PHOTOGRAPHYMotion Picture Photography

SIX

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; the film is drawn on to the next position while the shutter is closed. Naturally, an object moving before the lens will move slightly during the interval between exposures, so the film, when developed, shows a consecutive series of photographs of the object in slightly different positions. A positive print is made from this series of negatives on a similar strip of film. This is projected by means of an apparatus something like the familiar magic lantern or stereopticon, but so arranged that this film may be drawn along in jerks. Each photograph is shown for a fraction of a second, and is replaced, during the time that the shutter is closed, by one showing a slightly later phase of the motion. Because of the persistence of vision the eye blends these successive photographs into one apparently continuous motion. It will be seen that the term “moving pictures” is really a misnomer, since the pictures on the screen do not move, but remain perfectly stationary during the time that they are seen. By taking the pictures rapidly and projecting them slowly the apparent motion may be slowed down, so that a rifle bullet may take three or four minutes to travel across a screen space of as many feet. By taking them at wide intervals and projecting rapidly the motion may be speeded up, and a plant may seem to grow from a seedling to maturity in a few minutes. The ordinary taking and projecting speed is sixteen pictures per second, experiment having shown that this is the least number that the eye will blend satisfactorily. Since each picture is one inch wide by three-quarters of an inch high—in the film—it is evident that each second of time represents one foot of film. The writer has seen a rather elaborately staged photo-play that required an hour and forty minutes for projection; a simple calculation shows that this involved 6,000 feet of positive film—a little over a mile. 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. Assuming that each spectator pays only ten cents, this represents an intake of $1,200,000 daily and, as is well known, the prices of admission in many theatres range from 25 cents up to $1.00 and more. The artistic possibilities of the motion-picture play are obviously limited—it can never hope to rise to the emotional heights of the legitimate drama—but they are none the less considerable. It is to be regretted that the motion picture industry is at present so much in the hands of producers who pander to the coarser instincts of the public, through sensationalism and slap-stick farce; who are often indifferent to detail—the writer has seen a cow-puncher represented as wearing his six-shooter butt-foremost; who treat the author’s work according to their own ideas. A well-known author remarked, on seeing the screen version of one of her books: “If I hadn’t been fairly familiar with the story I wouldn’t have known what it was all about.” In general, firms seem to be more concerned with getting the public’s money than with producing really artistic results. 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. Such tactics cannot fail to displease thinking people, but there are, fortunately, producers to whom these remarks do not apply—really conscientious men of high ideals, and signs are not wanting of an improvement in this regard. 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. Among the most interesting of these films are those produced by the Williamson brothers, showing sea life, though mechanical difficulties have so far prevented the photographing of the most interesting phase of marine life, that of the extreme depths.

WRITTEN FOR THE MENTOR BY PAUL L. ANDERSONILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR. VOL. 6, No. 12, SERIAL No. 160COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.

THE MENTOR ·· AUGUST 1, 1918DEPARTMENT OF FINE ARTS

By PAUL L. ANDERSON

Artist Photographer, Author of “Pictorial Photography”

MENTOR GRAVURESPHOTOGRAPH FROM A DAGUERREOTYPESELF-PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHBY D. O. HILLBROOKS’ COMET

MENTOR GRAVURES

PHOTOGRAPH FROM A DAGUERREOTYPE

SELF-PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHBY D. O. HILL

BROOKS’ COMET

MENTOR GRAVURESPORTRAIT BY BROMOIL PROCESSTHE LAKE, WINTERILLUSTRATION FOR A STORY

MENTOR GRAVURES

PORTRAIT BY BROMOIL PROCESS

THE LAKE, WINTER

ILLUSTRATION FOR A STORY

A DAGUERREOTYPE

Entered as second-class matter March 10, 1913, at the postoffice at New York, N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879. Copyright, 1918, by The Mentor Association, Inc.

