Oldest Family Photo
I had an easy time finding my oldest family photo because my mom has detailed family history information on ancestry.com and we also have a family tree book with many old photos. I was going to use a photo from 1896 my mom found in the book, until we found this one from 1895 on ancestry.com. I found out from the information that my mom had posted online that the photo was of my maternal great-great grandparents on their wedding day in Marshfield, Oregon, which is now known as Coos Bay. Their names were Selma Sealander and Johan Grahn, but he changed it to John or Johnny Grant in order to be more American. Selma arrived in the U.S. in 1882 at seven years old, while Johan arrived in 1887 at age nineteen. They were both from Finland, with Selma from Karlby and Johan from Kronoby. They might have come through Ellis Island, but my mom and I haven’t found any proof of that. Selma was 20 years old in the photo and Johan was 28. They had five children, one of which was Ellen Irene Grant, who was my great grandmother, or my grandmother’s mother. Selma and Johan were married until Johan died at age 85, which was 57 years after the photo was taken. Selma died in 1968 at age 92. I hadn’t known any of this information or seen this photograph before this project, so it was interesting to learn a bit more about my family.
Old Process/New Artist
I had an easy time finding my oldest family photo because my mom has detailed family history information on ancestry.com and we also have a family tree book with many old photos. I was going to use a photo from 1896 my mom found in the book, until we found this one from 1895 on ancestry.com. I found out from the information that my mom had posted online that the photo was of my maternal great-great grandparents on their wedding day in Marshfield, Oregon, which is now known as Coos Bay. Their names were Selma Sealander and Johan Grahn, but he changed it to John or Johnny Grant in order to be more American. Selma arrived in the U.S. in 1882 at seven years old, while Johan arrived in 1887 at age nineteen. They were both from Finland, with Selma from Karlby and Johan from Kronoby. They might have come through Ellis Island, but my mom and I haven’t found any proof of that. Selma was 20 years old in the photo and Johan was 28. They had five children, one of which was Ellen Irene Grant, who was my great grandmother, or my grandmother’s mother. Selma and Johan were married until Johan died at age 85, which was 57 years after the photo was taken. Selma died in 1968 at age 92. I hadn’t known any of this information or seen this photograph before this project, so it was interesting to learn a bit more about my family.
Old Process/New Artist
Wet Plate = The process of wet plates was invented by Frederick Scott Archer in 1851.
It is mostly used to make negatives, but, if adjusted, can produce positives as well. When used to make negatives, a clear piece of glass is coated in iodized collodion and then the plate is submerged in a silver solution in the darkroom. Next, the plate needs to be exposed in a camera before the chemicals on the plate dry out. After the plate is developed and fixed, the negative can be printed on any material, but albumen paper is most common.
Source: http://www.photographymuseum.com/primer.html
Hills and Saunders (Victorian photographic firm), 1872
Source: http://www.earlyphotography.co.uk/site/gloss10.html
Contemporary Wet Plate Artists:
“Nordic Man", Quinn Jacobson, 8.5" x 6.5" (Whole Plate) Black Glass Ambrotype September 6, 2009 Gotheburg, Sweden
Source: http://studioq.com/blog/2009/9/8/goteborg-sweden-wet-plate-collodion-workshop.html
German Murillo Photography
Source: http://www.germanmurillophotography.com/gallery/Wet_Plate/
Sebastien Arbona
Source: http://www.alternativephotography.com/wp/open-blog/at-the-corcoran-gallery-taking-his-time
"Darkness" by Sarah Lycksten
Source: http://www.alternativephotography.com/gallery3/Sarah-Lycksten/Wet-plate-collodions
Mark Sink
Source: http://iconolo.gy/archive/mark-sinks-wet-plates/645
