History of Photography


A HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY EXAMPLES OF EARLY PROCESSES 1840 to c.1920
Tintype Pin, c. 1870, 31mm d. The history of photography began with the idea of projecting an image through a lens onto a flat surface. Artists used the “camera obscura” to accurately sketch scenes for subsequent paintings. By the 1830s, creative minds sought to capture such images permanently. Several inventive individuals experienced some success, but it was in 1839 that Louis Daguerre of France succeeded in a workable system of making such images permanent. It was patented under the name “daguerreotype.” Within a few short years, the systems of making such photo-graphs moved from one-of-a-kind images (daguerreotypes, ambrotypes and tintypes) to negative images that could be transferred to paper creating a positive and “printed” many times over. Within 50 years, the making of photographs moved out of the exclusive domain of the specialist into the hands of ordinary folks. By the late 1880s, systems were developed that utilized film on rolls that allowed taking a hundred pictures before reloading with more film. Soon millions of “snapshots” were being created by ordinary people with inexpensive cameras and film. This same system has been in play until 20 years ago when the development of digital photography once again revolutionized photography. This exhibit is designed to present examples of the various kinds of photographs that populate the history of the medium. Daguerreotype 1839 - c. 1860 The *daguerreotype* was the earliest practical photographic process. It was made by exposing a projected image to a sensitized silver-plated sheet of copper, then developing it with fumes of mercury, creating a permanent image. This extremely fragile image was presented, under glass for protection, in a special case. These one-of-a-kind photographs were especially suited to portraiture. Thousands of dagguerotypists the world over made millions of portraits of people at a fraction of the cost of a painted portrait. Sizes: 1/16 plate (35 x 40 mm), 1/9 plate (50 x 60 mm), 1/6 plate (70 x 80 mm), 1/4 plate (80 x 110), 1/2 plate (110 x 140), full plate (165 x 215 mm) From a Collection of 23
Man in Top Hat, Tinted, Ninth Plate, c. 1850			Two Children, Tinted, Sixth Plate, c. 1842
Gentleman with Book, Tinted, Sixth Plate, c. 1843			Lady with Fur Scarf, Tinted, Sixth Plate, c. 1844
Older Gentleman with Book, Tinted, Fourth Plate, c. 1844		Older Woman with Book, Tinted, Fourth Plate, c. 1844
Gentleman with Book, Tinted, Sixth Plate, 1856		Gentleman with Glasses, Tinted, Sixth Plate, c. 1842
Mother and Children, Tinted, Half Plate, c. 1846
Ambrotype 1854 - c. 1865 By the early 1850s inventive minds worked to simplify the daguerreotype process, making it more affordable and therefore available to even more people. In place of the complex and expensive silver plate, a glass plate was coated with a light-sensitive emulsion, silver salts suspended in albumen made of simple egg-white. The resulting developed negative image was backed with a black paper or paint resulting in a positive image, named an *ambrotype*. It, too, was very fragile and had to be covered with glass and presented in a case. Sizes: 1/16 plate (35 x 40 mm), 1/9 plate (50 x 60 mm), 1/6 plate (70 x 80 mm), 1/4 plate (80 x 110), 1/2 plate (110 x 140), full plate (165 x 215 mm) From a Collection of 19
Couple, Tinted, Fourth Plate, c. 1855		Couple, Tinted, Fourth Plate, c. 1855
Civil War Soldier, Tinted, Ninth Plate, 1863		Woman with Veil, Tinted, Ninth Plate, c. 1860
Group of Seven, Tinted, Fourth Plate, c. 1855		Two Friendly Men with Book, Tinted, Sixth Plate, c. 1855
