A Peek in the Vault
Glass plate negatives were first introduced in the 1850’s and were used before photographic film. The most popular type of glass plate negatives were collodion wet plate glass negatives (which were used from 1850 till 1885) and gelatin dry plate glass negatives (which were used from 1880 till 1920).* The different types of glass plate negatives refer to how the chemical emulsion on the glass reacts to light when the photograph is taken.**