The photographic news

• Bandzählung: 35.1891
• Erscheinungsdatum: 1891
• 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-id1780948042-189100009
• PURL: http://digital.slub-dresden.de/id1780948042-18910000
• OAI: oai:de:slub-dresden:db:id-1780948042-18910000
• Sammlungen: LDP: Historische Bestände der Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig
• Sammlungen: Fotografie
• Strukturtyp: Band

• Digitalisat: SLUB Dresden
• Strukturtyp: Ausgabe

January 2, 1891.] THE PHOTOGRAPHIC NEWS. not necessarily imply fine art. Thirdly, that the grain of the paper used in printing should not be a matter of fad, but is seriously and actually a matter of absolute scale. Fourthly, that exaggeration and affectation is an affront to stheticism and pure taste. Also let me add that, however a society may deem it expedient, and even honest, to medal works tendered to them for exhibition on the sole principle of encouraging worthy eftort by such means, the amateur must use his own discretion, not being scared into blind worship of such work, but sift the matter for himself, and learn to discriminate between laudable effort and entire success. If the amateur does not do this, he will be unquestionably one of those who, following blind guides, fall by the way. Now one word to this Society in particular, who have honoured me by their kind and patient attention so far. I take it that most of you, by your very presence here to-night, if I may be allowed to say so, listening to my dry but really earnest talk, have an equally earnest desire to do some really good work, and will take not a little pains for the mere love of art to do something more than pour ounces of developer over glass plates, and mess your fingers pour passer le temps in the interest of the dry plate maker, or for the production of fog, as each of you has a desire to do something really worth looking at. Of course in a Society like this there are many who have done so already, but I am not speaking to them, but to those, if there be any who have not been so fortunate, who are the real amateurs—I say to these : Don’t fritter yourself away in formulas—the snare of all beginners; master one process, and, being assured that under most circumstances you can obtain a technically good negative, don’t bother yourself about the chemicals any more, but devote yourself to your art, your greatest art, the art of photographing nothing, unless you see some reasonable chance of getting a pleasant composition, an interesting subject with agreeable and harmonious lines in it; some thing that shall not hereafter pall upon you, something that you can endure to live with, and that your friends shall say very nice to, and really mean it when they say it; then when you have done this you may conscientiously lay the flattering unction to your soul that you have been working on the right road, and are far nearer ultimate success than some of the exhibitors in Pall Mall who, “ troubled about many things,” are, it seems to me, giving far more attention just now to processes and chemicals—to say nothing of blurred focusses—than they are to art. Art is art. Your art, Amateur Photo graphers of West Kent, is the art of photography, which again is the art of expressing your feelings and sympathies, something of your own ego, something of your own souls, if you will, by photography, “ mere photography ; ” never be ashamed of it. Let every tub stand on its own bottom. The photographic tub, if only true to itself, shall hold a dignified position; it can never be a reproach to a photo graph that it is a mere photograph if an artist has selected the subject and photographed it earnestly, and with this axiom ever in his mind, viz., that though “art fulfils itself in many ways,” the highest purposes of any art are not fulfilled iu imitating, however well, the technical qualities of another. It is requested that all books and papers which are intended for presentation to the Photographic Society, towards the foundation of its library, may be addressed to the Secretary, at the Society’s Rooms, 50, Great Russell Street, London. MISS MARR AND HER DETECTIVE CAMERA. Miss Marr is a young lady rather under than above twenty years of age, and of a most light and blithesome nature. Indeed, her vivacity and playfulness are her prominent charac teristics. We may mention also in passing that she is an enthusiastic amateur photographer. Now this interesting young lady has for some time been receiving the earnest atten tions of two young men of Carpentersville, Edwin R. Cole and Alonzo Doubleday. Each is an excellent young man, a member of the Young Men’s Christian Association, and a teacher in the Sunday school. There was really little choice between them, and Miss Eunice has found it impossible to decide which one to select. Under ordinary circumstances she would, of course, have taken the one to whom her parents objected, but, unfor tunately, these worthy people, for some unknown reason, did not look with any great favour on either. She did not, how ever, allow her anxiety in deciding to interfere with her buoyancy of spirits. In her extremity she hit upon this in genious plan: she determined to insist on an elopement, arranging with each of them for the same night, and then go with the one who arrived first. She accordingly instructed Edwin R. Cole to put a ladder up to the north window of her room at two o’clock Tuesday morning, and told Alonzo Double day to do the same at the west widow at the same time. One must almost certainly come a little before the other, and the other could scarcely blame her for not waiting. Having thus settled the perplexing question, she went about for the next few days with even a lighter heart than usual. Monday night, when Miss Marr retired she set the alarm on her clock for half-past one. Arising at that time, she was ready in fifteen minutes. Then she got out her detective camera and put it in readiness, her idea being to take a snap shot at the minister during the ceremony. This attended to, she sat down, and waited the arrival of the man who was to be her hus band with her young heart in a pardonable flutter, something which was doubtless increased by the pleasing uncertainty as to whether it would be Edwin R. Cole or Alonzo Doubleday. At one minute before two she heard a slight noise outside the north window, as she thought. She listened, and it seemed at the west window. A horrible thought flashed upon her. She rushed to the north window ; Edwin R. Cole was wrestling with a heavy ladder below. She rushed to the west window ; Alonzo Doubleday had a ladder about half-way up. She stepped back and paused one moment. Simultaneously through the darkness she made out the upper end of a ladder rise at both the north and west windows. She saw that the time had come to act, and she did not hesitate. Going to the north window, she spoke to the ardent Cole, and told him to take his ladder around the corner to the west window. Quickly passing to the west window, she instructed the fervid Doubleday to carry his ladder around to the north window. Each impetuous young Romeo seized his ladder and started with it in an upright position. They met at the corner in the dark ness. One ladder fell against the house with a loud report— the other crashed into a tree. Then these two young men fought. There, amid the wreck of the ladders, they clinched in almost a death struggle, and shouted and used language which startled and shocked the lonely night watchman on his beat, hardened and profane man though he was. In the thickest of it, while they were belabouring each other over the head with rungs torn from the ladders, there was a bright glare of light from above. The coy young girl that each had thought to make his bride had taken a flash-light photograph of them. The night watchman then came up, and, after club bing them judiciously, arrested them. They were fined ten dollars apiece in the morning, and each used the money to pay it which he had intended for the minister. Nor was this the end of it, sad as it is. It is now announced that Miss Eunice Marr will not marry either of these young men, but a pale youth who sings in the choir named Foster ; while the Y.M.C.A. is takingsteps toexpel both Cole and Doubleday on the strength of the watchman’s report of their language ; and the playful Miss Eunice is printing off her flash picture at the rate of fifty a day, and selling them, the proceeds to go to the foreign mission society.—The Photographic Globe.