Category: Early stereoscopy

A tintype or ferrotype is a positive image printed on an iron plate. Like an ambrotype, it’s a variation of the wet collodion process. The process was first described by Adolphe Alexandre Martin in 1853[1]. A sheet of iron was coated with dark brown or black varnish, followed by a coating of collodion. The plate… Continue reading Stereo tintype

The ambrotype process is named after James Ambrose Cutting (1814-1867) who popularised the process and patented in 1854 a method of mounting and sealing the image plate. Cutting was not the inventor and actually it’s not a new process, but a variant of the wet plate collodion process. An ambrotype is an underexposed collodion negative.… Continue reading Stereo ambrotype

The collodion wet plate process process was invented in 1851 by Frederick Scott Archer (1813-1857). The process was based on the light sensitivity of silver halides (bromide and iodide) suspended in a collodion binder on a glass plate. It had significant advantages over the daguerreotype process. The process was more light sensitive, which meant that… Continue reading Stereo collodion negatives

A very interesting 8,5x17cm French tissue of a workshop where stereoviews were made. The back has the inscription Fabrication de cadres photographiques, 7e série no. 1 and the name A. Aubenas, Verny. According to Denis Pellerin, the stereoview is manufactured by Alexis Gaudin in c.1860[1]. Alexis Gaudin (1816-1894) was one of the pioneers of stereo… Continue reading Stereoview workshop by Gaudin

The glass stereoviews of Ferrier & Soulier were of a high technical and artistic level. They were very popular in the 1850s and 1860s and were admired as the finest produced. Claude-Marie Ferrier worked as a photographer for Jules Duboscq and created the first stereo daguerreotypes for him. These could be viewed with the Brewster-style stereoscopes that were manufactured… Continue reading Ferrier & Soulier stereoviews

Francis Frith (1822-1898) was an English photographer who became famous for his photographs of Egypt and the Holy Land that he took on three trips. His photographs were also published as a collection of 8,5x17cm paper card and glass stereoviews. Frith started his career as a wholesaler in the grocery business. He earned a fortune, allowing him… Continue reading Francis Frith stereoviews of Egypt