Gardner's Gallery, 7th and D Streets, Washington, D.C. 1864

This photograph of Gardner's Gallery in Washington, D.C. was made by Alexander Gardner using the wet collodion process. This technique, popular in the mid-19th century, involved coating a glass plate with a light-sensitive chemical emulsion. The process itself was demanding, requiring portable darkrooms for on-site preparation and development. The resulting images, like this one, have a distinctive tonal range and clarity, and their sepia tones create a sense of immediacy. Gardner, trained as a journalist, understood the power of photography to capture and disseminate information, and his gallery became a hub for portraiture, landscape views, and documentation of the Civil War. The very act of making photographs was a form of labor, involving skilled technicians and specialized equipment. Gardner's commercial success reflects the growing demand for photographic images during this period, indicative of photography's role in shaping visual culture and historical memory. The photograph thus becomes a document of its own making, capturing not only a place but also the social and technological conditions of its production.