Volltext Seite (XML)
THE PHOTOGRAPHIC NEWS. Vol. XXVII. No. 1302.—August 17, 1883. CONTENTS. mL - FAGE The Brussels Exhibition 513 permanent Silver Printing 515 Transferring. Printed Titles to Negatives 517 Iho Tourist Photographer 517 “Mr. Shadbolt’s Extraordinary Escape ” 518 French Correspondence. By Leon Vidal 519 Photography at the Antipodes 519 Notes 520 Patent Intelligence 521 PAGE A Trip to Kilauea. By C. Ray Woods 232 A Dictionary of Photography -;rqre •;j Solid and Liquid. Illuminating Agents. By L. Field, F.C.S 524 Rocher’s Patent for Concaving Photographs 24 Correspondence 215 Proceedings of Societies 527 Talk in the Studio 527 To Correspondents 528 Photographs Registered 528 THE BRUSSELS EXHIBITION. It would not be easy to find a more suitable place than Brussels for a great International Photographic Exhibi tion, as this city is fairly central for the whole of the civil ised world. The central hall of the Palais des Beaux Arts was especi ally designed by the architect, Balat, as an apartment for the exhibition of pictures, and he has succeeded in con structing one of the best exhibition galleries in Europe. Entering by the facade, abutting on the Rue de la Regence, one walks directly between the magnificent columns of polished granite into the Central Hall, which is over 200 feet long, and about sixty feet wide. The lighting is wholly through slightly frosted windows, cover ing nearly the whole of the top; indeed, more than the top in one sense, as a recessed gallery runs down each of the longer sides, and the sky-light is extended so as to nearly cover this. No part of the gallery projects in any way, so there is no obstruction whatever of the general lighting of the hall. On entering the main hall when the Exhibition opened yesterday, we could not help feeling surprised that it had been possible to gather together such a com prehensive collection of representative pictures as the Belgian Society has been the means of gathering in one place. Indeed, we found that all the exhibits were not really contained in the main apartment, but that as many exhibits as would altogether form an extensive photographic exhibit were gathered together in some of the adjoining apartments. To give anything like a con nected account of even the principal exhibits as a result of our visit on the first day would be quite out of the question, so we will content ourselves with elbowing our way among the crowd of visitors, and noting down discursively some impressions regarding those exhibits which first attracted our attention. Mr. Joseph Maes, of Antwerp, exhibits a collection of photographic work which indeed constitutes an exhi bition in itself; but his extensive series illustrating the Plantin exhibition at Antwerp has a special interest at the present time. The printing house of Plantin was founded in 1555, and the accumulation of literary and artistic treasures continued until the printing office was closed in 1800. Nothing was disturbed until the premises came into the hands of the municipality, and the collection is shown as it existed when the office was closed, all being, as it were, ready for the commencement of next day’s work. The pay book and the money bowl stand in the office; the cases of type with the copy upon them only want the compositors ; and the partly printed sheets only require to be finished and bound, to complete the work which were to hand when the printing house was closed. These things, together with the ancient sale room, the proof readers’ apart ments, the type founding, are shown in Mr. Maes’ photo ¬ graphs ; while other pictures present the ancient carved oak furniture, the tapestry and paintings by Rubens, which bad been lost to the world for eighty years. Mr. Maes knows how to work the collotype and other photo-mechani cal processes with advantage, if we may judge by the numerous series of views and book reproductions which he exhibits. Some of the reproduced books are those from the press of the Plantin family. Mr. John Ward, of Brussels, is evidently one of the few who can photograph microscopic objects with com plete success, and his diatoms, magnified from 100 to 800 diameters, are exceedingly good; but in one case, he goes as far as 2,000 diameters, a small diatom thus acquiring the dimensions of an ordinary cheese. In this case, the enlargement does not look very sharp. Mr. Ward’s reproductions of insects, and of insect anatomy, are likely to be of value for educational purposes. The reproductions of old documents and of old prints appears to be a speciality of Mr. Alexander Davis, but he also shows interiors and instantaneous views. A group of five elephants is perhaps the most striking picture of a set of about a dozen, which illustrate the animals of San ger’s Circus. One elephant is mounted on a pedestal, while another squats down with his legs spread out, and his trunk between his fore legs. The Fete des Fleurs, a scene on the steps of the new Bourse, is a striking picture. The true pictorial instinct is evidently possessed by George Brokesch, of Leipzig, whose artistic studies are likely to be of considerable use to the painter. A striking group is a party in an opera box, the younger pair being so intent on an in cipient flirtation, as to be altogether neglectful either of per formance or programme, which latter hangs over out of the box. Not so the old folks, whose attitude and expression are indicative of all absorbing interest. Der Weiblische Amateur represents a lady at work with the camera. It is a mountainous district, let us sup pose the Tyrol. The clownish fellow who holds the slides is evidently altogether mystified by the proceedings, while a tall boorish-looking peasant cranes his neck out, stretching his head almost over the camera in order to gather some kind of idea of the proceedings. The exhibit of the Wood bury type Company com prises items which do not offer much novelty to the English photographer, but we observed them to create a considerable interest among the visitors yesterday. M. Hector Colard (amateur), of Brussels, contributes about thirty country scenes. He evidently has an eye for the beautiful. The Rousseau Oak at Fontainebleau is almost an ideal tree pic ture, while two watermills from the Ardennes district pos sess that peculiar charm which results from a judicious combination of water and woodland scenery. The Gracht a. Dordrecht shows a water road, in which the houses them selves form the borders of the canal, a condition of things common enough in Venice, but not so usual in Holland,