Paul Anderson

“ For many years photography was largely confined to portraiture and the faithful reproduction of objects and scenes. All that was expected of a camera was to “make a picture” of a thing. Within the last forty years, however, as reproductive processes have been invented, photography has come to be one of the most useful of arts. ”

“ It does not, however, seem probable that photography will ever entirely replace draughtsmanship for the illustration of fiction, since the very strength of the camera,—that is, its surpassing power of rendering accurately the outlines and gradations of natural objects,—operates as a severe limitation in the case of original, imaginative work. ”

“ The decadence of the daguerreotype is to be regretted for at least one reason,—the man who elected to work in that medium was necessarily at least a craftsman, whereas at the present time many photographers are neither artists nor craftsmen, but merely mechanics of only fair skill. Photography has been brought to such a state of perfection that good technical results may be obtained by persons that work by rote and know absolutely nothing of the principles underlying the craft. ”

“ While all these wonders have come to pass in practical service, photography has likewise grown and expanded in the field of fine art. There are photographic art schools, and clubs and exhibitions—all for the purpose of cultivating and developing the camera to the finest forms of expression. We have highly cultivated and skilled photographers who are true artists, and who are engaged in employing photography as a means to fine art achievement. ”

“ The literalness of photography, which prevents its ever competing with etching or painting in imaginative art, makes it of inestimable value in certain realms, and scientists of all sorts, astronomers, physicists, physicians, pathologists, as well as architects, building contractors, business men, who wish a precise and accurate record of any object, recognize the value of the camera. ”

“ A phase of photography that has a very broad scope is motion-picture work, the mechanics of which depend on this fact: If an object is looked at for a time and is suddenly removed from before the eye, the eye continues to see it for an appreciable time after its removal. This phenomenon is called “persistence of vision.” A motion-picture camera is so arranged that a long strip of film can be drawn past the lens in a series of jerks, the shutter being opened to permit the image projected by the lens to fall on the film during the period that the latter is at rest ”

“ Photographs are often admitted as legal evidence in court. It is impossible to overstate the value of the dry-plate to the surgeon, since the X-ray, generated by passing an electric discharge through a glass tube from which most of the air has been exhausted, penetrates many objects that are opaque to ordinary light, and, though invisible to the eye, nevertheless affect a photographic plate, thus making possible a precise diagnosis of fractured bones, gun-shot wounds, digestive disturbances, and many other pathological conditions in which diagnosis without a radiograph would be mere guesswork. ”

“ A camera, then, consists of a light-tight box having at one end an arrangement for holding a lens or a card with a needle-hole in it, and at the other end a device for holding some light-sensitive chemical to receive the image projected by the lens. In modern practice this light-sensitive chemical is almost always bromide of silver or a mixture of the bromide with other silver compounds, these chemicals being held in an emulsion of gelatine. When the gelatine emulsion is coated in a thin film on a sheet of glass the result is known as a dry-plate, or, simply, a plate. ”

“ Today, pictorial illustration depends on photography, and there is apparently little or nothing in life beyond the reach of photographic art. It discloses the internal arrangements of human anatomy; it makes a record of the affairs of the heavenly bodies; it pictures things that the human eye cannot see ”

“ For this reason photography is used not only in astronomy but in many other branches of science, among its most important uses being the making of records of microscopic objects.
A device carrying a photographic plate is attached to the eye-piece of a microscope; the plate being exposed affords, on development, a precise record of the subject under observation. It may be noted that in this case, as in astronomical photography, no camera lens is required; the microscope, like the telescope, projects an aërial image which is impressed on the plate. ”

“ Many workers have tried, with varying success to devise a means whereby photography could be made to reproduce not only the outlines and gradations of natural objects but the colors as well, and there is now available a method of great worth for this purpose. In brief, it consists in making, by one exposure in an ordinary camera, a set of three-color negatives, each of which represents that portion of one of the primary colors—violet, green and red—which was reflected from the subject. ”

“ There are few forms of portraiture art that equal in beauty choice early examples of daguerreotype photography. They have the exquisite delicacy, softness and individual charm of the best miniature portraits. Good old daguerreotypes are treasured possessions in the homes of many families—and rightly so, for they combine a fine quality of art with a gentle personal appeal. ”

“ The motion picture, in worthy hands, can be made an educational medium of great value, not only in the dramatic art but in many other ways. Films frequently show scenes of historical interest, life in foreign lands, industries. Scientific subjects are treated, such as the peristaltic movements of the intestines and the action of the heart, photographed by means of the X-ray; also the life cycle of micro-organisms, the microscope being used in this case—and many other activities of life. ”

“ If an observer looks into the eye-piece of a telescope he can discern only those heavenly bodies that send to the earth a certain minimum of light; but when a photographic plate is exposed for long periods there is a cumulative effect of light on the sensitive emulsion. That is, the long-continued impact of the light rays causes, little by little, a gradual change in the constitution of the sensitive silver salt. ”

“ Then there is the swinging camera, by means of which a wide sweep of view can be included in one plate. A device of great practical value is photo-telegraphy, by which portraits for purposes of identification can be sent by cable and by wireless. In modern warfare the uses of the camera are many and varied. They include panoramic photography, photographing by moonlight, photographing of projectiles in the air, even photographing the noise of a gun by recording the vibrations due to the displacement of the air, photo map-making, photo surveying from the air, and the aviation gun camera. ”

