Ambrotype
Kirstie Mensen and Karlee Hull
What is Ambrotype?
Ambrotype- is when you create a positive image on a sheet of glass using a wet plate collodion process.
The ambrotype's life span was very short, wide-spread use was less than ten years, but produced a vast collection of beautiful images. While the name ambrotype was derived from the Greek word ambro, meaning imperishable, it was still a delicate, easily damaged photograph. One advantage it did possess over the silver daguerreotype was that it did not tarnish.
Who and how did they invent Ambrotype?
- James Ambrose Cutting invented the Ambrotype photography in 1851.
- The wet plate collodion process was invented just a few years before by Frederick Scott Archer and widely used for glass negatives, but in an ambrotype the collodion image is used as a positive, instead of a negative.When dry, the glass plate was then backed either with black paint, metal, cloth, or paper; this black backing made light areas of the negative appear darker, turning the negative image into a positive. Some ambrotypes were made with ruby or dark green glass to simulate the effect of a backing without using one. Ambrotypes often were hand-colored, most commonly with dabs of red paint on the cheeks of the sitter. They were housed in wood or thermoplastic cases.
How long is the exposure time? What is the Photograph being exposed on?
The picture has to be sat on glass for about 20 seconds for the Ambrotype photo to be seen.
How is this process important to the history of photogrphy?
This photography is important in history because it change the picture in a whole new way by changing it to a positive instead of a negative. After that many other people started to do them in a positive way.
When did this Photography get replaced with newer technology and what replaced it?
Daguerreotype replaces ambrotype in the 1800s. This was when you print the picture directly onto mirrors or aluminum plates.
Were there any famous photograpghers that used this type of photography?
Some people were Fredrich Archer, Marcus A. Root, and Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin
Is the process still used today?
Yes, this process is still used by Alexey Alexeev. He uses this in mondern Russia and is doing it at a professinal level.
what sources did we use?
We used alternativephotography.com, google.com, Wikipedia.com