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Photographic process: The way a photographic image is made. A particular process is distinguished
by its use of chemicals, substances and methods.
Photographic print: The image created by the photographic process. A particular print is made by a
particular process. For
example, the albumen print was created by the albumen process, while the gelatin-silver print is create by
the gelatin-silver process.
Photographic style: The combination of the photographic print and the manner
it is displayed. For example,
the cabinet card is a style of photograph that is comprised of a
4" X 4-1/2"
photographic print pasted to a cardboard mount measuring
about 4-1/2" X 6-1/2."
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Photography is the process of
creating an image on a sensitized surface by interaction with light or
other radiant energy. The
resulting image is called a photographic print.
Over
history there have been many different photographic processes. Some
processes were used long ago, some recently, some had a long duration,
some short, some processes were widely
popular, while others were used rarely.
Each process produces a unique image that can be
identified. Aspects such as
color, texture and type of aging help us distinguish one type of print
from another. The image must
also be examined under a microscope in order to uncover tiny clues.
Photographs
come in various styles. The
style is determined by many things, including size, shape, parts and
use. For example, a real photo
postcard (a postcard with a photographic image on the back) is a style
obviously distinct from a large print that is matted, framed and hung
from the wall. As with processes
and prints, each style had its own history, usually dictated by a
combination fashion, necessity and technology.
This book is meant to provide a
concise guide to identifying and understanding the major photographic
processes and styles, from the origins of photography through the early
years of the 20th century.
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Distinguishing Phaotographs
from Non-Photographs
Not all realistic looking pictures
are photographs, and the collector should be able to tell the
difference between photographs and photomechanical reproductions. The images in this book, for example,
are not actual photographs, but reproductions of original
photographs. The pictures in a
newspaper or magazine, or on most 20th
century baseball cards are ‘photomechanical’ reproductions. While a photograph is made by the
subtle interaction of light or other energy with chemicals, most
photomechanical prints involve a printing press pressing ink against
paper.
A
handheld microscope will allow one to distinguish a photograph from a
non-photograph. Close
examination of a photograph will reveal great subtlety in tones and
shades. The tones can be so
subtle that it seems as if you can’t get microscope in focus. Under the microscope, the
photomechanical print will be made up of tiny dots or similar
patterns. Some color
photomechanical prints appear to have a honeycomb pattern throughout
the whole pattern. Compare a
photograph with a magazine or newspaper picture. Images produced by Xeroxes and
computer printers have a similar dot or honeycomb pattern.
Photomechanical
prints have been around the 1880s, and many examples are as collectable
as photographs. However, the
collector must realize that photographs and photomechanical prints are
two different entities, and that many photograph forgeries are made via
photocopiers and such.
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The Photographic Subject
The subject matter in the image
tells us much about the photograph.
It is essential that the historian or collector be knowledgeable
about the fashion, poses and other subject matter within the genre they
collect. For example, the
collector of American Civil War photographs must be familiar with
uniforms, places, equipment and customs. The collector of baseball photographs
should be familiar with the famous players, uniforms and
equipment. This knowledge is
important in the determination of a photograph's age, worth and
authenticity. It is also an aid
in determining the type of print.
For example, the Calotype, which
thrived in the 1850s, should portray people and places from the era.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF
EARLY PHOTOGRAPHY
As early as the 1500s, artists
used a crude camera as a sketching tool. This ‘camera obscura’
was a giant darkened box with a tiny hole in one side. The outside scene was reflected
upside down on the other wall.
The artist traced this image onto paper, which he later
colored. Some camera obscuras were large enough that the artist could
stand inside.
Scientists
wanted somehow to make the reflected image permanent. In the early 1700s the German
scientist Johan Schulze discovered that silver salts were darkened when
exposed to light. He used light
to create images on silver salts, though he never tried to make the
images permanent. Joseph Nicephore Niepce, a
French physicist, created the first permanent image. Niepce
exposed a light sensitive metal plate in a camera obscura,
then used a special engraving process to
create the image. One of his
photographs from 1826 still exists today.
A
partner of Niecpe, Louis Daguerre, developed
history's first practical photograph, named the Daguerreotype. The Daguerreotype was made on a light
sensitive silver-coated copper plate.
The Daguerreotype was publicly announced in 1839. Within a year, the British scientist,
William Talbot, announced the invention of the first photograph on
paper, called the Calotype or Talbotype.
The Dagerreotype produced the superior
image, and proved to be more popular with photographers and the public.
After
1850, photographic techniques and cameras improved allowing more people
to become photographers. Lenses
allowed more light through, making shorter exposure times. New sticky substances were used to
create photographs. The most prominent of these substances were collodin and albumen. After coating a glass plate with collodin, for example, the photographer dipped the
plate into light sensitive silver salts. This allowed the silver salts to
stick to the plate. This process
worked only when the collodin was still wet,
and was thus named the 'wet-plate' process. As the whole process had to be
performed while the plates were wet, a photographer was required to
carry his dark room with all of his equipment on a wagon when he went
to a photo shoot. The
daguerreotype was replaced by a glass plate photograph, called an ambrotype.
The ambrotype was in turn replaced by
an iron plate photograph, called a tintype. Most paper photographs of the 19th
century used the albumen process, and were called albumen prints.
In
1871 Richard Maddox invented the 'dry-plate' process. Maddox replaced collodin
and albumen with gelatin. Even
when the gelatin dried the silver-salts were still sensitive to
light. This meant that the
photographer could save the developing process for later and didn't
have to take his dark room with him.
In
1888 George Eastman marketed the first camera that could be used by
amateurs. The Kodak camera
contained a roll of film. When
the snapshots were taken, the entire camera was sent to Eastman's
company. The company developed
and printed the pictures, and returned the camera containing a new roll
of film. Soon after, camera
owners could buy kits and develop their own photographs.
AN IMPORTANT TOOL: THE MICROSCOPE
To make a
correct identification of photographic prints, one must make a close
examination of the image surface.
This book not only describes a print’s general, but its
microscopic characteristics. A
microscope of least 30X (30 times) power is needed for examination. The
normal household magnifying glass is not strong enough. I prefer to use the hand held microscope
with a battery powered light source.
Such a microscope is affordable, easy to use and can be carried
in a coat pocket or backpack. A
microscope of 30X power can be bought for $20 and under at many local
stores or on the internet.
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