Abstract
TO most people fifty years ago, photography was represented by the “carte-de-visite” which they exchanged with their friends, and a few “views” which they bought now and then as mementoes. Some who were rather better-to-do preferred the larger “cabinets” which had been fashionable for two or three years. But there were also, as there had been for the previous thirty years or more, an increasing number of those who were really interested in the art and the science of photography. The Royal Photographic Society, then the Photographic Society of London, was sixteen years old, and there had been journals devoted to photography for about as long. The rapid rectilinear lens, which has enjoyed a greater popularity than any other lens, had just been introduced. The carbon process had already been practised commercially, but in that very year it received its final simplification by the elimination of the use of a cement to hold the exposed tissue on to its support during development. Large photographs had been made, one, 12 ft. by 7 ft., having been recorded in 1868. Photography in natural colours had had its history written, the principles of three-colour photography were understood, the nature of the developable image had been much discussed, and an electrical theory had been proposed. Actino-meters had been devised. The kinematograph was represented by the zoetrope, or “wheel of life,” a mere toy.
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JONES, C. Progress of Photography. Nature 104, 251–252 (1919). https://doi.org/10.1038/104251a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/104251a0