The gelatin dry-plate negative was first introduced in the 1870s. When it became available to the public in 1881, relatively little equipment, besides a camera, was needed to make prints with the new plates. As a result, amateur photography became a popular middle-class hobby. People could now afford a portable camera that could take snapshots whenever, wherever. With photography no longer confined to the studio space, studios began providing other services besides portraiture. From the 1920s, many diversified into new services such as supplying equipment and materials and processing negative and prints for the amateur photographer.
