Pre-Digital
Photographic Technology
Matthew Jones
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| Taken by JAMES MCPHERSON |
Frederick Scott
Archer and Gustave Le Gray invented the collodion press. During 1880 the
collodion press was replaced by gelatin dry plates, which included a
photographic emulsion of sliver halides that was suspended in gelatin. When watching the video by Matthew Brady and Roger
Fenton on the content page they state that the process of the wet plate collodion process “can be
difficult and somewhat dangerous to do” However if you were able to master this
process back in the day your work would be shown in great detail.
Looking
at the articles that Professor Nordell posted in the content page I found out
that Photography was extremely difficult and took a long time to process during
the Civil War. During that period of time the equipment was extremely heavy
therefore it isn’t that mobile when it comes to take pictures on the move. According
to Sam Cooley from civil war trust “photojournalists had to take into account that they had to be
prepared to process cumbersome light – sensitive images in cramped wagons”
Cameras during the Civil War were oversized and difficult to maneuver. All of
the chemicals that was used in the process had to be mixed by hand, which again
is very hard to do.
This
made it very challenging for photojournalists to produce their work for the
public because it was a long process to do so. Another challenge they faced was
that they had to get up-close to the action in order to get a clear image. According
to Bob Capa from skylighters “a photojournalist climbed into a landing craft with men of
Company E in the early morning hours of D-Day”. During that period, they didn’t have the luxury of zooming in
from a distance It was there job to take pictures so they could make money. In some
way it was like a game for a photojournalist because you had to be present at a
scene before something happens. D. Travis North from Shutter Photo stated “Weegee was the only newspaper reporter that had a permit to have
a portable police-band radio in his car. Clearly, the goal was to make sure
that he had a method for finding the news and getting the shot” The work that
Weegee produced was very clever and people enjoyed viewing it.
I have
found out that the process from what it was like during the civil war time to
now is completely different. I can go on my phone and take a picture and
straight away it is saved on my phone. Were as if I was using the collodion press it would take a long time
to save the image and develop it into a suitable piece of work.
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| Photo by Matthew Jones |
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