Photographic Processes an Types

Daguerreotype

• silver-coated copper plate

• direct positive

• one-of-a-kind

• mirror-like, shiny, shifting between positive and negative depending on angle held at

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• created by Louis Daguerre in 1837 from building on the work of Niepce

• earliest form of photography It produced a unique image and was the earliest photography form

• Presented to the French Academy of Sciences in 1839, where it was declarred as a public good so it wasn’t patented

• process

  • prepared silver plate that is cleaned and ploished

  • exposed with iodine fumes

  • exposed in camera obscura

  • expose plate to mercury fumes

  • fix with sodium chemicals

  • rinse with distilled water

  • heat plate dries it completely

• based on Nicephore Niepce stablizing the heliograph to produce the first photograph

calotype

• paper (sensitized with silver salts)

• negative-positive (reproducable)

• first process to use a paper negative, allows multiple positive prints to be made (grainier/softer in detail)

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• salted paper print

• invented by william henry fox talbot in England, patented in 1841

• allowed for multiple positive prints from a single nagative via contact printing

• preperation

  • paper is soaked in solution of silver nitrate whihc will react with sodium chloride to produce silver chloride (light sensitive paper)

  • placed in camera obscura and exposed to light → the more light the darker the image which creates a negative

  • fix with potassium iodine and sodium chloride

• first negative base photograph

• downside: fades easily after exposure due to light sensitivity

• these images were used in the first photobook → Pencil of Nature

• promoted as more artistic photography type

cyanotype

• paper or cloth

• monochromatic

• uses iron salts instead fo silver, produces distinct blue color

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• from John Herschel in 1842

• iron based

• origins of the blueprint

• made famous by Anna Atkins to document algae and ferns

• proces:

  • coat paper in iron salt chemicals

  • objects are placed on the sensitized surface and is exposed to UV light

    • this exposure turns exposed areas dark blue and covered areas are white

  • print is rinsed in plain water

  • oxidizes in the air to develop deep blue color

photogram

• cameraless process

• place objects on cyanotype sheet and expose to light

• negative shadow image → uncovered areas turn black

• process

  • place items onto light sensitive paper under a light

  • expose to light

  • dip paper into fixing chemicals

• created by Tolbot and Herschel across the 1800s

albumen print

• process

  • cotton paper coated with egg white and salt

  • dipped in solution of silver notrate and water

  • the particles sit on top of the paper fibers

  • exposed to light under negative

  • fixed and dried to produce glossy surface

  • clearer sharper image

• image rests on top of the paper not int he fibers

• invented 1847 by Louis Desire Blanquart-Evrard

• first commercially mass-produced photographic paper process

• collodion glass negative backed to make positive

collodion

• wet plate nagative

• collodion = syrupy gelitan solution

• collodion process

  • Frederick Scott Arcger in 1851

  • process

    • clean plate

    • coat in collodion

    • sensitze with silver nitrate in dark room

    • expose

    • develop

    • varnish (protection)

  • improved reproduction → glass is more durable than paper

  • enhanced clarity

ambrotype

• glass collodion

• underexposed negative backed with dark material

• appera positive when viewed against a black backing, lacks mirror sheen of a daguerreotype

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• from James Ambrose Cutting (England), patents in 1854

• process

  • a clean glass plate is coated with a sticky substance (collodion) then dipped in silver notrate

  • exposed in camera

  • underexposed glass negative

  • glass nagative on dark background

• unique images

• hologram quality

• cheaper than daguerreotype

tintype

• describes by Adolphe-Alexandre Martin in France in 1853, patented in the US by Hamilton Smith in 1856

• unique images

• cheaper than daguerreotypes

• expose a thin sheet of iron/metal that is coated in enamel

• wet-plate process: coat in collodion, expose in camera while wet, develop in dark room

