatin dry plates could produce inconsistent results since the photosensitive chemicals were applied during manufacturing, weeks prior to exposure. While their shelf life was vastly longer than a wet collodion plate, it was still possible for entire cases of gelatin plates to lose their sensitivity during shipping.
Seated Girl and Boy Holding Hat, ca.1908. (State Archives of Florida)
