Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1889-03-15
A PHOTOGRAPHER TALKS.
SARONY DEPLORES THE CHANGES
IN THE METHODS OF HIS ART.

SARONY DEPLORES THE CHANGES
IN THE METHODS OF HIS ART.
The Dry Plate Process Defeats Efforts to
Photography - Serious Grievance
Against Portrait Painters.
Photography today does not give as good
results as it gave eighteen years ago, said
Mr. Otto Sarony when questioned as to ths
| progress of his art
do we owe nothing, then, to instantane
GUS Photographic
Don't misunderstood me. am not cry
Ing down the results of inventions that have
mabled us to do all sorts of things by pho
Biography that the early photographers did
not even dream Of 1t is undeniabie how
ever, that as means of reproducing artistic
portraits photography today is not what il
once was, and this is due in part to some Of
the very inventions that are regarded as tho
most important in the art. The dry plate,
for example, enables us to take negative ia
from half a second to two seconds The old
wet plate often required fifteen seconds or
longer, but it gave more roundness to tn
picture and made better portrait. If we
should ask customers TIC sit fifteen seconds
now we should soon lose our trade. Modern
haste has sacrificed something that we OBJ
tanned with ease twenty years ago.
Instantaneous photography would enable
you still further to hasten the processes
would it give less satisfactory results than
you now obtain!''
1.-The time occupied in taking negative
by instantaneous photography is almost III
appreciable, say one-ten1h of second, but
that process is not used in Photographic
studios. To get satisfactory portrait un-
der skylght we cut off some of the light
and thus tone down effects The instantane-
Gus process needs a strong light, such as YOU
obtain in the open air.
IN oNE-TENTH OF A SECOND.
Here" continued Mr.. Sarony, drawing
from his pocket small negative, lis an in
teresting little thing that illustrates what T
am saying. This is little interior that I
took at home on a dark, rainy afternoon, by
exploding powdered magnesium l could
have taken it quite as well at midnight You
see that the furniture is very distinct, and
even that miniature of a cherub and the
photographs on the mantel are perfectly
produced. The boy is little dim because he
ran away when the explosion came. Yes, it
is an actual fact that he was scared off by the
very light that was to take his picture. He
WIS not quick enough, however, as you see,
and there he is. The process probably occu-
pied one-tenth of a second. 1t is done by
blowing powdered magnesium across an alco-
holic flame. The flash is brief but intense.
1t could not be satisfactorily used, however,
In producing portraits, for the reason that
the photographs would have no oppor-
tunity to pose his subject and study in the
camera effects of lipht and shade
instantaneous photography has greatly
aided the amateur, and the result has been
to drive professional photographers out of
the open air business 1t does not pay pho
tographist to devote himself to outdoor
work There are too many amateurs in COM
petition. | think it is not generally known,
by the way, that many artists in this country
and In Europe are amateur photographers,
and that they use our art in aid of their own.
l believe that the marvellous minuteness of
Meisonnier's work is due to the fact that he
paints u great deal from photographs He
has been an amateur photographs since the
days OF the ambrotype, and have no reason
to believe that he has changed his method.
TRICK OF PORTRAIT PAINTERS.
Il am told that Jerome also uses photog-
raphy In his work, and it is easy to believe,
when ono recalls the character of his pictures.
ASoS0Aiio w iIiC d Perfectly afE. Inc
artist just makes his sketch from nature and
then relieves his model from laborious posing
by working from photographs in the matter.
of detail One thing that has been done by
portrait painters is not quite so defensible
Last year foreign portrait painter with a
great reputation came over here and painted
many portraits of wealthy persons at great
prices. In one instance, he painted the pol-
tsa1t OF rich woman, and it is an absolute
fact that he photographed her on canvas and
painted over the photograph. 1t was regarded )
as speaking likeness, and the artist was
paid $4,000 or $1,000. Now it is not many
years since that sort of thing was done by
Photographers in this country, but the ar
lists made such an outcry that it was
stopped.
1T is an amusing thing to see the attempts
at posing made by portrait painters, who
bring their sitters to us for photographs. The
artist believes that hecan get just the right
effect by posing the subject himself, and is
surprised to find that the negative shows an
utterly different result from what he had ex- :,
pected. Trained photographers understand
the art of posing, and persons obtain most
satisfactory portraits by giving themselves
into the hands of the photographic
'Would not photographing in colors cid
you in making race distinctions?n
There is no such thing as photographing
in colors, and see no prospect of its perfec-
ton. What is now called photographing is
merely an effect of photography. No. the
future improvements in photography are
likely to result from the study of posing, and
the management of light and shade just
now general excellence and novelty in style
are the photographers aims, New York
Cor. st. Louis Globe-Democrat,