Wet‑plate collodion is an early photographic technique in which each image is made by hand on a metal or glass plate. The plate is coated with collodion, sensitized in silver nitrate, and exposed in the camera while still wet. After exposure, it is developed and fixed immediately, revealing the image as a physical layer of silver on the surface. Because the entire process must happen within minutes, every plate becomes a unique, one‑of‑a‑kind object shaped by light, chemistry, and the conditions of the moment.