Collectable Photographs

A family group from the early 20th century. They were prosperous shopkeepers from Bolton in Lancashire. The little girl on the right was my grandmother.

At one time it was possible to pick up old photographs quite easily and pay only a few pence for them. Now early Victorian photographs have become very collectable and so increasingly rare and expensive.

Most collectors specialise in collecting either one type of photograph, e.g. lantern slides, stereographs or tin types, others in collect photographs relating to a particular subject like cricket, aviation or personalities.

Types of Photographs

Calotypes - Invented by William Fox Talbot and patented by him in 1841, this process used good quality paper treated with potassium iodine and silver nitrate solutions. After exposure a negative image was produced which was developed then fixed. A positive image could then be made from the negative. It is the resulting prints that are collected rather than the calotypes themselves.

Collodion - This wet plate process became immensely popular from the mid 1850s for about 30 years. Scott Archer discovered that Collodian, used as guncotton, if dissolved in ether and mixed with potassium iodide could be used to coat a glass plate which was then sensitized with silver nitrate. Once the plate had been coated the photograph had to taken immediately. This process produced a negative image. 

Collodion Positive - more commonly called Ambrotypes. This was based on the the Collodian process described above, however the negative was under exposed or developed and then had nitric acid or mercuric chloride added when developing to make the picture an grey-white colour which was then put against a dark background so giving the illusion of a positive image.

Daguerreotypes - In 1839, Frenchman, Louis Daguerre, produced the first practical photographic process, the daguerreotype, which led to studios opening across Britain and Europe. The process involved a polished silvered plate sensitised to iodine. After exposure, the plate was developed using mercury vapour. It then had to enclosed in a case or frame to stop the silver oxidising. Because it was a complicated process it fell out of favour as soon as an easier method of taking photographs was invented.

Stereographs - These are two almost identical photographs printed side by side. Viewed through a stereoscope they are seen as one three dimensional picture.

Tintypes -  sometimes known as ferrotypes. These became popular in the 1850s and were easily and cheaply produced. They got their name from the enamelled tin plate sheets used in the Collodian positive process described above. Because they were  so cheap there are many examples still in existence.

These are just some of the different types of photographs that may be collected.

Value of photographs depends, as always, on their desirability. Condition is usually paramount. A photograph that is badly worn or has deteriorated badly will lose much of its value. Often a collection devoted to one subject, with photographs in good condition, will be more valuable than the individual photographs sold separately.

Copyright © 2001 by Carol Fisher

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