Tintype / Ferrotype 1856 - c. 1895 The 1850s saw the process simplified even more. The collodion emulsion was coated to blackened metal plates, usually tin. The simpler and cheaper process moved photography out of the studio into the streets and neighborhoods. Anybody could afford a *tintype, and tintypists were available everywhere. Tintypes couldn’t be easily damaged, and proved especially popular during the American Civil War when soldiers could send photographs of themselves back home. But tintypes, too, were one-of-a-kind images. Cameras were soon made with multiple lenses that could make as many images on a single sheet of tin. These were then cut apart, usually quite inaccurately, and typically presented in a paper folder. A few ended up in old daguerreotype cases. From a Collection of 144*
Older Man with Cane, Old Daguerreotype Case	Smiling Woman with Glasses
Young Boy, Gemtype	Young Girl, Gemtype (12 x 24 mm)
Seated Man	Boy on Toy Horse
Three Couples	Group of Fourteen
Seated Black Man	Two Ladies with Reluctant Man
Two Men with Pipes	Man with Dog
Two Rough-looking Men	Civil War Soldier
Rare Outdoor Scene
Cartes de Visite / Visiting Card 1854 - c. 1895 At the same time another photographic process was being developed which proved to be the one that was the most practical and successful of all. In 1854 André Disdéri, a French daguerreotypist, printed ambrotype glass negatives to light-sensitive paper. An unlimited number of paper prints/photographs could be produced easily and quite inexpensively. But the inventive Disdéri added a marketing scheme to his system and promoted these photographs as personalized calling cards. He named them *Cartes de Viste*. CDVs were mounted on a standardized cardboard mount which also advertised the photographer on the back. They proved to be the most popular style of photographs to date and the craze lasted into the 1890s. Size: c. 64 x 100 mm From a Collection of 140
André Disdéri Photo, Portuguese Politician, c. 1870
Family, Dad with Top Hat, c. 1865	Two Men and a Dog, c. 1870
J. Livenstroem Photo, Fellin (Viljandi), Estonia (Jaan Kirp), c. 1865	Jaan Riet Photo, Fellin (Viljandi), Estonia, c. 1890
Gentleman, c. 1860	Lady, c. 1860
Gentleman with Beard, c. 1870	Handsome Black Woman, 1881
Big Lady with Big Dress, c. 1860	Good Dog, c. 1880
Mathew Brady Photo, Commodore Nutt & Miss Minnie Warren, 1864	U.S. Cavalry Officer, c. 1865
Photographer's Studio, c. 1870	Photographer's Studio, verso, c. 1870
Cabinet Card 1866 - c. 1900 The next system to entice the public to buy photographs was dubbed the *Cabinet Card. It was considerably larger than the CDV, but the process was identical. And as with cartes de visite, these were promoted to fill albums that would grace living rooms and boudoirs. The larger cards were big enough for several people to view at the same time and were of sufficient quality that small details could be enjoyed. Every home had an album of family photographs to show visitors. Size: 110 x 170 mm From a Collection of 138*
Banjo Player, c. 1890	Boy with Coronet, c. 1890
Two Gentlemen, c. 1885	Nebraska Couple, c. 1890
Dressed-up Little Boy, c. 1885	Dressed-up Little Girl, c. 1885
Posing Lady, c. 1875	Long Dress, c. 1890
Lace Collar and Glasses, c. 1890	Confident Young Lady, c. 1880
Large Beard, c. 1875	F. A. Rinehart Photo, c. 1885
Stereoview / Stereograph 1852 - c. 1920 Very early in this history, and for many years, a parallel photographic phenomenon coursed. It was an idea, virtually a gimmick, that proved extremely popular throughout the world. Two slightly different images of the same subject were mounted side-by-side and viewed through a dual-lensed viewer that resulted in a three-dimensional stereo image for the viewer. *Stereoviews* (stereocards, stereographs) and a variety of viewers were eventually found in every proper home. The earliest were, for a short time, daguerreotypes and ambrotypes and a few tintypes. Paper albumen prints could be reproduced over and over again, so almost all stereoviews were prints. Stereoviews soon transported ordinary folks to every exotic place in the world. The heyday for stereoviews was in the 1860s and 1870s, but it was revived again around 1900 when photographs could be replaced with lithographic images printed on a press. The idea has never died. Size: c. 90 -112 x 178 mm From a Collection of 217
