Photograph taken by Keliy Anderson Staley 2009
The finished ambrotype will be painted and varnished on the back inside of a reproduction antique case with an oval fancy gold matte.



            Early one cool morning on March 3rd, I walked with my father towards the Dana Warp Mill in Westbrook. On this day, I had arranged for my father to document the process of having an ambrotype portrait of me, inspired by the antique ambrotype taken in 1863 of my great, great grandmother Martha Roberts, taken by Charles Gooding, an early Westbrook Photographer. I commissioned Keliy Anderson-Staley, a photographer who most recently gave a class at the Bakery Collective in Westbrook at the old Dana Warp Mill. She has Maine roots but today she has a photography studio in New York City. In  addition to her own studio, she also works at the Center for Alternative Photography [www.capworkshops.org] To see her original portraits, please check out her website www.andersonstaley.com   Keliy was very interesting to speak with as her interests included all early photographic technique and she was very familiar with many early works of photographers such as Brady, Gardner and Curtis, to name a few. I was most interested in seeing her perform her work. She took me into the darkroom area and showed me the chemicals she had mixed about two weeks beforehand. She mentioned several ingredients for the mixture; one ingredient included grain alcohol. First she paid close attention to getting the glass cleaned very well before she poured the mixture onto it. The mixture appeared to be the color and consistency of honey. She covered the whole plate with it, careful not to waste the mixture, pouring off the excess back into the bottle. Afterwards, she took the plate and slid it vertically into a silver nitrate wash, all self contained.
             Upon my arrival, she had the old reproduction large wooden handmade camera fitted with an antique lens already in place. There was a chair seated with bright fluorescent lighting on both sides. I had my head rested on an armature type head piece so as not to move my head during the photograph. Keliy explained that she would go to the darkroom, and get the plate, all self contained to slide into the back of the camera. First she would be sure I was seated and in focus before she did all of this. She reminded me of photographers of yesteryear when she had a black cloth draped over her head as she peered through her camera. On this day, I was to have 5 portrait settings. From this selection, I would choose the best. The first portrait, I was told not to smile much because it would look as if I had a mouth full of food. It was alright if I blinked because the length of exposure would correct the blinking eye problem. If I moved my eyes around the room, it would appear I was cross- eyed. The first portrait, she held the large lens cover over the lens and counted to three. On the count of three, she removed the lens cover and counted till ten and then she replaced the lens cover. She then slid the self contained plate from the back of the camera and ran to the darkroom. In a matter of moments, she came out with a tray with a wash that allowed me to see the portrait develop before my eyes. This one was a little washed out, so she decided the next one would be an exposure of 7seven seconds. She explained to me that back in the old days, photographers sometimes kept their wet collodian plates in trays covered with honey or some other wet substance to keep them wet until they got back to the studio. Then they would be dried and later painted and varnished. 
             Of interest to me was the difference between Daguerrotypes and Ambrotypes. Daguerrotypes were more mirror image when held at an angle. Ambrotypes were very popular at the time as they cost less than Daguerrotypes and were a positive and a negative at the same time. It took about 25 minutes to do one of the portraits. I sat with her for 1 ½ hours and saw each portrait being processed. Interestingly enough, Martha Roberts, who lived at 341 Saco Street, Westbrook was only 21 years old at the time of her portrait. I am over twice her age for my portrait. I wanted a setting similar to hers and wanted to dress somewhat simple as well. My jewelry would be pearls. Though my hair is just as fine and flat as her hair, I chose to curl mine a little. My eyes may look a little tired however, one eye was watery from the lights. In all, the photo I chose was in my opinion the best representation of who I am. The whole process brought me great satisfaction.