Numerous investigators, Daguerre, Niépce, Fox Talbot, and others, have been credited with the discovery of photography, but the fact seems to be that these, and many more, merely contributed, each in his turn, some portion of the total that goes to make up the art as it now stands. Photography means, literally, “light-writing,” the name being derived from two Greek words,phos, light, andgraphein, to write. 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. 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. When it is coated on a strip of celluloid wound on rollers so that successive portions may be exposed to light, it is called a roll film, and when it is coated on separate sheets of celluloid, arranged like a pad, to be exposed successively, it is called a film pack. A similar emulsion coated on paper gives bromide or gas-light paper, which, as will be seen later, is used for making prints. At one time wet collodion plates were generally used, a sheet of glass being coated with collodion and sensitized by bathing it with iodide of silver. The exposure was made before the plate dried; but these plates were inconvenient to handle and have been almost entirely superseded by the gelatine dry plate. The prepared plate, of whatever type it may be, is placed in the camera and exposed for a longer or shorter time, depending on circumstances, to the light projected by the lens, but no image is visible after exposure, (unless, indeed, the exposure has been tremendously excessive,) and the plate must be developed.

From a platinum print by Gertrude Käsebier“BLESSED ART THOU AMONG WOMEN”Portrait Photograph

From a platinum print by Gertrude Käsebier

“BLESSED ART THOU AMONG WOMEN”

Portrait Photograph

From a photograph by Paul L. AndersonA COUNTRY STATION MASTERPortrait Photograph

From a photograph by Paul L. Anderson

A COUNTRY STATION MASTER

Portrait Photograph

There are about fifty different reducing agents on the market; most of them are derived from coal-tar, though some are made from nut-galls, lichens, and other substances. The developer consists of a solution in water of one or more of these reducing agents, with other chemicals to control the action, the exposed plate being bathed in this solution, either in the dark or in a light to which the plate is not sensitive. Wherever light has acted on the silver salts the developer causes metallic silver to be deposited in proportion to the amount of light-action, so that on holding the developed plate up to the light a dense deposit is seen in those parts representing the brightest portions of the subject, while the shadows of the original are represented by thin areas, and the half-tones by deposits of intermediate density. For this reason the developed plate is called a negative. The plate is then bathed in a solution of sodium thiosulphate (generally called “hypo”), which dissolves the unaffected silver salt but does not affect the metallic silver—or at least does so only very slowly. Next, the plate is washed in water to remove all unnecessary chemicals, and is dried. The ordinary plate is sensitive only to ultra-violet (invisible) and violet light, so it cannot render truthfully any subject having color, but by the addition of certain aniline dyes to the emulsion it may be rendered sensitive to green in addition to violet and ultra-violet; it is then described as orthochromatic (“right-colored”) or isochromatic (“equally-colored”). Still other dyes extend the sensitiveness to include not only ultra-violet but also the entire visible spectrum; such a plate is called pan-chromatic (“all-colored”).

From a photograph by Paul L. AndersonA PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPH

From a photograph by Paul L. Anderson

A PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPH

The finished negative, when dry, must of course be printed, and there are many printing mediums available. The carbon process gives an image in lamp-black or some earth pigment, bound up in a film of gelatine; the gum-pigment process gives an image similar to that of carbon, the binder in this case being gum arabic; the platinum process gives an image of black metallic platinum direct on the paper support. 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. 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. The negative is placed in an appliance that holds it in close contact with the paper, then a sheet of paper is put in, and an exposure of a few seconds is given. Obviously, the paper receives most light under the thin parts of the negative and less under the denser portions, so that when the print is developed, fixed, washed and dried the resulting picture is light where the original subject was light, dark where that was dark, and show intermediate gradations where these existed in the original.

Photograph by Karl StrussCAPRI, ITALY

Photograph by Karl Struss

CAPRI, ITALY

From a bromoil transfer by Charles KendallTHE SHADOW OF A SIGN

From a bromoil transfer by Charles Kendall

THE SHADOW OF A SIGN

For purposes of reproduction two processes depending on photography have almost entirely superseded the older methods of etching and wood engraving. These photo-mechanical processes, as they are called, are far more rapid and much cheaper, and are, in addition, more accurate. In photo-gravure the photographic image—copied by photographing the original—is transferred to a copper plate and the plate is automatically etched in an acid bath to varying depths, depending on the depth of shadow in the original. This plate is then inked all over, the ink being worked into the depressions in the copper, and the surface ink wiped off. A sheet of paper is brought into contact with the plate under heavy pressure, and, being forced into the hollows of the copper and taking up the ink from them, a print results. In the less beautiful but cheaper and more rapid half-tone process the copy is made through a cross-ruled glass screen, the image being thus broken up into a series of dots. The image so obtained is transferred to a zinc plate, which is etched in an acid bath or with an acid spray. The dots serve to protect the zinc from the action of the acid.[A]The finished plate shows an image consisting of dots with hollows between them, the dots being large and near together in the shadows, small and far apart in the lights. This plate is inked with a roller, and a sheet of paper, lightly pressed against it, takes up the ink to form a print. Thus it will be seen that photo-gravure is an intaglio (cut-in) process, and half-tone a surface-printing process.

