Glass plate photography preserves local history

Since French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce first invented photography in the 1820s, it has continued to evolve and improve.

Today, two hundred years after photography was invented, we estimate that seven billion cell phones with cameras take over one trillion photographs a year.

By the time the Civil War broke out in 1861, local photographers were already operating studios in Fairbury.

John Virgin (1838-1900) was a very prominent Fairbury businessman who served in the Civil War. When the Civil War started, separate photographs were taken of John Virgin and his girlfriend Serepta McDowell. During the Civil War, John carried a small photograph of his girlfriend Serepta. Unfortunately, he accidentally dropped the photograph of Serepta on a battlefield. After the war ended in 1865, another Union soldier who found the dropped photograph returned it to John Virgin in Fairbury because the photo was taken by the DeLong studio in Fairbury, Illinois. These photographs are in the Fairbury Echoes Museum archive collection.

Glass plate negatives came into use during the 1850s and remained an important photographic technology for many decades. By the late 1800s and early 1900s, professional photographers widely used glass plate photography. It is called glass plate photography because, instead of the flexible plastic film that later became common, photographers used individual sheets of glass coated with a light-sensitive photographic emulsion to capture the image. In Livingston County, the glass plate negative method was most popular from about 1880 to 1920 when it was gradually replaced by the film method.

In 1910, a family would schedule a family portrait at a local photography gallery. The photographer would arrange the family carefully using his standard furniture and background. Because indoor lighting was limited, the photographer would position the subjects where natural light from large studio windows or skylights could illuminate them, sometimes supplemented by artificial lighting.

The photographer would place a clean, commercially prepared glass photographic plate into a light-tight wooden plate holder. This had to be done in a darkroom or under appropriate darkroom lighting because the light-sensitive emulsion coating on the glass plate could be ruined by exposure to ordinary light. The loaded plate holder was then inserted into the back of the large studio camera.

The photographer composed and focused the image on the camera's ground-glass focusing screen, usually while standing behind the camera under a dark focusing cloth. After focusing, the photographer would insert the loaded plate holder into the camera. A protective dark slide covering the glass plate was then withdrawn, making the plate ready for exposure.

The photographer instructed everyone to remain completely still and removed or operated the lens cap or shutter for the required exposure. Depending upon the available light, the camera, and the photographic plate being used, the exposure could range from a fraction of a second to several seconds. Any movement during the exposure could blur a person's face, hands, or body.

After the exposure, the photographer replaced the dark slide, removed the plate holder from the camera, and carried it to the darkroom. The photographer removed the exposed glass plate and treated it with photographic developer, which made the invisible image on the plate appear. The plate was then rinsed and placed in a fixing solution, which made the image permanent and allowed the plate to be safely exposed to ordinary light.

After another thorough washing, the glass plate negative was carefully dried. The finished plate contained a negative image in which light areas of the original scene appeared dark and dark areas appeared light.

To make the photograph that the family would receive, the photographer used the glass negative to expose photographic paper. The photographer then developed, fixed, washed, and dried the paper photograph. It could be trimmed and mounted on heavy cardboard bearing the photographer's name and studio information. The family could order several prints from the same glass negative, while the photographer often kept the original glass plate negative in his studio for possible future orders.

Although the glass plate negative method was replaced by film for most applications by the 1920s, it remained in use until about 1970 for several scientific fields. Glass-based plates do not shrink or deform noticeably during development or with environmental changes. They continued to be used in specialized fields such as astronomy, high-energy physics, early electron microscopes, and medical imaging.

Glass plate negatives can easily crack or break in storage. The emulsion on the plate can also sometimes deteriorate over time. Many organizations preserve old glass plates because of their historic value.

Fortunately, some very old glass plate negatives have survived for over 100 years and illustrate some very important Livingston County events. Around 1901, a photographer in Cullom, Illinois, used the glass plate negative method. This photographer took photos of the John D. Cook (1840-1930) family and many buildings in Cullom. Somehow, over 80 of his glass plate negatives got moved to California. They were recently mailed to the Livingston County Historical Society. Two of the negatives were confirmed to have been taken in Cullom. Computer images of the glass plate negatives and the glass plates were transferred to the custody of the Cullom Historical Society for further analysis. They offer a unique look into everyday life in Cullom in the 1901 era.

Henry J. Mies (1869-1932) of Saunemin was a history buff, and he learned glass plate photography as a hobby. Like many photographers, Henry kept using his glass plate photography equipment after film made it obsolete. In 1930, the 100^th Anniversary of the first settlers arriving in Livingston County, Valentine and Rachel Darnall, was celebrated. For this historic event, Henry decided it was fitting to use his glass plate photography equipment to capture a photo of the many descendants gathered at Spence Farm south of Fairbury. After taking photos at Spence Farm, he transported his glass plate equipment to three miles south of Chatsworth, where pioneer settler Franklin Oliver lived. Henry took about five photos of the area with key landmarks. These key landmarks were identified by a man who stayed there as a child with his family when Franklin Oliver was still alive. These photographs still exist today and are used by Franklin Oliver history researchers in Chatsworth.

For about five decades, glass plate photography captured historic images of Livingston County families, buildings, and events. It is hoped that more old glass plate negatives will be discovered in the future so we can get unique glimpses into life long ago in Livingston County.

Dale Maley's weekly history feature is sponsored by Dr. Charlene Aaron.