That Photography, even under these elementary con ditions, had already enlisted the sympathies of a considerable body of workers was shown when the Photographic Society of London was founded in 1853 with Sir Charles Eastlake as president ; it is now an incorporated body, and known as the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain. A year later the first number of the British Journal of Photography saw the light.
In 1851 Frederick Scott Archer published the details of his invention, which shortly afterwards was to come into general use as the wet-plate process. Glass replaced sil vered copper or paper as a support for the sensitive salts ; and the vehicle for these salts was a film of collodion. The effect of these changes was that a much shorter exposure to light was possible to secure a picture ; either a positive or negative result might be obtained ; and the crispness of effect and delicacy of detail far surpassed either the Talbotype or the Daguerrotype.
We need not here enter into the details of the wet-plate process, which is still very frequently adopted for photo mechanical work, and is described in a later chapter of this book. For the ordinary photographer it was attended with many very serious drawbacks. The pouring of the iodised collodion on to the glass plate in such a way as to form an even, homogeneous surface was a very delicate operation, involving no little deftness and skill. The silver bath was an expensive item, requiring to be constantly watched, and liable to get out of order in all sorts of unaccountable ways. All the preparations had to be gone through within a few minutes of exposure. So that the photographer of land scapes was compelled to burden himself with a huge parcel of paraphernalia, including a portable dark room or developing tent, bottles of solutions, and dishes. Not more than one or two exposures were possible during a day's excursion. The time of exposure, though less than with Daguerrotypes, was still very far from short, and required of the sitter for a portrait an enormous amount of patience and self-control. Then, again, the whole business was very messy and em barrassing, especially for the amateur. He was a " marked man," with indelible stains on face and hands. Dribblings of silver nitrate leaked out of his dark slide on to clothes, carpets, and furniture, to the distress of all good housewives.
But they were giants in those days. The wet-plate period
is generally regarded as the Golden Age of photography. Nearly all the valuable subsidiary processes had their origin during its sway. The amount of good work done was enormous. Perhaps because of the many difficulties and the conscientiousness and care essential at every stage, it enlisted in its service a strenuous, resourceful race of operators, and undoubtedly much of their work, particularly that of the late Francis Bedford, Vernon Heath, H. P. Robinson, and W. Eng land (the two last of whom have, of course, lived to illustrate the newer methods) will compare for brilliancy and fine detail with any produced at the present day. The wet plate died hard. Years after the ready-made dry plate had become an ordinary article of commerce leading professional firms were still adhering to the older rival.
Dr. R. L. Maddox, of Southampton, is generally regarded as the inventor of the dry plate. An account of his experi ments in this direction appeared in the British Journal of Photography in 1871. With its introduction the names of I. Burgess, R. Kennett, and C. Bennett must also be associ ated. Some old experts still contend that its advent marks the commencement of an age of degeneration. Certainly the last two decades of the nineteenth century witnessed a vast revolution to the profit of all interested commercially in the manufacture and supply of things photographic. From an academic pursuit for the few, and a difficult and expensive trade, photography was suddenly transformed into a pursuit for the million, commending itself readily to the man whose purse is slender and hours of leisure few in number. The gelatine film, whether on glass or celluloid, is ready for instant use, and a supply can be carried in apparatus of small compass and light weight. After exposure it may be packed away for development whenever convenient, even at the end of a lengthy tour. The subsequent processes have all been simplified, and involve no specialist's knowledge of chemistry or any other science beyond common sense. Fresh supplies are obtainable in the smallest country town ; dark rooms are to be found almost in every street. So much has been done by the manufacturer to make the path plain towards success that, with a little artistic instinct, the merest tyro will some times attain a result that the professional might envy.