Reims_ West Facade of the Cathedral I 1857

This photograph of the west facade of Reims Cathedral was taken by the Bisson Frères in the mid-19th century, using the collodion process. Consider what it meant to make this image at this time, with this new technology. Photography was a chemical process as much as a visual one. The Bisson brothers, specialists in architectural photography, would have lugged a portable darkroom with them, using glass plates coated with light-sensitive emulsion. In this early phase, photography was not just about the eye of the photographer, but the labour of production. The wet collodion process required impeccable timing and a mobile darkroom. This photograph then, is not simply a rendering of Reims Cathedral, but a testament to a specific, complicated, and alchemic process. It represents an era where craftsmanship and chemistry converged to capture the world.