The photographic news

• Bandzählung: 11.1867
• Erscheinungsdatum: 1867
• Sprache: Englisch
• Signatur: F 135
• Vorlage: Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig
• Digitalisat: Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig
• Digitalisat: SLUB Dresden
• Rechtehinweis: Public Domain Mark 1.0
• URN: urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-db-id1780948042-186700008
• PURL: http://digital.slub-dresden.de/id1780948042-18670000
• OAI: oai:de:slub-dresden:db:id-1780948042-18670000
• Sammlungen: LDP: Historische Bestände der Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig
• Sammlungen: Fotografie
• Strukturtyp: Band

• Digitalisat: SLUB Dresden
• Strukturtyp: Ausgabe

January 4, 1867.] THE PHOTOGRAPHIC NEWS. 7 instances the sulphocyanides seem to dissolve all the un changed salts, and the resultant picture is, at least, as unalterable as one fixed in hypo. There was another dis advantage in using sulphocyanides, viz., the salts were comparatively very expensive, and a larger proportion to the water had to be used than when working hypo. Therefore, coming to such conclusions, I abandoned the idea of fixing the prints other than by the usual way. During these experiments I had used the new salts simple and also with gold, so as to tone the print during the fixing. This I found very troublesome, as when the print was toned I could not ascertain whether it had remained long enough in the solution to fix it, and the Rive and Saxe papers differed very much from each other under the same treatment, the former requiring twice as long to tone as the latter. In toning by this method I found, however, that one could obtain a range of tones totally distinct in colour and character to that by any other bath. I found that while the half-tones had reached the blue stage, the shades were unaffected; but when the latter were a warm sepia, the half-tones were of the most exquisite fleshy tone, and for vignettes produced beautiful results. Not liking to give up the process when such results could be obtained, I definitely abandoned the idea of fixing by sulphocyanide, and determined to use it as a modifier to the gold, and only as a means to get the double colours. After many experiments 1 found the following process give the best effects :— The paper must be thin, even in texture, and free from metal spots ; therefore Saxe is the best. The silver must be acid, so as to give red prints in the pressure-frame ; and it need not be more than 30 or 35 grains to the ounce. The exposure must not be so long as for ordinary toning, but arrested when the print has obtained exactly the depth ultimately required, as it loses nothing in depth ; on the contrary, it sometimes increases; therefore prints slightly under exposed will be better than a trifle over-exposed. The washing must be done first in plain water, to dissolve the greater part of the free nitrate of silver, then copiously wash in a solution of salt and water, the strength of which is immaterial, as it is only required to change any remaining nitrate into chloride. If the print be immersed at once into the saline solution, there will be formed a scum on the albumen which is impossible to remove, and which has a peculiar prismatic appearance. The toning bath is— Chloride of gold 5 grains Tungstate of soda 20 ounces. Dissolve in five ounces of boiling water, and let the solution rest till colourless; then add— Sulphocyanide of ammonium ... 5 grains Water (cold distilled) ... ... 5 ounces. Mix and immerse the prints.—-which turn to a dirty brown, then to a pale primrose—and the image almost disappears. The toning is much longer than usual, and generally occu pies about fifteen or twenty minutes. When the shades have reached a yellowish sepia, wash in one or two changes of water. Then fix in— Hyposulphite of soda 1 ounce Water ... 6 ounces. After this, wash in the usual way. In the fixing bath the print will become rather colder in tone in the shades, and warmer in the half-tones. hThe toning by this method seems to be effected by an operation different to that occurring in the usual processes. By an acetate, lime, or any of the ordinary baths, the gold is deposited on the surface of the albumen, and there is evidently a layer of silver under the gold, which dissolves in the hypo, and therefore causes reduction in the intensity of the print; but by the above method one can distinctly see the toning commence from the back or underneath layer of silver; consequently, the half tones or thin deposit tones quicker than the intense or thick layer; and as the latter attains its tone, the others have been over-toned, but with this peculiarity, that over-toning by this method the colour is warmer, and not bluer, as is usual. Therefore, as the toning is effected right through the print, there is nothing to dissolve in the hypo, and the print is not reduced in the least. Prints by this method ought to be more permanent than ordinary ones, as the image is more composed of gold. The whites have a singular brilliancy, the half-tones a pecu liar and pleasing rotundity and warmth, and the shades are rich and deep. There is one trouble, however, and that is, in the toning, the print sometimes takes the gold unequally, and there are obstinate yellow spots which refuse to tone. I have found that the addition of a little alcohol to the bath cured it. White light must be carefully excluded from all the operations, as the prints are very sensitive to light; and during toning, if white light be admitted, there is a general degradation, which does not show till the print is finally dried. This is the process by which I have produced very fine effects, and which I hope, in the hands of others, may do the same. For large vignette heads, magnificent effects can be pro duced, and which effects may be modified according to the skill of the printer. I may say, in conclusion, that this process needs more care, attention, and patience than usual; but, if properly followed out, gives results which amply repay all trouble. THE SCOPE OF PHOTOGRAPHY.—No. I. BY NELSON K. CIERRILL. “ Photography is not an art ”: so, at least, we are informed upon every possible occasion by two classes of people—those who have been ruined by it, and those who do not under stand it. If it is the privilege of all English people to grumble, it would indeed be churlish to deny the right to those who have anything to complain of, and so perhaps it is not wise to complain of the feeble efforts of used-up portrait painters to satirize and malign an art with which they cannot compete. But in the other class (and a very large class it is, too) objections to photography arise from no pecuniary considerations. They, following only the instinct of their nature, object, as I said before, to what they cannot understand, and, confounding all photography with the soot and whitewash of the printsellers’ windows, fail to dis cover any connection between art and the half chemical, half mechanical tinkering, the productions of which so often fall short both of beauty and of permanence. Now the difficulty which these men feel in assigning any artistic position to photography arises from two con siderations, of which I propose to treat. They first imagine that the term “ art” is claimed as applying necessarily to all photography ; and second, they are not aware of the exact amount of scope which is given by photography to those who know how to use it. Of the first of these errors—one which, however absurd, is often committed—it is needless to say much; the mistake has, no doubt, arisen from the false interpretation of a truth which has been often reiterated, namely, that the accuracy of photography is infinitely superior to that which can be obtained by any other mode of drawing. But accuracy of delineation is not in itself enough to secure for a picture any artistic merit; it is the arrangement ot the subject, its contrasts of light and shade, and general effect, which can alone give it any claim to being more than a merely mechanical production. So to arrange the subject is the work of an artist; and hence, if we would determine the true position of photography in relation to art, we must consider by how much its powers and its scope fulfil the requirements of artists. I will consider in this connection some of the most frequently-reiterated objections to the