Monday, September 24, 2012

Monday 24th, 2012




Hello again, I've come back with a new prompt!

. What is a daguerreotype? What did the surface of a daguerreotype resemble? When were they prominent? What photographic process did the daguerreotype replace?

2. What is an "albumen" print? What was the main "ingredient" of the albumen process? When did the albumen process die out?

3. What is a "stereograph?" When were they popular?

4. What is a "carte de visite?" What were they used for?

5. Who were Matthew Brady and Alexander Gardner? They both are notable for what type of photography? When were they active? Post two noteworthy photographs for each photographer.

Daguerre


The definition of a daguerreotype is a photograph taken using an iodine-sensitized silvered plating and mercury vapor. (I paraphrased this from google's web definition.)

The surface of the silver plating must be polished to the extreme in order to reflect darker parts of the image away from the silver so it may appear as a positive image. This process was mostly used during the late 1800's when Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre made his process free to the public in 1839. He created it as a refined version of heliography, which Nicéphore Niépce used to create his idea of photography.
Here's a daguerreotype camera!

When I first looked up "albumen" all I found out was it was a synonym for egg white, I had some suspicions then, so I looked further into it and found albumen prints. They are pictures that are made by coating paper in an egg white solution and then spraying it or covering it with silver nitrate. This process was also very popular in the late 1800's but died out in the 80's.






Soaking process
Lady Wilfred Scawan Blunt 



This is all I have time for right now, I hope you enjoy what I have, I'll be back with an update!





Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Nicéphore Niépce

Nicéphore Niépce was a French man born in Chalon-sur-Saône March 7, 1765. He lived to the age of 68 and died on July 5, 1833. He was an inventor and once a soldier in the revolutionary army for France. He left the army to live in the city Nice where he later lives with his brother Claude and marries his wife Agnes. He also had a son Isidore. After the birth of his child they move to Sardinia where they start experimenting with the idea of photography.

The First surviving Photo
This is one of Nicéphore's most famous photo's, it was taken out of a window, and is the first to ever survive.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012