materials such as books and articles, online and printed, on photography or related topics.
Book published in 1905 is an essential source for studying the History of Photography seeing it inserted and as a continuation of the studies on light, photo-sensitive reactions and formation of images through lenses. Phenomena observed and studied since ancient Greece and deepened particularly after the Renaissance. But 700 of its 900 pages are devoted…
Histoire de la Découverte de la Photographie | Georges Potonniée A good history of photography focusing on its discovery. The author begins by defining photography, talking about the camera obscura, mechanical means of reproduction of drawings and his major focus is in the first experiments of Wedgwood and then Niépce and Daguerre. Published in 1929….
This is a 1911 publication and is arranged in alphabetical order as in a dictionary. No subject is explored in depth but it is very useful for researching terms related to photography. Chemical reagents, photography genres, optics, cameras, all kinds of accessories, processes, etc. There are 636 pages especially useful for those studying the history…
10-volume collection that really covers a wide variety of photography topics.
Biography of Thomas Wedgwood with a chapter about his works to photography and also an appendices named “A Mythical Account of T. Wedgwood Photographic Work” in which the author dismisses theories about an early discovery of photography made by Wedgwood. It contains the report wrote by Humphrey Davy in 1802 summarizing the real outcome of…
Book published in 1894. Divided into three sections: We can perceive there a very pragmatic approach, but it does not loosen with scientific accuracy. It is interesting for those who like studying history of image making and also for those considering or already using lenses from the 19th century. That is becoming very attractive if…
Book on photographic optics from the beginning of photography to the first anastigmatic lenses.
Very good book about photographic lenses. Published in 1904, third edition, introduces the nature of light and goes directly to the issue of a photographic image. Explains the problems of aberration, angle of view, aperture and focus among other key concepts. It is a pragmatic text and relates designs with field of application like landscapes…
A very complete treatise on photographic lenses. It starts with refraction and follows with formulas for spherical lenses, types of aberration, ways of correcting them and in the most practical part it cites the main families of lenses, their manufacturers, and goes down to the surface radii for some examples chosen. Great reference. Digitized by…
The book focuses on chemical side of photography, there is not talk about lenses or cameras. The author, himself a photographer and colourist, was a teenager when daguerrotypes were spreading into UK and he mixes historical events with his personal experiences in a very nice manner. There is a useful chronological record with main facts…
This book covers the practice of professional portrait photography in leading studios across Europe. It was published in 1882 and therefore refers to the period when carte cabinets were consolidated as the preferred format in relation to the carte de visita format that had its peak in the 60s and 70s. In addition to the…
Excellent book on evolution of concepts about light throughout history. All back and forth movements about its corpuscular or wave nature are approached within the cultural context of each moment and the philosophical theological preferences of each scientist. At the end it shows how much science really can not have as purpose an investigation into…