Glass plate negative

[Two boats off beach], 1900 ca., V1985.4.18, William Koch glass plate negatives, V1985.4; Brooklyn Historical Society.

Can you make out the two boats depicted in this photograph? I love the dreamy quality of this image created by the smudges and texture on the glass plate negative. Glass plate negatives are one of the earliest forms of photographic negatives, dating back to 1851. There are two types of glass plate negatives: collodion wet plate negative and the gelatin dry plate. Both techniques require a light-sensitive emulsion that is spread and fixed onto a glass plate.

The photo of the week is a glass plate negative depicting two boats in the water in an unidentified location in Brooklyn, sometime around 1900. This photograph comes from the William Koch glass plate negatives collection that comprises 66 negatives dating from 1890 to 1910. Williams “Billy” Koch was an amateur photographer who documented homes, street scenes, and portraits of people throughout Brooklyn. To see more photographs from this collection, check out this gallery.

Interested in seeing more photos from BHS’s collection? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images. Interested in seeing even more historic Brooklyn images? Visit our Brooklyn Visual Heritage website here. To search BHS’s entire collection of images, archives, maps, and special collections visit BHS’s Othmer Library Wed-Sat, 1:00-5:00 p.m. library@brooklynhistory.org