Editing Collodion process (section)

==Use==
[[File:North Sydney and Sydney Harbour, by C Bayliss B Holtermann, 1875, XR 45a.jpg|thumb|North Sydney and Sydney Harbour, by C Bayliss B Holtermann, 1875, colossal collodion glass-plate negative]][[File:North Sydney and Sydney Harbour, by C Bayliss B Holtermann, 1875, XR 45a positive.jpg|thumb|A positive of the same image]]Despite its disadvantages, wet plate collodion became enormously popular. It was used for portraiture, landscape work, architectural photography, and art photography.{{Citation needed|date=March 2016}} The largest collodion glass plate negatives produced in the nineteenth century were made in Sydney, Australia, in 1875. They were made by the professional photographer [[Charles Bayliss]] with the help of a wealthy amateur photographer [[Bernhardt Holtermann|Bernhard Otto Holtermann]], who also funded the project.<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article130492755 HOLTERMAN'S PHOTOGRAPHS]. (1875, November 9). Evening News (Sydney, NSW: 1869 - 1931), p. 2. Retrieved November 4, 2018</ref>

Bayliss and Holtermann produced four known glass negatives all of which were taken from Holtermann's purpose-built camera in the tower of his mansion in North Sydney.<ref>The mansion is now part of the [[Sydney Church of England Grammar School]] (commonly known as Shore or Shore School)</ref> Two were 160 x 96.5 cm (5.1 ft x 3.08 ft) and formed a panorama of Sydney Harbour from Garden Island to Miller's Point. The other two were 136 x 95 cm (4.4 x 3.1 feet) and were of the Harbour and Garden Island and Longnose Point. Three of the four are now held by the [[State Library of New South Wales]].<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63106163 BERNARD OTTO HOLTERMAN]. (1875, December 11). Illustrated Sydney News and New South Wales Agriculturalist and Grazier (NSW : 1872 - 1881), p. 3</ref>

The wet plate process is used by a number of artists and experimenters who prefer its aesthetic qualities to those of the more modern gelatin silver process.{{Citation needed|date=March 2016}} World Wet Plate Day is staged annually in May for contemporary practitioners.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.wetplateday.org/|title=Home - World Wet Plate Collodion Day|website=World Wet Plate Collodion Day|language=en-US|access-date=2016-03-23}}</ref> [[Oskar Barnack Award]] winning photojournalist and contemporary collodion wet plate artist Charles Mason<ref>{{Cite web |title=Charles Mason – Saga of the Trapped Grey Whales, 1989 / Leica Oskar Barnack Award |url=https://www.leica-oskar-barnack-award.com/en/series-finalists/1989.html |access-date=2022-10-26 |website=Charles Mason – Saga of the Trapped Grey Whales, 1989 / Leica Oskar Barnack Award |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Charles Mason: Denali through Collodion |url=https://www.anchoragemuseum.org/exhibits/charles-mason-denali-through-collodion/ |access-date=2022-10-26 |website=Anchorage Museum |language=en}}</ref> finds an artistic appeal in the uncertainty of the results of a wet plate photograph that cannot be recreated with modern [[digital photography]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Striving for imperfection |url=https://express.adobe.com/page/86DZJxnx5zDdK/?fbclid=IwAR3Hp5sxeiR-E15PeFP2d3-Se0_19thIvKfMEU-yGxI2JLUnUVombUdjCEE |access-date=2022-10-26 |website=Adobe Express |language=en}}</ref> Mason says "If you plan it, then it becomes contrived, If you just let it happen, it's the gods helping you out."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Striving for imperfection |url=https://express.adobe.com/page/86DZJxnx5zDdK/?fbclid=IwAR3Hp5sxeiR-E15PeFP2d3-Se0_19thIvKfMEU-yGxI2JLUnUVombUdjCEE |access-date=2022-10-26 |website=Adobe Express |language=en}}</ref> In 2018 Mason completed an [[Artist-in-residence|artist-in-residency]] program with [[Denali National Park and Preserve|Denali National Park]] where he produced 24 collodion wet plate images of the park.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Charles Mason's 'Denali Through Collodion' shows in Fairbanks |url=https://uaf.edu/news/charles-masons-denali-through-collodion-shows-in-fairbanks.php |access-date=2022-10-26 |website=uaf.edu |language=en}}</ref>