[A]See cut on page 9.

From a platinum print by W. E. MacnaughtonSCENE ON THE CONNECTICUT RIVER

From a platinum print by W. E. Macnaughton

SCENE ON THE CONNECTICUT RIVER

Photography has not only superseded manual processes for reproduction, but has also largely replaced them for purposes of illustration. Practically all news illustrations are now made by photography, which is also extensively used for advertising work. To a less extent it is employed for fiction illustration, admirable work having been done in this field by Clarence H. White, Karl Struss, and Lejaren à Hiller. 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. It is difficult to conceive of “The Fall of the House of Usher” or “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” being satisfactorily illustrated by photography, and if, for instance, “Le Morte d’Arthur” were made a photographic subject, the cost of models, costumes and scenery would probably be excessive.

From a carbon print by H. Y. Sümmons“THE STYGIAN SHORE”

From a carbon print by H. Y. Sümmons

“THE STYGIAN SHORE”

Despite the limitations of the camera as regards imaginative work there is a small but devoted band of photographers who use the camera as a means of artistic expression, and these men and women have produced some wonderfully fine results that fulfil the definition of art: “A means of arousing an emotion in the spectator.” In the last analysis, however, it will be found that such results are due to one of two methods of approach: either the careful selection of an unusual natural effect, or the use of one of the so-called “control processes”—that is, printing mediums that allow the worker to modify at will either the outlines or the gradations of the negative, or both. 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. The possibilities of this second method of work have not yet been fully explored; they appear to be limitless.

Photograph by StrussAFTERNOON SUNThe Biltmore, New YorkPhotograph by StrussA MISTY DAYChatham Square, New YorkPhotograph by StrussSUNSHINE AND SHADOWPark Row, New York

Photograph by StrussAFTERNOON SUNThe Biltmore, New York

Photograph by Struss

AFTERNOON SUN

The Biltmore, New York

Photograph by StrussA MISTY DAYChatham Square, New York

Photograph by Struss

A MISTY DAY

Chatham Square, New York

Photograph by StrussSUNSHINE AND SHADOWPark Row, New York

Photograph by Struss

SUNSHINE AND SHADOW

Park Row, New York

Photograph by StrussSUNLIGHT ON SURF

Photograph by Struss

SUNLIGHT ON SURF

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. 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.

In portraiture, photography is superior to any other graphic art, since the camera worker can, by judicious selection of lighting, pose and facial expression, render the character of the sitter quite as well as the draughtsman, this being the final test in portrait work, though it must be admitted that few portrait photographers meet this requirement.

By Paul L. AndersonPHOTOGRAPH TAKEN IN A SNOWSTORMNew York

By Paul L. Anderson

PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN IN A SNOWSTORM

New York

The human eye and mind are, from a mechanical point of view, but imperfect instruments. Admirably as they serve the purpose for which they are designed, it is nevertheless impossible for them to observe with absolute accuracy. The camera, however, has no such limitations; its observations are accurate and its records unquestionable, so long as no definite effort is made to impair their exactness. 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. It thus becomes possible for the microscopist to study at leisure a photograph of the object that was in the field of the microscope, and thereby eliminate eye-strain and minimize the likelihood of overlooking any feature of interest. It is further possible to make lantern-slides from the negative so obtained. A lecturer by this means is enabled to show the photograph to a large group of individuals simultaneously.

Photograph by StrussBy courtesy of Cleveland Metal Products Co.ADVERTISING ILLUSTRATIONAn example of commercial photography

Photograph by Struss

By courtesy of Cleveland Metal Products Co.

