Saturday, April 14, 2012

Tartan Ribbon - The world's first color photograph




James Clerk Maxwell
Tartan Ribbon
Three-Color Carbon Print
1861


During an 1861 Royal Institution lecture on colour theory, Maxwell presented the world's first demonstration of colour photography by this principle of three-colour analysis and synthesis, the basis of nearly all subsequent photochemical and electronic methods of colour photography. Thomas Sutton, inventor of the single-lens reflex camera, did the actual picture-taking. He photographed a tartan ribbon three times, through red, green and blue filters. He also made a fourth exposure through a yellow filter, but according to Maxwell's account this was not used in the demonstration. Because Sutton's photographic plates were in fact insensitive to red and barely sensitive to green, the results of this pioneering experiment were far from perfect. It was remarked in the published account of the lecture that "if the red and green images had been as fully photographed as the blue," it "would have been a truly-coloured image of the riband. By finding photographic materials more sensitive to the less refrangible rays, the representation of the colours of objects might be greatly improved."
from wikipedia

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Thomas Carlyle



Thomas Carlyle
by Julia Margaret Cameron
Albumen print
1867
The Royal Collection, London



source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Thomas_Carlyle_profile,_by_Julia_Margaret_Cameron.jpg

The Pond - Moonrise



The Pond - Moonrise
Edward J. Steichen
Platinum print with applied color
15 5/8 x 19 in
The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Alfred Stieglitz Collection

source: http://www.metmuseum.org/collections/search-the-collections/190019640

Friday, October 1, 2010

Afghan Girl by Steve McCurry



Afghan Girl
by Steve McCurry
used as cover for June 1985 issue of National Geographic Magazine
Kodachrome color slide film
1984

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sharbat_Gula.jpg

higher res: http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2009/354/f/1/Sharbat_Gula_by_LMEF2009.jpg

Copyright. Steve McCurry. For educational use only


Sharbat Gula (Pashto: شربت ګله, literally "Flower Sherbet") (pronounced [ˈʃaɾbat]) (born ca. 1972) is an Afghan woman who was the subject of a famous photograph by journalist Steve McCurry. Gula was living in a refugee camp in Peshawar, Pakistan during the time of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan when she was photographed. The image brought her recognition when it was featured on the cover of the June 1985 issue of National Geographic Magazine, at a time when she was approximately 12 years old. Gula was known throughout the world simply as the Afghan Girl until she was formally identified in early 2002.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Wilbur & Orville Wright, Side view of flight 41


Wilbur & Orville Wright
Side view of flight 41, showing the machine traveling to the right, with double horizontal rudder in front and double vertical rudder behind, as Orville flew 12 miles; Huffman Prairie, Dayton, Ohio
Dry plate glass negative
1905
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Edward Muybridge animated gif


Edward Muybridge
Animated gif of Horse Locomotion
click here for the animation

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Clara Barton by Mathew B. Brady



Clara Barton
by Mathew B. Brady
Daguerreotype
c. 1865