A History of Photographs
The first permanent photograph was created in approximately 1826 when Joseph Nicéphore Niépce placed a camera in a window of his French estate. After eight hours of exposure, the light-sensitized pewter plate captured the image at the left, now on display at the Harry Ransom Center. Niépce called it a heliograph.
Daguerreotypes: 1839-early 1860s
Platinum Print (Plainotype): 1880-1930s
Daguerreotypes: 1839-early 1860s
- First successful and practical photographic process
- Creates a direct positive image with no negative
- As a direct positive, most images are laterally reversed
- Plates are housed in a case under glass
Platinum Print (Plainotype): 1880-1930s
- Uncoated paper print - light-sensitive materials are soaked into a plain paper
- Silvery gray color with long tonal range
- Image transfer often occurs when a print is stored in direct contact with another surface
Collodion Emulsion: 1851-1880
Albumen Prints: 1848-1895
- Mixture of gun cotton, ether, and alcohol
- Used to make ambrotypes, tintypes, and wet plate negatives
Albumen Prints: 1848-1895
- Emulsion made of albumen (egg white) and sodium or ammonium chloride
- Sensitized into a POP in a solution of silver nitrate
- Albumen prints from wet plate negatives account for 80% of 19th century prints in American archival collections
- The surface has a slight sheen
- Most show yellowed highlights and middle tones
- Common cracking of the emulsion, observable under magnification
- Printed on thin paper so often mounted on card
Gelatin Emulsions: 1871-present
- Emulsion made of gelatin and silver bromide or silver chloride and coated on glass, film, or paper
- Faster and easier than wet collodion, leading to an increase in amateur photographers
- Used for cellulose nitrate film, cellulose diacetate and triacetate films, and polyester film
- Also used for printing papers. Gelatin silver bromide developing-out paper has dominated the market since 1910.
- In the early 1970s, Eastman Kodak introduced resin-coated (RC) paper which is coated on both sides with synthetic resins while the emulsion is placed on top. This prevented the paper from becoming wet and sped fixing, washing, and drying time.
Cellulose Nitrate Film: 1887-1950
Cellulose Diacetate Film: 1937-1956
Cellulose Triacetate Film: 1947-present
Polyester Film: 1960-present
- Available in roll and sheet films
- Highly flammable
- Deteriorates easily, resulting in a loss of image
Cellulose Diacetate Film: 1937-1956
- Not a fire hazard
- Base shrinks but emulsion does not, producing wrinkles and ripples in the emulsion and causing a loss of image
Cellulose Triacetate Film: 1947-present
- Not a fire hazard
- Does not shrink
Polyester Film: 1960-present
- Not a fire hazard
- Does not shrink
Color Processes
Authochrome: 1907-1932
Chromogenic Development Materials:
Color Prints
- First practical, commercially available color process
- Microscopic orange, green, and violet starch grains were sprinkled on a glass plate and covered with a gelatin emulsion, then exposed and developed as a positive.
Chromogenic Development Materials:
- Achieved more natural colors
- Cyan, magenta, and yellow color-sensitive materials are incorporated into layers on a single piece of film
- Includes Kodachrome (1935), Agfacolor (1936), Kodacolor (1942) and Kodak Ektachrome (1946)
Color Prints
- Though technically the names of Kodak chemicals from the 1950s, Type C is now used to refer to prints made from a negative while Type R refers to prints made from a transparency.
- Most modern color prints are on resin-coated (RC) paper
- Instant color prints, such as Polaroids, are made with the dye diffusion transfer process and don't generate a negative.