“ In the former case, however, the photographer cannot be regarded as more than an exceptionally sensitive and perceptive craftsman, and in the latter instance the camera user, of course, ceases to be a photographer and becomes a creative artist, using photography merely as a basis on which to construct an imaginative result. ”

“ We cannot, therefore, see objects whose diameter is less than about two-ten-thousandths of a millimeter. But the photographic plate is sensitive to shorter waves than the eye; these waves are known as the ultra-violet. By illuminating the microscope stage with ultra-violet light it therefore becomes possible to photograph objects so small that they must forever remain invisible to the naked eye, unless, indeed, the progress of human evolution brings with it increased sensitiveness to the shorter wave lengths. ”

“ The practice of photography depends primarily on the fact that certain chemical compounds are changed into other compounds by the action of light. Another fact is closely allied with this, namely, that a suitably constructed lens of glass or other transparent material, or a fine needle-hole used instead of a lens, will project the image of objects placed in front of it. ”

“ Spherical aberration is the inability to bring to a focus the rays of light that pass through the lens near the margins at the same time as those that pass through near the center. For these reasons—and, in lesser degree, some others—the eye cannot see sharp lines, and a lens that gives sharp definition to the edges of objects produces results that are esthetically unpleasing, because foreign to our experience. ”

“ Other processes give different effects, one of the most valuable to the pictorial worker being gum-platinum, in which a completed platinum print is coated with a gum-pigment film and printed under the negative a second time, the final result being a gum-pigment image superposed on the platinum image. Of all printing mediums the one that has most intrinsic beauty, and is at the same time most capable of rendering satisfactorily the gradations of the negative, is probably platinum, so this is most used by pictorial workers. ”

“ Next, the color of a bromide print is limited to black and varying shades of brown, unless chemical toning is resorted to, which still further reduces the stability of the image. But a bromoil may be of almost any color, and, indeed, of different colors in different portions of the picture. The greatest advantage of the bromoil process, however, lies in the fact that as much or as little ink as may be desired can be put on any given area. By varying the consistency of the ink it can be made to adhere more or less freely. ”

“ It is regrettable that so many photographers of the present day shun out-door portraiture, for there is unquestionably a great opportunity in that class of work. The claim of some photographers that out-door light is not satisfactory for portraiture is refuted by Hill’s results.
Hill was not a great painter. His works in that medium are well-nigh forgotten, but he was unquestionably a man of great sensitiveness, who possessed the quality of psychic insight so necessary to a portrait worker. ”

“ However, the value of color to the scientific worker is incalculable, as will be realized at once on considering only one of the possible applications—namely, the study of skin affections. It is interesting to note that several methods have been devised for the reproduction of natural colors in motion-picture work—the familiar method of coloring the positive film by hand being only an approximation to truth. ”

“ The length of the negative film was undoubtedly more, on account of retakes, cuts, and so on. An expenditure of five or six hundred dollars for film, however, is but a small item in the cost of producing an elaborate photo-play, for the actors receive large salaries—though not so large as the press-agents would have us believe—and the cost of scenery is great. The production of photo-plays is nevertheless a profitable industry, as may be understood from the fact that the average daily attendance in this country is estimated at about twelve million. ”

“ If one placed in the small hole in the shade a glass lens to give a sharp image, and substituted for the wall a movable screen, on which the projected objects could be focussed, one would have the essential elements of a modern camera. ”

“ The writer once saw a photo-play version of a fairly well-known book, in which the producer had changed an elderly, gray-haired, quiet, experienced cattleman into a cheap imitation of a Bret Harte gambler of thirty years of age, the purpose of this metamorphosis being to transform a noble and self-sacrificing affection into a piece of gaudy sensationalism. ”

“ The soft-focus lens—of which there are numerous makes—is so designed that it possesses the errors that are normal to the eye, and therefore—if the characteristic softness of definition is not over-done by a too enthusiastic worker—gives results having an agreeable vagueness of outline. ”

“ In extreme cases the X-rays may cause complete destruction of the skin and even cancer, and before the properties of the X-rays were so well known as at present many operators lost hands, and some their lives, as a result of excessive exposure to the rays. At present, X-ray workers shield themselves, and, when necessary, the patient, with lead screens, that metal being practically opaque to the rays. ”

“ Of course this method requires that the telescope move with the same angular velocity as that of the earth’s rotation, so that the image of each star may remain in precisely the same position on the plate during the entire time of exposure. Otherwise the star would be represented as a trail of light, the slightest variation in the speed of rotation being sufficient to cause blurring of the image. It is apparent that the clockwork employed for driving the telescope must be a marvel of accuracy. ”

“ But, since it is expensive and requires daylight or strong artificial light for printing, nearly all commercial workers prefer the somewhat less beautiful and less permanent, but more convenient, gas-light paper, so-called because it can be manipulated entirely by gas-light, neither daylight nor a dark-room being required. This medium consists of paper that has been coated with an emulsion somewhat similar to that used for plates, but requiring much longer exposure. ”

“ Ordinarily, the light by which a microscopic object is examined passes through the slide, so that an opaque object is really seen only as a silhouette, but in dark ground illumination an opaque background is placed behind the object, and the light is allowed to fall on it from the sides. ”

“ This not only increases the vigor of the image but at the same time improves its stability, so that it is less likely to fade as the result of atmospheric action or exposure to light. The effect of the chloride of gold is literally to gold-plate the image. As the surface of the completed daguerreotype is very sensitive to any mechanical action, it must be protected by glass. A mere touch of the finger leaves an irremediable scratch. ”