Ethnic Views from Cultures Around the World Silver Prints, c. 1900-1910 Collection of 19. Click to See More
Carleton Watkins Views of Yosemite and West Coast U. S. Albumen Prints, c. 1860s Collection of 10. Click to See More
William Notman Views of Montreal Albumen Prints, c. 1860 Collection of 13. Click to See More
E. and H. T. Anthony Views of New York and Washington D. C. Albumen Prints, c. 1860 Collection of 6. Click to See More
Views of Southern U. S. Hand-colored Litho Prints, c. 1910 Collection of 11
Views From Around the World Color Litho Prints, c. 1910 - 1925 Collection of 78
Genre Humorous Risque Scenes Albumen Prints, c. 1890 - 1910 Collection of 6
Genre English Humorous Scenes Hand-colored Albumen Prints, c. 1880 Collection of 6
Southern U. S. Black Scenes Hand-colored Litho Prints, c. 1900 - 1910 Collection of 17. Click to See More
William Henry Jackson, The Royal Gorge, Colorado Albumen Print, c 1880
Varia By the late 1800s dozens of different processes and techniques had developed both to take photographs and to print and reproduce them. Here are presented examples of some of the most important of these, beginning with George Eastman's Kodak Round Photo which was the first roll-film system (100 exposures) aimed solely at the amateur audience, and ending with the simple Snapshot. By 1900 photographs were here to stay and their varied complexions have changed the way the world relates to itself. From a Collection of c. 700
Kodak Round (No. 1, 1888, 64 mm d., No 2, 1889 - 1900, 92 mm d.) House on Lake, Kodak No. 2 Albumen Print, 92 mm d., on Card 108 x 133 mm, c. 1889
Collotype or Albertype (c. 1885-1910) L. A. Huffman, 90 x 137 mm, 1881 / 1907	Cyanotype (c. 1880 - 1900) House, 90 x 90 mm, c. 1900
Glass Lantern Slide (90 x112 mm, 1850 - c. 1920) Lapp Family, c. 1900	Albumen Print (1850 - 1900) Lapp Family, Hand-colored Cabinet Card, 110 x 170 mm, c. 1890
Albumen Boudoir Print (1850 - 1900) Carleton Watkins, San Francisco Scene, 210 x 130 mm, c. 1874
Mammoth Plate Albumen Print (1850 - 1900) National Museum, Venice, Italy, 450 x 350 mm, c. 1880
Photochrome (c. 1880 - 1970) W. H. Jackson, Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde, 178 x 228 mm, 1899	Photogravure (1879 - present) Edward Curtis, Pomo Basket, 280 x 350 mm, 1925
Cigarette Card (c. 1880 - 1910) Lizzie McCall, Albumen Cartes de Visite, 115 x 64 mm, c. 1885	French Postcard (c. 1890 - 1930) Toned Silver Print, 88 x 116 mm, c. 1910
Advertising Photo Silver Print, 63 x 97 mm, c. 1920	Itinerant Farm Photographer Photo Albumen Print, 106 x 165 mm, 1899
Police Mug Shot Yukon Territory, Albumen Print, 103 x 125 mm, 1904	Railroad Photographer Photo Albumen Print, 117 x 165 mm, c. 1890
Circus Photo Toned Silver Print, 138 x 90 mm, c. 1920	Souvenir School Photo Silver Print in Metal Frame, 75 x 50 mm, c. 1920
Amateur Photographer Silver Print, 148 x 123 mm, c. 1910
Buggy Ride Snapshot Esther and Alma, Silver Print, 63 x 86 mm, c. 1920	Boy with Cow Snapshot Silver Print, 89 x 140 mm, c. 1920
Bashful Girl Snapshot Silver Print, 52 x 76 mm, c. 1920	Baby and Pet Dog Snapshot Silver Print, 86 x 137 mm, c. 1920
Our House Snapshot Silver Print, 86 x 137 mm, c. 1920	New Car Snapshot Silver Print, 82 x 118 mm, c. 1920
Sunday Dinner Snapshot Silver Print, 62 x 88 mm, c. 1920	Fishing Snapshot Silver Print, 78 x 130 mm, c. 1920
Airplane Ride Snapshot Silver Print, 88 x 63 mm, c. 1920	Girl's Fun Snapshot Silver Print, 85 x 65 mm, c. 1920
All photographs presented are original. They have been collected primarily in the U.S.A. over a period of 50 years and represent a fraction of the total collection of R. Paul Firnhaber / Imagi Gallery. Dates that are approximate are marked "c" (circa); known dates lack the "c." Images are not presented in scale to each other. An exhibition of this collection was held at the Kondas Museum of Art in Viljandi, Estonia, April 03 through June 07, 2013. e EMAIL INQUIRY Imagi Gallery .
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