Introduction of Dry Plates

“The invention of dry plates (aka the gelatin process) made photography faster and easier. In contrast to the cumbersome wet-plate process, mass-manufactured dry plates did not need to be prepared and processed close to the time of exposure.

 

“Writing in 1894, photographer James Lawrence Breese concisely summed up the impact: “the photographic artists has…a wider range at the present time than ever before, for the modern dry plate, so rapid in its action, permits photography from the rigging of a ship in motion, as well as on the busiest thoroughfare of the metropolis.””

Photographs in Motion/Tonal Variation?

“In addition, early photographic chemicals were not sensitive to the full range of colors in the natural world. They rendered some shades of red and blue as dark black. But by 1900, the responsiveness of black-and-white film to the range of colors was perfected and applied to the dry plate, making it better able to reproduce tonal variation in monochromatic prints.”

 

“Yielding faster exposure times throughout the 1880s, dry plates worked well with new, smaller, and more portable cameras, called hand cameras. In part, the short exposure time of the dry plate led to the design of camera shutters, which could open and close more quickly than the hand could remove and replace the lens cap. The dry plate allowed photographers to record movement and permitted them greater mobility and anonymity. Because the image registered so quickly, the photographer did not need a tripod."

Citation: Marien, Mary Warner. Photography: a Cultural History. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2002.