Thursday, October 25, 2012
Napoleon Sarony
For our class this week we were
assigned a famous photographer from the 1800’s to research. I was assigned a
man named Napoleon Sarony. Sarony is known for his portraiture of many famous
individuals, including Mark Twain. Twain was the author of “The Adventures of
Tom Sawyer” and the sequel, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”.
Napoleon Sarony was born in Quebec
in 1821 and moved to New York City in 1836. After working as an illustrator for
some time at a company known as Currier and Ives, he decided to open his own
lithography business with a man named, James Major. Lithography is a method in
which to print images using stone or sometimes a metal plate. After exhausting
his business in lithography Sarony decided to open his own photography studio
in New York City. During his time as a photography studio owner, many
distinguished people were interested in having portraits done of them. Sarony
was wed twice and passed in 1891.
Sarony was the first to deal with
copyright issues. Back in Sarony’s time copyright didn’t apply to photographs. An
image was released of Edgar Allen Poe after his untimely death and Sarony had chosen
to fight for the rights to the image that he had taken. Today, many
photographers have been influenced by Napoleon Sarony due to this. Every
photographer employs copyrights to their images. For this, we can thank
Napoleon Sarony.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Pinhole Photography!
Here are some pinhole images we shot in class on October 11.
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| Pinhole Photography image by Sarah Baron's History of Photography class Fall 2012 |
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| Pinhole Photography image 2 image by Sarah Baron's History of Photography class Fall 2012 |
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| Pinhole Photography image 3 image by Sarah Baron's History of Photography class Fall 2012 |
Gum Bichromate
The process of gum bichromate is a means in which to process
images. It is a short tonal scale process. Gum Bichromate allows photographers to
have freedom in the way their prints turn out. Gum bichromate requires many
materials and equipment which can be confusing, but overall is said to be quite
simple. The gum bichromate process began in the 19th century. It was
originally invented by Mungo Ponton in 1839 and later revised to its final form
by William Henry Fox Talbot and Alphonse Poitevin. The process all together has
twelve steps. Which goes along like this:
1. Negative Preparation - The negative needs to be enlarged in
order to properly create a gum bichromate print.
2. Sizing Paper – The paper
has to be the correct size before processing begins due to a water submersion
processing which shrinks the paper about fifteen percent.
3. Preparing Sensitizer – The sensitizer is made up of a
formula of Ammonium Dichromate, Water at 52 degrees Celsius and cool water.
4. Preparing Gum Arabic Solution – The solution remedy used
includes, Mercuric chloride, Cool distilled water and powdered gum Arabic in
liquid form.
5. Preparing Stock Pigment and Gum Solution – Add gum solution
to total amount of stock pigment.
6. Preparing Paper for Printing – Place the enlarged negative
produced in step one and lay it in the exact position sought after for the
final print. Then, secure the negative with tape and create pinholes in the top
two corners.
7. Preparing the Emulsion – The formula is made up of the
prepared Ammonium Dichromate and the prepared pigment and gum.
8. Coating the Emulsion on Paper – During the emulsion process,
you should be in a darkroom. First, secure the paper and then use brushes to
coat the paper in emulsion.
9. Exposure – Place the negative and paper in contact frame and
position it for exposure. The exposure could take anywhere from two to fifteen
minutes.
10. Development – Following the exposure immediately immerse the
exposed print in water face up for one minute and then transfer to another tray
emulsion side down in a u-shape. Transfer the print back to tray one with clean
water and continue this process for fifteen minutes to one hour.
11. Multiple Printing – After developing the print it is
possible to repeat the steps of the process in order to create the complete
range of tones possible.
12. Print Stabilization – Allow print to dry and then submerge
in a five percent solution for five minutes. Then, give the print a running water
rinse and hang to dry.
The gum
bichromate process is still employed today by many photographers. One famous
photographer who uses the gum bichromate process for all of their images is
Massimo Attardi. Attardi is from Italy and resides in Rome. His gum bichromate prints
have been processed on wood, paper, metal, glass, stone and plexiglass. Today,
many of his exhibitions have been displayed in the Laboratory Museum of
Contemporary Arts in Rome.
This is an image created by Massimo Attardi. Gum bichromate on wood. Original link listed below.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Migrant Mother
Photography by Dorothea Lange, "Migrant Mother" (1936) original link listed below.
This image entitled "Migrant Mother" by Dorothea Lange is one of my favorites. Lange is best known for creating images from The Great Depression. The reason for this being one of my favorite pieces of work is because of the raw emotion. I admire Lange for capturing the essence of this woman and her life. At this time in American history many were suffering from severe poverty. It is important that we remember this time in history in attempt to not have these issues occur again.
Meet Me
Hello readers! My name is Jessalyn Costello and I am a photography student at the Art Institute of Charlotte. My love of being creative is what lead me to leave the path of Speech Language Pathology at Central Michigan University and follow my passion all the way to Charlotte, North Carolina. My interest in photography includes portraiture, fashion, pet portraiture, and most recently pinhole photography. The main motive for beginning this blog is to discuss the history of photography. It is important for photographers to be knowledgeable about the history of photography because it has lead us to where we are today. Today, many people think they are photographers because almost everyone owns a camera,whether it be on their cell phone, laptop, desktop, or handheld digital. However, not too long ago the concept of photography was completely foreign. It is important that we remember how far we have come in the realm of science and photography.
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