ADVERTISING ILLUSTRATION

An example of commercial photography

THUMB-PRINT ON DARK WOODFinger-prints are made visible by dusting with a fine powder, and are photographed with a special detective camera

THUMB-PRINT ON DARK WOOD

Finger-prints are made visible by dusting with a fine powder, and are photographed with a special detective camera

Though the photographic plate thus extends the usefulness of the microscope, this is not the limit of its value in this respect. Light is transmitted by waves, similar in some ways to waves in water, the light waves being disturbances of the light-bearing ether, an invisible, imponderable substance of zero density and infinite elasticity, which pervades all matter. (It must be understood that the ether has never been observed nor its actual existence proven; it is, however, a necessary assumption for the satisfactory explanation of the observed phenomena of light, so far as our present knowledge extends.) The distance from the crest of one wave to the crest of the next is known as the wave length, the lengths of the various light waves having actually been measured. The human eye is sensitive only to waves between about four-ten-thousandths and seven-ten-thousandths of a millimeter in length, a millimeter being about one-twenty-fifth of an inch, and an object is invisible in the microscope if its diameter is less than half the wave length of the light by which it is illuminated, since in that case the light waves bend around the object and meet on the other side. 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. In this connection it is interesting to note that there are organisms so small that they cannot be made apparent to us even by photography, though we are made aware of their existence by inductive reasoning from their observed effects.

NEWSPAPER ILLUSTRATIONEnlarged to show half-tone screen

NEWSPAPER ILLUSTRATION

Enlarged to show half-tone screen

In the case of some objects, a fuller knowledge of their character is gained if they are examined in a manner somewhat different from that usually adopted. One of the photographs given herewith shows the effect obtained by what is known as “dark ground illumination.” 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. The object is thus made visible by the light that is refracted (that is, bent) into the lens of the microscope. In the present instance the effect seen by looking into the eye-piece was wonderfully beautiful, the crystals glowing with a brilliant yellow light against an intensely black ground.

Some persons object to the inclusion of radiography as a branch of photography, since no camera or lens is used, but “photography” means, literally, “light-writing,” and radiography is precisely this.

If the air be nearly exhausted from a glass tube, so that a high vacuum exists therein, and it be then sealed up, a current of electricity may be sent through the remaining air, setting up ether vibrations that pass out from the tube. These ether waves have the power of passing through many substances that are opaque to visible light, the X-rays, as they are termed, being totally invisible, though light waves to which the eye is sensitive are set up at the same time within the tube. Many persons confuse the greenish light from an X-ray tube with the X-rays, but the two are actually entirely different manifestations. The X-rays, though invisible to the eye, are nevertheless able to affect a photographic plate strongly, so that photographs may be made through solid objects. For example, if a sensitive plate be laid on a table and the arm or the hand placed on it, and an X-ray tube is brought near the arm, a photograph results in which the bone is represented as a dark area and the flesh around it as lighter, this being, of course, simply a shadow picture. This affords an intensely valuable aid to diagnosis, and a good surgeon will, if possible, first radiograph a fractured bone before setting it, unless the circumstances are very exceptional. The value of radiography is not, however, confined to fractures, but extends to wounds (it is of great help in locating metallic fragments or other foreign bodies in a wound), to many intestinal disorders, and to the diagnosis of other diseased conditions.

STRIP OF MOTION-PICTURE FILMActual size. The photography consumed five-eighths of a second, or just long enough for the subject to turn her head

STRIP OF MOTION-PICTURE FILM

Actual size. The photography consumed five-eighths of a second, or just long enough for the subject to turn her head

By courtesy of W. Faitoute MunnMICROPHOTOGRAPH OF CRYSTALS OF BRUCINE SULPHATE(A) By transmitted light(B) With dark-ground illumination

By courtesy of W. Faitoute Munn

MICROPHOTOGRAPH OF CRYSTALS OF BRUCINE SULPHATE

(A) By transmitted light

(B) With dark-ground illumination

Though not strictly bearing on photography, it is interesting to note that the X-rays, like the “gamma rays” (γ-rays) of radium, are in reality ether vibrations of very short wave length, and like the shorter waves (the ultra-violet) in sunlight, possess curative powers in some skin disorders and also the power of causing terrible burns. Sunburn does not result from exposure either to visible sunlight or to the heat of the sun, but to the ultra-violet rays; and an X-ray burn is identical with sunburn. 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.

