International photographer (Jan-Dec 1934)

Six T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER February, 1934 Story of Photography in Brief Outline By LEWIS W. PHYSIOC, Technical Editor International Photographer [Rewritten from the S. M. P. E. Journal by the Author for the Souvenir of International Photographers of the Motion Picture Industries, October, 1932.] HE conceptions of the world's more modern disI coveries and inventions have been clearly dis1 closed through the various national patent offices and technical journals. The origin of some of the ancient ideas, however, are veiled in the romantic mists of speculation. They involve such picturesque matter as to furnish ideal subjects for poetic imagination. Pretty tales are told of Newton day-dreaming beneath the apple tree and being aroused from his reveries by the thump of a falling apple, which natural occurrence suggested the theory of that mysterious force we call gravitation. We have been given a picture of young Watts sprawled before the hearth watching the lively antics of the top of the tea kettle under the pressure of steam. And also we are told of Archimedes' boast: "Give me a stick long enough and a place to stand upon and I'll move the earth." In tracing the origin of the art of photography we must go back to the anciently observed phenomenon of the Camera Obscura and our fancy pictures old Alhazen, the Arabian philosopher, about the year 1000 A. D. There he lay upon his easy couch — late abed — after a long nocturnal session over some problem. His chamber was deeply curtailed by the solicitous members of his harem, that his repose might not be broken by the approach of day. When he finally awoke he saw a ray of light entering a chink in the shutter of his window and where the light struck the wall there appeared a vision of what was taking place outside. Camels passed to and fro attended by white robed men and "women in gay colors." The picture was reproduced, there upon Alhazen's wall, with startling realism. And strange to observe, the picture was reversed — a peculiar trick of the laws of optics. Thus may we account for the first principle of photography, i.e., the Camera Obscura. Succeeding students developed the idea, first devising toys and then more useful applications for tracing pictures. It is said that the scholarly Leonardo da Vinci used the device to work out the principles of perspective. Imitating Nature The art of photography combines other branches of the sciences besides the simple phenomenon of the camera obscura, particularly chemistry, to say nothing of clever individual manipulation. But the great moving force back of the development of photography was that great desire, inherent in man from the time of his conscious awakening, to imitate the beautiful in nature. It was this love of pictorial reproduction that inspired some spirit with the desire to fix that fleeting image of the camera obscura. Thus we find the chemists contributing to the solution of the fascinating problem. It had been observed from time immemorial that the action of light affected the tone and color of various substances. Most significant was the discovery, by W. K. Shiele, that silver chloride became darkened when exposed to sunlight. Images in tracery and silhouette were beautifully reproduced by interposing the articles between the light and the silver chloride. But, alas! the same light that produced those images destroyed them so that they were as fleeting as the effects of the camera obscura. French First to Fix Image A young Frenchman named Niepce strayed somewhat from the suggestion of Shiele's and combined a little mechanics with his chemistry and "fixed the image" by spreading a mixture of oil of lavender and asphaltum on a metal plate and exposing it for several hours in the camera obscura. The parts exposed to the light became insoluble and the parts unexposed were dissolved away with a mixture of oil of lavender and petroleum. The metal was then etched, furnishing a plate from which prints could be struck. This process represents not only the first successful attempt to fix the image of the camera obscura, but probably was the first suggestion of the art of photoengraving. The Daguerreotype A scene painter named Daguerre became interested about the same time of Niepce's experiments. He became so smitten with the idea that he neglected his scene painting business and his wife became uneasy about his sanity and had him secretly observed. Daguerre was obsessed with the silver idea, but his experiments were discouraging. However, he was earnest and honest enough to admit failure and he called upon his rival, Niepce, for help and they formed a partnership in 1829. They disputed each other's ideas, but Daguerre insisted that Shiele's silver stunt was the real foundation. Accident came to Daguerre's aid. In a closet where he had stored away some of his faint imaged failures, a bottle of mercury had been spilt and the fumes of the mercury attacked one of the plates and intensified the delicate image. Thus we have the suggestion of the first real photographic process; i.e., a silver plate iodized in a manner to form a thin coating of silver iodide, exposed in the camera obscura to form a faint image and developed by the fumes of mercury. The Talbot Calotype Another period in the development of photography was pointed off by Fox Talbot, a contemporary of Daguerre and Niepce. Talbot used paper instead of the metal support and by waxing the paper negative, to make it more translucent, could produce prints. Talbot's process was important for it appears to be the first practical suggestion for the modern idea of a negative from which many positives could be secured. However, as close to the solution of the beautiful problem as were those experiments, they had no practical value because there was no known way to make the silver image permanent. They could be viewed only in subdued light and eventually turned dark all over. Hypo: (odium Thiosulfate or — Hyposulfiite) In the discovery of Hypo our story of photography is given a dramatic mood. It was necessary to find a solvent which would dissolve only the unexposed portions of the picture and not affect the exposed parts. Many solvents were tried but all impaired the image. In 1819, Sir John Hershel was accredited with discovering that hypo would dissolve the silver chloride without attacking the free silver which formed the picture. However, it was not until 1837 that Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers.