Displaying Dry Plates?

[MatthewDunn]

Is anyone using a dry plate proper as the final piece of "art"? If so, I am very much interested in how you are choosing to display it. Another question - do dry plate "positives" exist (on glass, I understand there are tintypes, etc.). If not, is there a way to simulate, via lighting or backing paper, the "reversal" effect so that you can use the dry plate as the final piece (as most people would expect to see it)?

Quite obviously interested in all thoughts by @Nodda Duma and anyone else he might suggest.

Thanks in advance.

 

[bdial]

You could treat the negative like an ambrotype and mount it over a black background.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrotype

 

[MatthewDunn]

You could treat the negative like an ambrotype and mount it over a black background.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrotype

But isn't the ambrotype itself a positive? I am just having difficulty imagining a negative image (in which the skies are dark, for instance) against a black background. Am I understanding what you are proposing correctly?

 

[bdial]

It's a negative, but looks like a positive because of the black backing. The light reflects off the dark areas emulsion, so they appear light in comparison to the (clear) shadow areas that are filled by the dark background.
You can mimic the affect by looking at the emulsion side of a negative so that you have light reflecting off the exposed emulsion area with something dark behind the neg.

 

[koraks]

It's a negative

A very, very thin negative. Ambrotypes don't work well if they have the kind of density to them of a negative.

 

[Lee Rust]

Ask Nick Brandreth at the George Eastman Museum about dry plate positives. I believe he mounted a sizable exhibition of them. He's also into color images from Lippmann plates.
https://nickbrandreth.tumblr.com

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

From what I understood based on a previous conversation with @Nodda Duma, his dry plates can be reversal processed just like B&W slide film to get positive on plate. I want to try it sometime in the future.

 

[Nodda Duma]

You can print onto dry plate like you would onto paper, either under an enlarger or contact printing.

You can also reverse process. You can do all the things that people have tried with film, except it’s on glass.

In addition, I’ve been working with Lee Lira on a dry plate ambrotype process, making positives on black glass though we test a lot on clear glass.

 

[radiant]

I made this kind of display for negatives which are probably close to dry plates:

https://www.photrio.com/forum/attachments/dscf6921-jpeg.250234/

https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/turning-negative-film-to-positive-without-liquids.176575/

 

[MatthewDunn]

Ok, these are ALL very interesting and helpful answers. Thanks much.

 

[removed account4]

Hi Matthew
there is another way to do reversals that is in this meandering thread
https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/reversal-print-processing-video-new-approach.153447/
it has to do with paper but with coated glass or metal or whatever, you can do it with any emulsion
I haven't used a camera and film in a while ( I slipped and fell in a deep rabbit hole and had tea with the queen )
but I have been planning on doing these with glass and metal and paper coated with emulsion... the trick is
to have the right concentration of citric acid you can use dollar store 3% peroxide and its a lot of fun..
I've also had loads of fun doing old school ferrotype reversals ( like Jason mentions ) and have attempted to
concoct my own reversal bleaching developer but as I mentioned I was having tea with the queen for a few years
and everything I had been planning on doing before was put on hold..

have fun! ( and don't listen to the hype that they aren't authentic because they replaced that process by the early 1900s
the only difference is the developers &c were all proprietary so the recipes weren't all in the public domain )
John

ps. regarding how to display them, that's the million dollar question . no clue !