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. That is, one negative represents the violet “sensation,” the second the green, and the third the red. Prints are made from these negatives in suitable dyes on transparent films, which are cemented together, one over the other, thus giving a true color photograph, in which the secondary and tertiary colors—blue, yellow, orange, purple, brown, etc.—are obtained, as in painting, by the mixture in proper proportions of two or more of the primaries. This is the first method of color photography to possess the great advantage of producing prints—not transparencies, so that any number of duplicates may be made. No special camera is required, and the process is within the reach of any careful amateur. The writer believes the artistic value of color photography is relatively slight—a black and white art is capable of the fullest intellectual expression, and color is merely sensuous in its appeal. After much experiment with different color processes, he finds his own monochrome (single tone) prints more satisfying than the color work. 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. But none of those presented up to this time is fully satisfactory, though the prospects of future development are good.

When we consider the manifold and widespread uses of photography and the pleasurable diversion that it affords, it seems safe to say that there is no other form of industry not an actual necessity that is of such importance to the welfare and happiness of the human race.

By courtesy of Dr. T. W. HarveyRADIOGRAPH OF NORMAL HAND

By courtesy of Dr. T. W. Harvey

RADIOGRAPH OF NORMAL HAND

⁂ Information concerning the above books may be had on application to the Editor of The Mentor.

THE OPEN LETTER

One summer afternoon, some years ago, I went into a front room of my home and drew down the window shades to shut out the glare and heat. The room became quite dark, but, in one of the shades, there was a small hole, through which the sunlight penetrated—casting on the white wall opposite, vivid images of all the objects in the street outside. I had before me a full-color, moving picture of the panorama of life that was passing the window.

Here was the original “camera obscura” (“dark chamber”). 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. Through just such simple experiences as this important scientific discoveries are sometimes made.

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. Beginning about 1883, the quality and character of the illustrations in our magazines and books changed radically. Where, previously, there had been nothing but hand engravings of one sort or another,photo-engravingappeared, and, with that, the horizon of magazine illustration extended far beyond the reach of the liveliest imagination. Who could have foreseen, then, in the first photo-engraving processes, such possibilities as photographic printing in full colors, or moving picture films? 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; it is even potent in the realm of mystery, for have we not seen photographs of ghosts(?) reproduced from spirit seances? When objects and situations in life that do not exist are wanted, the camera can, by some trick or device, create them for us. There seems to be no limit to the possibilities. Each wonder displayed in photographic reproduction gives way to some new effect more wonderful still.

Consider briefly a few of the wonders of modern photography. First and foremost, and most spectacular of all, is the moving-picture film. Then, in the world of practical things, we have the telephoto-lens—a combination of the telescope and camera—that takes pictures of objects far beyond the reach of the naked eye. This enables one to photograph the head of a gargoyle on a distant cathedral, or the fledglings in an eagle’s nest, or a mountain goat on a crag high up a mountain side. 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. Radiography, too, must be mentioned—the X-ray and its use in surgery.

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. Among such artist photographers in this country mention should be made of Mr. Paul L. Anderson—the author of the present article; Arnold Genthe, who, besides his wonderful portraits, has, by his art, preserved for future generations the scenes of old San Francisco—especially Chinatown—that have now passed away; Gertrude Käebier, Baron de Meyer and Jan de Strelecki, Stieglitz, Eyckmeyer, Steichen, Sümons and so many others that the list would fill this page.

