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
In 1877 Carey Lea gave his ferrous-oxalate developer to the world, but
it was not welcomed by many English photographers for negative
development, though it possessed many advantages over alkaline pyro. It
was, however, generally employed by foreign photographers, and is now
largely in use by English photographers, especially for the development
of bromide paper, either for contact printing or enlargements. In the
early part of this year, Messrs. Wratten and Wainwright commenced to
make gelatino-bromide dry plates, and during the hot summer months Mr.
Wratten found it necessary to precipitate the gelatine emulsion with
alcohol. This removed the necessity of dialysing, and helped to lessen
the evils of decomposition and "frilling."
The most noticeable death in the photographic world of this year was
that of Henry Fox Talbot. He was born on February the 11th, 1800, and
died September 17th, 1877, thus attaining a ripe old age. I am not
disposed to deny his claims to the honour of doing a great deal to
forward the advancement of photography, but what strikes me very much is
the mercenary spirit in which he did it, especially when I consider the
position he occupied, and the pecuniary means at his command. In the
first place, he rushed to the Patent Office with his gallo-nitrate
developer, and then every little improvement or modification that he
afterwards made was carefully protected by patent rights. With a
churlishness of spirit and narrow-mindedness it is almost impossible to
conceive or forgive, he tried his utmost to stop the formation of the
London Photographic Society, and it was only after pressing
solicitations from Sir Charles Eastlake, President of the Royal Academy,
and first President of the London Photographic Society, that he
withdrew his objections. The late Peter le Neve Foster, Secretary of the
Society of Arts, told me this years after, and when it was proposed to
make Fox Talbot an honorary member of the Photographic Society, Mr.
Foster was opposed to the proposition. Then the action that he brought
against Sylvester Laroche was unjustifiable, for there really was no
resemblance between the collodion and calotype means of making a
negative, except in the common use of the camera, and the means of
making prints was the same as that employed by Thomas Wedgwood, while
the fixing process with hyposulphite of soda was first resorted to by
the Rev. J. B. Reade, on the published information of Sir John Herschel.
On March 29th, 1878, Mr. Charles Bennett published his method of
increasing the sensitiveness of gelatino-bromide plates. It may be
briefly described as a prolonged cooking of the gelatine emulsion at a
temperature of 90°, and, according to Mr. Bennett's experience, the
longer it was cooked the more sensitive it became, with a corresponding
reduction of density when the prepared plates were exposed and
developed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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