Historical Photographs and Their Processes
A Selection from Archives and Special Collections
Daguerreotypes: Daguerreotypes were the earliest photographic process that was practical to produce commercially. Each daguerreotype was a …
Lantern Slides: Lantern slides, also known as magic lantern slides, were first produced in the 1650s and used by educators, lecturers and …
Glass Plates: Glass plates were used as supports for photographic negatives before the invention of cellulose nitrate film in the early …
Ambrotypes: Ambrotypes were used c. 1851 – 1865. It was a successor to the daguerreotype and was also a direct positive image on glass …
Tintypes: Tintypes were first patented in 1856, and the process was a popular photographic method between 1860 and 1920. This compil …
Silver Gelatin: Silver gelatin photographs were developed in 1871 when English photographer and physician Richard Leach Maddox came up wit …
Photo Postcards: Postcards once excited the imaginations of millions of people in the early 20th century and started a new media revolution …
Early Cameras: The first cameras were smaller versions of a viewing device that had existed for several hundred years—the camera obscura— …
Deterioration: Deterioration of photographic materials happens for many reasons. Mould, heat, humidity, pollutants, cracks and tears, imp …