Invented by British scientist Frederick Scott Archer in 1851, one of the pioneering photographic methods that started the evolution into the medium of analogue film photography as we know it today.
The process involves coating a glass or aluminium plate with some rather nasty chemicals which is then exposed to light in a vintage style camera before being developed in a darkroom. This all needs to be done before the chemicals dry, hence the term ‘Wet Plate’.
The look and quality of a wet plate photographic image is quite unique where portraits can offer an insight into a person unlike any other photographic technique.
As Dave Hunt describes, ‘Witnessing the birth of a silver image in the development process is truly magical and every time we capture a portrait I see the same excitement in the eyes of the sitter as they watch their soul appear on a sheet of wet glass or tin in the alchemist's tray.’
In a world of mass image creation and reproduction this vintage process offers us the opportunity to connect with the real essence of photography as an art form, taking time and deep appreciation to hand craft an image that will last forever.