Frederick Scott Archer

Archer was born in 1813 at Bishop's Stortford in the UK. He invented the photographic collodion process which preceded the modern gelatin emulsion and is remembered mainly for this single achievement which greatly increased the accessibility of photography for the general public. He found that calotype photography was useful as a way of capturing images of his subjects. Unsatisfied with the poor definition and contrast of the calotype and the long exposures needed, Archer invented the new process in 1848 and published it in 'The Chemist' in March of 1851, enabling photographers to combine the fine detail of the daguerreotype with the ability to print multiple paper copies like the calotype. Archer died in 1857. His death is unknown but it is said that he had poor health.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Scott_Archer

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