Little Women cast captured in 1800s-style photoshoot to reflect era of film

Emma Watson was ‘especially intrigued’ by the old-fashioned collodion process used by photographer Wilson Webb

The cast of Little Women delved into the historical setting of their film by taking part in an 1800s-inspired photoshoot.

The novel of the same name, written by Louisa May Alcott and published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869, follows four sisters as they navigate life in America in the 19th century.

In Greta Gerwig‘s 2019 film adaptation of the tale, a large part of the sisters’ characterisation lies in their distinctive ensembles, with the feature receiving an Oscar nomination for costume design.

While the film was still in production, photographer Wilson Webb visited the set to capture nine members of the core Little Women cast, using a method first invented in the mid-1800s – called the collodion process – in order to paint each character in an old-fashioned light.

The Twitter and Instagram accounts for the film shared the images online, outlining how Webb worked with production designer Jess Gonchor to find different backgrounds “that might correspond with each character”.

“The actors were very accommodating and enjoyed seeing the process of making each image,” Webb stated.

“I explained what I was doing and they could see the image fade up from black as it developed. Emma was especially intrigued and said she wanted a wet-plate studio in her house.”

The Little Women social media accounts outlined that the collodion process, which was invented circa 1851, is also known as “tin type or wet plate photography”.

“The photo has to be taken while the tin or plate is wet with light sensitive chemicals and exposed before the plate dries or else the process will not work,” it stated.

“Around 25,000 Watt-seconds of flash was used for each photo. It was so bright that you could feel and smell the heat of the light, similar to a thunderstorm.”

The description of the process stressed how “so much care” must be taken when it came to selecting clothing and backgrounds of particular colours, as warm colours appear darker than usual and cool colours become light when the photographs are developed.

The camera lens used to photograph the cast of 'Little Women' is 139 years old (Courtesy of Wilson Webb)

Every image needed around 10 minutes to prepare, expose and develop, with another half an hour required to “clean, dry, and then seal with varnish and an open flame”.

“Each plate is an ordinal, a one of a kind. This process did not allow for copies to be made,” it stated.

Webb explained that the actors needed to sit “very still” for their individual photographs, “not because the exposure was long but because the amount of image in focus is less than one inch deep”.

“It takes 10 to 20 seconds to set up the plate to be exposed so if someone moved slightly the photo would be out of focus,” the on-set photographer said.

For the photo shoot, lights and backgrounds were set up on the set of the March sisters’ family home.

The cast, which includes Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh and Emma Watson, would sit for their photographs when they had a few minutes to spare during filming.

In Ronan’s portrait, she sits at a table with sheets of paper underneath her left hand, in keeping with her character Jo’s profession as a writer.

Meanwhile, Pugh stands with what appears to be a bust or vase in the background, a nod to her skill set as an artist.

To read The Independent’s review of Little Women, click here.