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642 THE PHOTOGRAPHIC NEWS. [OcTOBER 12, 1883. detail in shadow as in sunshine is noticeable in the Staub- bach at Lauterbrunnen. In Mr. Conway we have an artist who thoroughly understands intelligent development, and who is thus able, by his innate technical knowledge, to produce just what he desires. In a word, his practical knowledge and ready hand permit him well-nigh to secure his ideal. This intelligence and happy skill in development is shared by two neighbours—Mr. Manfield, of North ampton, and Mr. Brightman, of Bristol—whose beautiful work equals that of Mr. Conway, and about which we shall have something to say later. «Noontide ” (132) is the picture of Mr. Herbert Berkeley’s collection to which the jurors have attached their green label. We have repeatedly called attention to Mr. Berkeley’s engraving-like pictures, and it is with no little satisfaction that we hail him as one of the victorious this year. “Noontide,” we venture to say, would not be recognized at all as a photograph except by an expert, so free is it from all photographic blemishes. Printed in platinotype, it has all the tone and clearness of a rare en graving, its quiet harmonious composition, no less than the absence of disturbing art canons, still further inducing the belief that it is the work of a careful painter or etcher. A placid stream, with cattle knee-deep in the water, a high bank surmounted by foliage beyond the ford, and a grey old church in the background, are the materials out of which Mr. Berkeley contrived the tiny drawing that has secured him a medal ; but he exhibits other pictures scarcely less taking. “A Quiet Spot” (114), to wit, is a sweet little nook; some limpid river here makes a lazy bend, and glides noiselessly under shadow of a high bank made picturesque by the gnarled roots of the trees above. Professor W. F. Donkin justly receives a medal for his High Alp pictures. There is apparently no peak too high no summit too difficult, for this enterprising member of the Alpine Club, who plants bis camera on every crag the foot can reach. The “Dent de Gant (140), of which Professor Donkin shows us two magnificent views, are wonderful illustrations of that solitary ice kingdom that man penetrates at but rare and uncertain intervals. In one picture, we have but the dark spire of granite or needle, which remained a virgin peak, we believe, till last year. It was only, as may be seen from the picture, by roping the pyramid, and using other artificial aids of ascent, that man at last was able to put it under his foot. The other picture of the Gant shows us a very beautiful Alpine scene, the soft snow ridge from which the black spire rises having that satin-like sheen and glitter only to be seen in the Alps in early morning, when the first rays of sunshine strike aslant the crystal slope of virgin white. The picture of Lord Francis Cecil’s yacht Chittywee (223), that gains for Messrs. G. West and Son their distinction, is more like an exquisite water-colour sketch in mono chrome than a photograph. There is the element of racing shown in every line of the raking craft as, with every stitch of her broad canvas set, she dashes through the white- crested waves. The figure at the tiller adds much to the artistic finish of the picture, as also does the group of yachts in the distance, that gives so good a balance to the composition. This happy photograph, Messrs. West tell us, was taken from a boat following in the wake of the Chittywee, the wind blowing half a gale, and the sea so rough that to make an exposure was found to be exceedingly difficult. Every one of Messrs. West’s yachts will repay close study. The Autotype Company, of whose other work we must speak later, well deserve a medal for the skilful manner in which they have enlarged Mayland’s “ There is sorrow on the sea ; it cannot be quiet.’’ The tone and vigour of the print are excellent, and the original cloud shadows, no less than the glorious changes in wave and foam, are developed to a wonderful degree. We should have pre ferred a darker and heavier frame, but this is a detail easily to be remedied. The touching pathos of Mr. Adam Diston’s “ Industry’ (291) will be acknowledged by all. An old woman, bent with age, in black gown and widow’s cap, is busy at work in her lonely cottage. Beside her, on a low stool, is her basket of work, and behind, in the background, is a spinning- wheel. The repose and quiet that mark the little work greatly enhance its simplicity, which is not marred by any striving after the elaborate, or straining for effect. “ After the Storm ” (290) is scarcely less finished, and of the “ Poor of the Village” (292), another tiny composition of Mr. Diston’s, one may say the same. Mr. T. G. Whaite has already gained so much distinction for his artistic groups, that there is little surprise in find ing his name once more among the medallists. This year he shows us life in Brittany among the French provencals. “A Corner of the Market” (317) is very quaint, for half the picture—or, one might almost say, two-thirds of it— is empty, while the remainder is crowded with bloused Briton peasantry ; one almost seems to stand in the empty village street, looking on at the crowd huddled up at one end, and one realizes to the full that it is fair time, and that everyone has gone to the gathering. “ The Market place at Quimperle" (316) is no less life-like: indeed, the same Hogarthian character pervades every picture of Mr. Whaite, who, by the way, we see, produces all his work with self-made emulsion. Mr. William Cobb may well be compared to Mr. Whaite, for if the latter has given us sleepy Brittany, the former shows us London awake, both gentlemen supplying pic tures redolent with life and truth. “From the Top of an Omnibus” (372) Mr. Cobb tells us his sketches were secured, and it was decidedly a happy idea to choose this point of vantage for his observations. The most delight ful of Mr. Cobb’s pictures, to our thinking, is Westminster Bridge ; the foreground here is taken up by a City omni bus, which supplies a massive shadow, that is in effective contrast with the tall, softly-limned towers of the Palace of Westminster we see beyond, veiled in evening mist. “ Fleet Street,” if more of a sketch than a picture, would be of wonderful assistance to any painter or engraver desirous of giving a truthful rendering of the busy metro polis. Another photograph, taken just outside the Gallery, is full of life and go; so vivid, indeed, is the motion and traffic here, that you feel likely to be run over if you look at it too long. Mr. Bullock, of Leamington, secures a medal for a fine portrait printed in carbon (335). It is that of a young lady—three-quarter length—who stands with a curtain in her hands, this drapery forming a simple and eftective background. The picture exhibits one of the best, as it is one of the most genuine, ways of getting over the back ground difficulty, since we have the photograph with the least admixture of artificial adjuncts. The sweet face of the girl, its quiet pensive look, render the portrait a very charming one, while its engraving-like tone is exceedingly attractive. The new Stannotype process (485) earned for Mr. Walter Woodbury a medal, that gentleman exhibiting not only some exceedingly good prints by this latest perfection of Woodbury type, but also a case of specimens showing the wh ole process, from first to last, of transforming the negative into a printing block. So quickly, too, can this transforma tion be made, that in the case of one picture Mr. Wood bury shows—that from a negative taken by the Chatham Engineers—the negative was received one evening, and despatched back by noon on the morrow. These excellent Stannotype prints, we may remark, are not of carte or cabinet size, but measure, several of them, ten and twelve inches in length. Another photo-mechanical process takes a medal, the photo-engraving method of Klic, of Vienna, which, in the bands of Messrs. T. and R. Annan, of Glasgow, who have purchased the British patent, is being worked with most excellent results. Messrs. Annan exhibit several examples