Specimen of the Month: "Secret" Collection

Almost all museums have some sort of photography collection--even us! We store over 300 nature photos as slides or glass plate negatives. These particular collections, however, are rarely on display. 

Can you remember a time before photos were stored on phones? That's not too much of a stretch--you may very well be storing your own family photos on those plastic strip negatives or even 35 mm slides. But before plastics, photo negatives were made using a sandwich of glass plates and chemical images made with either cellulose nitrate (wet process) or gelatin (dry process) between the two. 

Photographers in the late 19th century had to be both quick and careful to complete their work--equipment for the entire process had to be hauled into the field and utilized on the spot. With all that work in mind, we take significant precautions today to ensure the longevity of these historical negatives. Although the glass plate negatives themselves are not suitable for display, the images and stories they hold can continue to be enjoyed for many years.