Milford chronicle., 1889-07-26
IT ISN'T YOURSELF.
But just the Light Falling Upon You That
L. Photographed.

But just the Light Falling Upon You That
Is Photographed.
1.-THE actual theory and the first principles
Of photography" said recently one OF the
high Photographic lights Of the town, "are
generally understood; that is, they are not
misunderstood at all The art 8 the photog
rapher, using the word in its true sense, peo-
pie lose sight of. They think of him simply
as a machine for placing them in strong
light, telling them look pleasant, please and
exposing the plates That. although working
with different materials and in a different
way, he must have the art tendencies and be
the artist as much as the portrait painter IS,
is something that never enters their heads.
"And this is why. In making an exposure
it is not the object that is photographed, but
simply the light that falls upon it This Is
thecardinal principle Of photography, strange
as it may appear And, stranger still, hun
dreds of the professional photographers, as
they wheel the machine about to catch bet
ter light on the object, are ignorant Of it
Not but that one Of these may not at times
hit upon capital likeness That often hap
pens. But he does not understand the prin
Ciples of his art
Nov, to explain What does the art pho
tographer q make the Distinction do the very
first thing when he starts out to take photo
graphi Why, just as the portrait painter
does. He makes a swift, yet comprehensive
study of every feature and the face as whole
He knows that only parts Of the face can bt
taken, and all the rest must fall upon tbs
plate in shadow, and it is his art that leadi
him to determine what those parts shall be-
so to best catch the expression, the person
ality. The portrait painter does no more II
this direction. The medium is different, and
he has palette Of colors to depend upon,
while the photographer Is reduced TO tones
and tints Of black and white alone
"Wll you have proofs of thisi Here are
two Have you ever carefully noticed the
full length photograph Of man in which
the shoes arc yisiblel What you saw in the
picture was a CLEAN, suggestion, as It were,
tho light Of the polish The remainder Of
the shoe was in shadow, for It was the light
and not the object that was photographed.
Again. to furnish a tangible proof Of the
CORRECTNESS of this theory of photography,
made a series Of photographs of a plaster
bust There were a dozen pictures taken
under exactly similar conditions, camera AND
light being unchanged in every particular.
| simply moved apparatus and subject about
made my exposures from different points Of
view At each Of these the light fell differ.
emily upon the features. Upon the develop
ment Of the negatives the pictures were
hardly recognizable as being Of the SAINT
object.
''That explains why it is that some people
never take we'll as they call it It is be
cause in the photographers arrangement
those portions Of tho features on which th'
light falls are not just what Is necessary Z
give the expression And tho make up q
the expression differs in every individual
case. A good likeness is possible to every
one, but It might just 50 happen that onel
expression viii never be caught The poor
est Of the craft may catch It on chance, ihl
very best may never exactly get it. but th'
odds are decidedly in the favor of him who
a student of lights and faces, and who vel
understands the theory Of Photographic art.
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