The Evolution of Photography: With a Chronological Record of Discoveries, Inventions, Etc., Contributions to Photographic Literature, and Personal Reminescences Extending over Forty YearsWerge, John, active 1854-1890
History
The Evolution of Photography: With a Chronological Record of Discoveries, Inventions, Etc., Contributions to Photographic Literature, and Personal Reminescences Extending over Forty Years
Werge, John, active 1854-1890
Photography -- History
After the development of the picture it was washed and fixed in a
solution of hyposulphite of soda, 4 ounces to 1 pint of water. The plate
was then washed and dried. This is an epitome of the whole of Archer's
process for making either negatives or positives on glass, the
difference being effected by varying the time of exposure and
development. Of course the process was somewhat modified and simplified
by experience and commercial enterprise. Later on bromides were added to
the collodion, an iron developer employed, and cyanide of potassium as a
fixing agent; but the principle remained the same from first to last.
When pyrogallic acid was first employed in photography, it was quoted
at 21s. per oz., and, if I remember rightly, I paid 3s. for the first
_drachm_ that I purchased. On referring to an old price list I find
Daguerreotype plates, 2-1/2 by 2 inches, quoted at 12s. per dozen;
nitrate of silver, 5s. 6d. per oz.; chloride of gold, 5s. 6d. for
15 grains; hyposulphite of soda at 5s. per lb.; and a half-plate rapid
portrait lens by Voightlander, of Vienna, at £60. Those were the days
when photography might well be considered expensive, and none but the
wealthy could indulge in its pleasures and fascinations.
While I lived in Glasgow, competition was tolerably keen, even then,
and amongst the best "glass positive men" were Messrs. Bibo, Bowman,
J. Urie, and Young and Sun, as the latter styled himself; and in
photographic portraiture, plain and coloured, by the collodion process,
were Messrs. Macnab and J. Stuart. From the time that I relinquished the
Daguerreotype process, in 1857, I devoted my attention to the production
of high-class collodion negatives. I never took kindly to _glass
positives_, though I had done some as early as 1852. They were never
equal in beauty and delicacy to a good Daguerreotype, and their low tone
was to me very objectionable. I considered the Ferrotype the best form
of collodion positive, and did several of them, but my chief work was
plain and coloured prints from collodion negatives, also small portraits
on visiting cards.
Early in January, 1860, my home and business were destroyed by fire, and
I lost all my old and new specimens of Daguerreotypes and photographs,
all my Daguerreotype and other apparatus, and nearly everything I
possessed. As I was only partially insured, I suffered considerable
loss. After settling my affairs I decided on going to America again and
trying my luck in New York. Family ties influenced this decision
considerably, or I should not have left Glasgow, where I was both
prosperous and respected. To obtain an idea of the latest and best
aspects of photography, I visited London and Paris.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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