Since prehistoric times man has been making images of himself and the world around him. Until comparatively recently the processes involved have required skills possessed by only a few privileged individuals. The growth of portraiture in Europe from the time of the Renaissance was restricted to those wealthy enough to commission a painting. During the 18th century a growing middle class created a demand for less expensive methods of preserving an image of themselves....

Joseph Nicéphore Niépce is generally acknowledged as the first successful photographer who in 1826 or 1827 used his heliography process to capture an image that remained fixed. This process was however limited by the extremely long exposure time required by the materials involved. Shortly after this achievement, he was introduced to French artist and businessman Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre (1787-1851) through their optician, Charles Louis Chevalier, who manufactured the lenses for their Camera Obscura....

When Louis Daguerre presented the results of his pioneering photographic work to the world in 1839, the daguerreotype appeared to stand alone as a unique technological achievement. The invention and subsequent improvements perfectly addressed the primary concerns of the photographic community; to capture real-world images using a relatively short exposure time; to yield an image of acceptable resolution and aesthetic value; and to create an image demonstrating a fade-free permanence. That the daguerreotype did all this so well, with no legal or patent restrictions on the practitioner, it was no wonder that the process quickly found a near fanatical following throughout the world....

The advantages of easy duplication brought by the paper negative were to some extent outweighed by its disadvantages. The paper fibres imparted a distinct mottle to the print even when the negative had been waxed - limiting the resolution of fine detail. It was realized that the problem would not exist if glass could be used as a support for the sensitive material. However since glass was not absorbent like paper, a suitable coating had to be found to carry the light-sensitive salts....

The strict time constraints of the collodion process meant that the photographer needed to assume a near-professional approach to the task at hand. The photographer needed to be able to bring all the required chemistry on-site, and required either a permanent studio or transportable darkroom facility to prepare and develop his plates. For photography to gain wider popularity a less demanding process was required. Slow drying plates In early attempts to create a dry-plate process photographers used a variety of substances to keep the collodion plate moist for longer periods and extend the working time of the photographic plate....

George Eastman, a young American bank clerk, became interested in photography in 1877. He bought a wet-collodion setup, took lessons from a local professional photographer and soon became dissatisfied with the messy and cumbersome process. As a result, his entrepreneurial efforts were fueled by a compulsion to continually improve the science of photography and to broaden its appeal towards the common man, “to make the camera as convenient as the pencil....