Mlle Rousseau 1864

André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri made this photograph, “Mlle Rousseau,” using the wet collodion process, a popular method in the mid-19th century. The process involved coating a glass plate with light-sensitive chemicals, exposing it in a camera, and then developing the image immediately. The resulting glass negative could then be used to make multiple paper prints. Disdéri patented a way to include up to eight images on a single plate, creating the carte-de-visite, a calling card that also functioned as a portrait. This made photography much more accessible to a wider public, and therefore more lucrative. The multiple exposures seen here were achieved through a combination of careful darkroom work, and a camera with a multi-lensed objective. The wet collodion process was labor-intensive, requiring skill and precision. Yet it democratized image-making, and also centralized it: the photographer now had more control than ever before. The image itself, of a young dancer, shows a society in transition, navigating new technologies and social mores. Disdéri was an astute business man as well as an artist, showing how closely those two roles were becoming aligned.