(signature)W. D. MoffatEDITOR

W. D. MoffatEDITOR

What, Who, and When?WHAT IS PHOTOGRAPHY?It is the science and art of producing pictures by the action of light on chemically prepared (sensitized) plates or films.WHO DISCOVERED PHOTOGRAPHY?No one particular individual. There is no known date on which “photographic action” was first recorded. The action of the sun in making impressions of one sort or another on surfaces was known to man from the earliest times. Records of it can be seen in fossilized vegetable remains—and this action of the sun is apparent in the change of color that takes place in the ripening of fruits and foliage.WHO FIRST APPLIED A SENSITIZED PLATE TO THE PURPOSE OF MAKING PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTS?No single individual discovered this essential principle of photography. It came to be recognized in the course of many experiences, beginning with the alchemists; and developing through the experiments of a number of investigators, until the end of the eighteenth century, when the sensitiveness of various silver compounds to light became well known, and the character of the change produced on these compounds by light became established. Thomas Wedgwood, the fourth son of Josiah Wedgwood, the renowned potter, developed a process by means of which the image printed by photographic means could be “fixed” and made permanent.WHAT INSTRUMENT BROUGHT THE PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESS TO A PERFECTED FORM?The camera. The camera is the photographic apparatus in which the image is projected upon the sensitized plate, thus securing a photographic impression. The word “camera” is Italian for “room,” and the full name of the original instrument, “camera obscura,” means “dark room.”WHO INVENTED THE CAMERA?Giovanni Baptista della Porta, who lived in the sixteenth century, has often been stated to have invented the camera, but he appears only to have popularized and improved it. The first use of cameras was not for printing photographs, but simply as an interesting toy or to assist one in tracing the outlines of various objects. There are many applications of the “camera obscura”—a notable one being the periscope of a submarine. It was not until a suitable sensitive plate was discovered that the camera became useful as an apparatus of photography.WHO WERE MOST PROMINENTLY IDENTIFIED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESS?Joseph Niépce and Louis J. M. Daguerre. Niépce was successful not only in getting pictures produced in the camera, but he succeeded in “fixing” them permanently, Daguerre developed a process known as “daguerreotype,” which was the first method of photography available for practical purposes. This was in 1837. With the general acceptance of daguerreotypes, photography became a profession. The process had no rival until about 1851, when the “collodion process” was discovered, and, after that, the daguerreotype process became obsolete.WHO DEVELOPED THE MODERN PROCESS OF PHOTOGRAPHY?William Henry Fox Talbot, an English inventor (1800-1877). He greatly increased the sensitiveness of paper, and from his negatives prints were produced in much the same way as in the present day.

WHAT IS PHOTOGRAPHY?

It is the science and art of producing pictures by the action of light on chemically prepared (sensitized) plates or films.

WHO DISCOVERED PHOTOGRAPHY?

No one particular individual. There is no known date on which “photographic action” was first recorded. The action of the sun in making impressions of one sort or another on surfaces was known to man from the earliest times. Records of it can be seen in fossilized vegetable remains—and this action of the sun is apparent in the change of color that takes place in the ripening of fruits and foliage.

WHO FIRST APPLIED A SENSITIZED PLATE TO THE PURPOSE OF MAKING PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTS?

No single individual discovered this essential principle of photography. It came to be recognized in the course of many experiences, beginning with the alchemists; and developing through the experiments of a number of investigators, until the end of the eighteenth century, when the sensitiveness of various silver compounds to light became well known, and the character of the change produced on these compounds by light became established. Thomas Wedgwood, the fourth son of Josiah Wedgwood, the renowned potter, developed a process by means of which the image printed by photographic means could be “fixed” and made permanent.

WHAT INSTRUMENT BROUGHT THE PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESS TO A PERFECTED FORM?

The camera. The camera is the photographic apparatus in which the image is projected upon the sensitized plate, thus securing a photographic impression. The word “camera” is Italian for “room,” and the full name of the original instrument, “camera obscura,” means “dark room.”

WHO INVENTED THE CAMERA?

Giovanni Baptista della Porta, who lived in the sixteenth century, has often been stated to have invented the camera, but he appears only to have popularized and improved it. The first use of cameras was not for printing photographs, but simply as an interesting toy or to assist one in tracing the outlines of various objects. There are many applications of the “camera obscura”—a notable one being the periscope of a submarine. It was not until a suitable sensitive plate was discovered that the camera became useful as an apparatus of photography.

WHO WERE MOST PROMINENTLY IDENTIFIED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESS?

Joseph Niépce and Louis J. M. Daguerre. Niépce was successful not only in getting pictures produced in the camera, but he succeeded in “fixing” them permanently, Daguerre developed a process known as “daguerreotype,” which was the first method of photography available for practical purposes. This was in 1837. With the general acceptance of daguerreotypes, photography became a profession. The process had no rival until about 1851, when the “collodion process” was discovered, and, after that, the daguerreotype process became obsolete.

WHO DEVELOPED THE MODERN PROCESS OF PHOTOGRAPHY?

William Henry Fox Talbot, an English inventor (1800-1877). He greatly increased the sensitiveness of paper, and from his negatives prints were produced in much the same way as in the present day.

THE MENTOR

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