What is an Ambrotype?

An ambrotype is one of the earliest forms of photographs. Also called ambros, they are negative images that are transferred to glass. A backing is applied to the glass, creating a positive image. Developed by Frederick Scott Archer in 1851, they had a lifespan of only a decade or two, and were already dying out in the 1860s thanks to the tintype and later forms of card stock-like photos called carte de visites (CDVs) and cabinet cards.

To make an ambrotype, the photographer first prepares the glass with a collodion solution and then dips it into a silver nitrate solution. The glass is protected from light and placed into the camera. The cameraman exposes the glass to light for several seconds. It is then developed in water and other chemicals and then "fixed" with an early form of sodium thiosulphate. The image now appears, but is tonally backwards. So the back of the glass is painted black or a black cloth or paper is placed behind the glass to make the lights dark and the darks light. This is then placed inside of a case made of varying materials, wood, metal, or plastic.

While outdoor photos were taken as well, most ambrotypes were studio portraits of men, women, and children, taken as gifts for their loved ones. While inked inscriptions or writings on paper identified many of these photos subjects and camera operators, most today remain unmarked, and their subjects anonymous.

Another feature many ambrotypes had was called hand tinting, which is hand painting. Gold buttons, pink makeup, and many colors of clothing were handtinted, usually very beautifully.

The ambrotype was sandwiched in between the fame of the earlier daguerreotype and the newer tintype, which was basically the same process on metal instead of glass. But all of these pioneering photos would take a backseat to the cheaper carte de visite and cabinet cards, photo images mass-produced onto albumen prints and paper cards. Though the process is obviously obsolete and much too impractical for today's photography, there is a handful of modern-day wet plate photographers who still create ambrotypes. Much of the photographers' technical knowledge and skill was decreasingly needed with the newer forms of photography, a photographic trend which continues today.

J.F. Borno enjoys reading and learning about early photographic history. He enjoys learning about antique ambrotypes as well as how to preserve antique photos.