The University of Sydney - Sydney University Museums

Then, does it appear to me that in this age three things are clamorously required of Man in the miscellaneous thoroughfares of the metropolis. Firstly, that he have his boots cleaned. Secondly, that he eat a penny ice. Thirdly, that he get himself photographed. Then do I speculate, What have those seam-worn artists been who stand at the photograph doors in Greek caps, sample in hand, and mysteriously salute the public - the female public with a pressing tenderness - to come in and be 'took'? What did they do with their greasy blandishments, before the era of cheap photography?
Charles Dickens 1860

3.1 A Slow Start

Throughout the 1840s photography in Britain was constrained by Daguerre’s and Talbot’s patents, expensive chemicals and the technical limitations of both processes. The patents Talbot took out between 1841 and 1851 covered his negative/positive process, the use of certain chemicals, and even the use of photographic reproduction for publications. Unfortunately the British government showed no inclination to purchase Talbot’s patent and issue it free to the public, as had been the case with Daguerre’s patent in France.

Amateurs were given some exemptions from Talbot’s patents and vastly improved his process without claiming patent rights for their discoveries. Unfortunately for some, the pressure to give away their discoveries in the name of science had disastrous results. Frederick Scott Archer, the son of a Hereford butcher, discovered perhaps the most significant improvement to the negative/positive process in this period. This was the wet collodion negative which allowed a highly sensitive photographic emulsion to be fixed to glass. He announced it to the world free of patent in 1851. Six years later he died in poverty aged 44, leaving behind a wife and three children.

Daguerre’s process was initially more popular but it was also more expensive. Daguerreotypists in Britain and her colonies had to purchase a license and costly equipment which limited the number of photographers as well as those who could afford to buy their work. In 1855 Talbot gave up his patents and it is from this date that multiple prints, books containing photographs, and the mass production of photographs had their popular beginnings. The stereo format in particular benefited from the easing of patent restrictions and the more ready availability of cameras and photographic equipment. Many new operators took up stereo photography commercially or as a hobby.

3.2 New Technologies

Stereo photography gained significant public attention at the Great Exhibition held in London in 1851. Operators familiar with the daguerreotype process made some of the first commercial stereo photographs. But the daguerreotype’s popularity was short lived and by the end of the 1850s it had been squeezed out of business by two new photographic processes, the ambrotype and the albumen print.

The ambrotype was a collodion negative on glass backed to give it a positive appearance. Like the daguerreotype, it was a one-off process but could produce portraits more cheaply. Albumen prints were highly detailed and could be printed on paper in large numbers from collodion negatives.

By the end of the 1850s albumen prints were used almost exclusively to make stereo photographs. New publishing companies were formed to print and sell huge numbers of these albumen stereo photographs. Soon after its founding in 1854, the London Stereoscopic Company was producing more than 1,000 stereo prints per day. The Company secured a monopoly to produce stereo photographs of the 1862 London International Exhibition and sold more than 300,000 prints during the six months the Exhibition was open.

3.2 The Importance of Being Amateur

In the Victorian era many activities were carried on by amateurs in a manner that we would now describe as professional, but for which there were few if any salaried positions. Many of the important scientific discoveries of the nineteenth century were made by amateurs like Charles Darwin. These amateurs, often of independent means, pursued a wide range of interests in the arts and newly developing sciences. Their interests often covered more than one discipline and many contributed articles on a wide variety of topics to specialist clubs and societies. For instance, the amateur photographer John Dillwyn Llewellyn studied botany and astronomy, collected birds, mammals and rare plants, while also being an accomplished watercolour painter.

In photography’s formative years it was amateurs who did most of the experimenting outdoors while professionals remained in their studios. But in the 1850s a new breed of photographers adopted the subjects and styles pioneered by amateurs. Disliking this commercialising of their hobby, many amateurs abandoned photography in the 1860s, leaving future improvements to the professionals.

3.3 Open Air Photography

The stereo photographs small size effectively standardized and miniaturized many of the requirements for the positive /negative process. This miniaturization when combined with special lenses of short focal length cut exposure times down and brought to life for the first time instantaneous views of street life, and made almost all outdoor photography easier.

Portraiture continued to be the mainstay of many professional photographers, but stereo photography and its suitability for outdoor views inspired a new breed of photographers to embrace subjects outside the studio. Public demand aided this movement as the purchasers of these photographs sought out images similar to those already popularized in painting and etchings. These included still life, sculpture, architecture, genre groups, but by far the most common was the picturesque landscape view.

The period of the 1850s to the 1870s has been described as the ‘golden age’ of British photography. It produced such photographers as Roger Fenton, Robert Howlett, George Washington Wilson, Francis Bedford, Russell Sedgfield, [a_z_list.shtml#England||William England]] and lesser-known figures like Ernest Edwards, James Elliott, and Poulton & Sons, all of whom made magnificent stereo photographs during this period. By the 1860s amateur and professional stereo photographers had beautifully and comprehensively stereographed Great Britain, a remarkable achievement considering British photography’s slow start in the 1840s.