Wet plate gets its name from the mixture of Collodian, Alchol and Ether that is used to suspend the silver nitrates to the plate. This mixture is poured on to the plate whcih is then placed into the sensitizing bath. The plate most be exposed and the image captured while the collodian is still wet, hence the name.
Civil War Photographers Forum
"Using plate photography, Carnegie photographs his boat, a Venetian Gondola, with an outcome that makes one feel as if each piece is part of a dark funeral procession. Details of the gondola stand out moodily, somewhat eerily. It almost seems as if each image is a ghost that is attempting to reach out to you in order to whisper tales of their sad, snarled lives. " Amber Jordan-Baloy