Re: OT:new old new

> some might find this interesting
> the first photograph, tested and such...another alt processes to try?
>
> http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/news/press/2003/firstphotograph.html
>
> ----
> Jeff Foster
> 642-8552
> CCS - UC Berkeley
>
>
Jeff,

Thanks for the posting.

Yes, its good to see a better reproduction of the plate, though I don't
think there was anything found in the investigation we didn't already know
- at least if so it isn't mentioned in the release - which for example
tells us such earth-shattering facts as that the (probably hand-beaten and
hand cut) pewter plate is made of pewter and is not entirely regular in
shape or thickness. Or have I missed something? Possibly they have more
information on the likely deterioration of the image, since it does
mention the need for an oxygen-free enclosure.

There was someone who repeated all of Niepce's process I think in the
1970s, working in the same place, using the same local materials he would
have used, and I think managing similar results. I think I included
something on this in a feature. I've also read about others trying it
since, though I think with less success.

I've put the note below on this in today's blog on my home page -
apologies for the html tags here, but some may find them useful:

-------------------
This year the world's first photograph, taken by
<a
href="http://photography.about.com/library/weekly/aa022502a.htm"><b>Niepce
</b></a>
in France in the 1820s, and re-discovered in England by Helmut Gernsheim
in 1952, left its home in Texas for extensive tests at the Getty
Conservation Institute in Los Angeles. You can read about the findings in
a
<a href="http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/news/press/2003/firstphotograph.html">
<b>Ransom Center Press Release</b></a>, which includes an unretouched
photograph giving a far better impression of the plate's appearance than
the well-known reproduction, which was carefully lit, exposed, developed
and then retouched to make the image more visible. <br>

Scientific investigation has largely served to confirm previously
published details of Niepce's work which described how the image was
produced on a pewter plate using bitumen and oil of lavender. Possibly the
only new information in the release is about the urgent need to build a
new oxygen-free enclosure to prevent future deterioration.<br>

You can read more about Niepce's work and the rediscover of this image in
the feature
<a href="http://photography.about.com/library/weekly/aa022502a.htm">
<b>Daguerre and Niepce - The invention of photography</b></a> and in
<a href="http://photography.about.com/library/weekly/aa011402a.htm"><b>
Finding the Chemistry </b></a>as well as other features on the
<a href="http://photography.about.com/library/weekly/aa010702a.htm">
<b>prehistory of photography</b></a> and several features on the later
<a href="http://photography.about.com/library/weekly/aa030402a.htm"><b>
Daguerreotype </b></a>process developed by his partner.
-----------------------

Regards,

Peter Marshall
Photography Guide at About http://photography.about.com/
email: photography.guide@about.com
_________________________________________________________________
London's Industrial Heritage: http://petermarshallphotos.co.uk/
The Buildings of London etc: http://londonphotographs.co.uk/
My London Diary http://mylondondiary.co.uk/
and elsewhere......
Received on Sat Nov 22 04:38:07 2003