• creates a negative image bu the dark backgroundmakes underexpossed areas appear bright

cartes de visite

• visiting cards

• albeumen print

• invented in Paris in 1854 by Andre Adolphe Eugene Disderi

• camera with several lenses and moving plate to create mutiple images

• 2.5 × 4 images

• printed on paper but mounted on cardstock

• very cheap

  • mass market and bulk buying

  • leads to posing stands and formuleic process

• conventions helped stabilize ideas of the middle class

• mailed around to relatives, almost treated like trading cards

• used in Mexico as a way to circulate political propoganda

photomicrography

• one the earliest sub-specialties of photography

• removed the need for photographers to draw

• practice of creating images through a microscope to enlarge specimen too small to be seen

• connection between scientist and telescope in portraiture

• study of snowflakes (wilson Alwyn Bentley)

• created in 1840

telescopic photography

• using a telescope to study and capture images of planets and satellites

• telescopy: magnification depends on long focal lengths

• requires very narrow angle of view and good stabilization → 20 minute exposure time

• lunar photographs

  • William and George Bond work with Great Refractor

  • whipple and bond create telographs of the moon with the great refractor in 1852

• from John William Draper in 1840

instantanious photography

• uses self-developing film to create a physical print moments after a picture is taken

• used to see if the flying gallop exists

  • able to capture 12 images over short distances

• Eadweard Muybridge uses in 1878 (develops this process)

  • leads to invention of zoopraxiscope in 1879 to project these images in motion

• self-developing photography or fast-exposure photography

chronophotography

• rotary disk shutter: creats clear and intermittent exposures over predetermined set of rotations

• captures multiple seperate sequential movements of an animate thing

• inspired by Eadweard Muybridge horse photos

  • recording discrete sequential moments of movement on seperate plates

• used to analyze locomotion

• time + writing + lighting

  • long exposure with light painting and strategic lighting

• Marey invents in 1882

geometric chronophotography

• time + writing + lighting

  • long exposure with light painting and strategic lighting

• based on points, lines, and curves in sapce

• motion studies with birds and then sculpture to try and distinguish distinct moments in movement

• developed in 1882 by Etienne-Jules Marey to map and analyze physical movement across space and time on a single photogrpahic plate

  • subjects wore tight fitting black motion suits marked with white geometric stripes, lines, or join markers and performed against a pitch-black backdrop

x-ray

• directs through subject

• camera produces x-rays

• negative recorded on film

  • x-rays penetrate soft tissue, stopped by dense tissue bone

• discovered by Wilhelm Rontgen in 1895

• won nobel prize for work

  • reveals the hidden structure of things

  • maybe this goes to far → “I have seen my death”

  • link between paranormal theories, telepathy, mesmerism

• demonstrations become a visual specticle

kodak brownie

• pocket camera from the Kodak photography compnay

• ment for children

• photography become more readily accessable to everybody

• any one can take a photograph → amateur photography

• very cheap ($1)

• introducedin 1900

• preloaded with film → you push the button we do the rest

photogravure

• photo-mechanical printing process that allows for editing

• glass-plate negative is used to etch an image onto a copper plate

• process of charging (inking) the plate allows for expression

• pictorialism for salvage ethnography

  • soft focus

  • sepia tones

  • abstracting through dark tones

  • image mobilizes an aesthetic to support the idea of salvage athnography

• work of Henry Fox Talbot and Karel Klic, made in 1878

gum bichromate print

• invented in 1850s

• popularized between 1890-1930

• pigment and gum arabic together then exposed to light and negative before being printed

• painting chemicals on a plate gives pianterly effects

  • painterly, textured, and often colorful images → allows photographer to influence these things

• created by Alphanse Poitevin in 1855

• allows choices involving paper texture, color, and the removal or alteration of portions of the image. Multiple layers can also create varied effects

platinum print

• allows for deeper and richer tones

• create image using light-sensitive platium compunds and allows control over tonal qualitites

• light-sensitive iron and platium salt solution

• 1873 from William Willis Jr

• allows local development and careful adjustment of tonal values, helping the photographer recreate the atmosphere and visual qualities of a scene

flash photography

• artificial light source that emits a brief burst of light to illuminate dark scenes, freeze fast motion, or fill in harsh shadows

• circa 1888, Jacob Riis was the first to use magnesium flash powder