"Strawberries, all ripe! All ripe!" before 1877

John Thomson made this albumen print, “Strawberries, all ripe! All ripe!” sometime in the late 19th century. Photography, though in its relative infancy, had already become a powerful tool, capable of documenting society in unprecedented detail. Here, Thomson turns his lens towards the bustling street trade of London. He uses the wet collodion process, which yields a glass negative from which multiple prints can be made. This was a labor-intensive process, requiring portable darkrooms and careful chemical handling. Yet it allowed for a relatively democratic mode of image-making, far removed from the elite world of painting. The albumen paper itself, coated with egg white, gives the print its characteristic sheen and tonal range. The image captures not just the scene, but also the energy and effort of these street vendors, reminding us of the often-invisible labor that underpins urban life. It's a powerful demonstration of how photography could bring attention to the working classes and their contribution to the city.