Frederick Scott Archer
1813-1857
By Debra Faustini
Frederick Scott Archer is a little known but important player in photography history. He was born in Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshite, England in 1813. There is disagreement as to both the year he was born and the location because of the lack of information about Archer.
He is the inventor of the wet collodion process (1851), which revolutionized the developing process for the time because of the speed and the clarity of the photos. Archer was a portrait sculptor and would take photos to help him in his work. He was using Talbot’s calotype method, but was not happy with the quality of the photos. He proceeded to experiment to find a better way.
A new substance proved useful in the medical field called collodion and was used after surgery. Collodion formed a waterproof, transparent, and strong air-tight seal that dried quickly. Eventually, after much experimentation, Archer combined potassium iodine with collodion and coated the substance on a glass plate and then immersed the plate into silver nitrate. When exposed in the camera, the wet plate developed and fixed within seconds and was superior in quality to the calotype and processed quicker than the Daguerreotype. It was first named the Archertype, but eventually was called the wet-collodion process. It also had the benefit of being able to be reproduced and printed on paper.
Before Archer’s invention, photography was only enjoyed by a few eccentrics. After the collodion process became known and used, photography became popular with the masses. The wet-collodion process was used for the next thirty years.
Archer did not patent his invention, instead choosing to share his process globally and even wrote a book entitled “Manual of the Collodion Photographic Process”, consequently he died in 1857 destitute and poor.
Sources:
http://todayinsci.com/A/Archer_Frederick/ArcherFrederick-HistoryOfPhotography(1888).htm
http://declaration.net/article/frederick-scott-archer
http://blog.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/2012/10/03/photography-a-z-frederick-scott-archer-wet-collodion-process/
He is the inventor of the wet collodion process (1851), which revolutionized the developing process for the time because of the speed and the clarity of the photos. Archer was a portrait sculptor and would take photos to help him in his work. He was using Talbot’s calotype method, but was not happy with the quality of the photos. He proceeded to experiment to find a better way.
A new substance proved useful in the medical field called collodion and was used after surgery. Collodion formed a waterproof, transparent, and strong air-tight seal that dried quickly. Eventually, after much experimentation, Archer combined potassium iodine with collodion and coated the substance on a glass plate and then immersed the plate into silver nitrate. When exposed in the camera, the wet plate developed and fixed within seconds and was superior in quality to the calotype and processed quicker than the Daguerreotype. It was first named the Archertype, but eventually was called the wet-collodion process. It also had the benefit of being able to be reproduced and printed on paper.
Before Archer’s invention, photography was only enjoyed by a few eccentrics. After the collodion process became known and used, photography became popular with the masses. The wet-collodion process was used for the next thirty years.
Archer did not patent his invention, instead choosing to share his process globally and even wrote a book entitled “Manual of the Collodion Photographic Process”, consequently he died in 1857 destitute and poor.
Sources:
http://todayinsci.com/A/Archer_Frederick/ArcherFrederick-HistoryOfPhotography(1888).htm
http://declaration.net/article/frederick-scott-archer
http://blog.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/2012/10/03/photography-a-z-frederick-scott-archer-wet-collodion-process/