In the late 1990s, Mann began to create negatives using the collodion wet-plate process, a laborious nineteenth-century technique. It involves coating a glass plate with a syrupy substance called collodion, dipping the coated plate into a solution of silver salts to make it light sensitive, loading the plate into the camera for exposure, and then developing it. The entire procedure, from preparation to development, must be done within minutes, before the collodion dries. The resulting glass negative can be used to produce positive prints on any kind of photographic paper, including Mann’s preferred gelatin silver paper.

Although most nineteenth-century photographers worked hard to craft flawless negatives, Mann recognized the poetic potential of technical imperfections. Chance became a determining element of her method, and she found herself praying to the “angel of uncertainty,” believing that “aesthetic luck . . . is just the ability to exploit accidents.”