Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1893-07-14

Photography in colOrS is a dream
that has intiamed many besides the
mere amateur and the enthusiast Like
several other decisions that will never
die, it has been reported fait ac-
compli over and over again; yet the
worst still waits for colored photo
graphs, and waits in vain, if what it
expects are correctly tinted reproduc-
lions, taken direct from nature There
are no such things, and, in all prob
ability, there never will be.
| The best that has ever been done in
this respect, and it is very wonderful,
is the sO-called composite heliochro-
my of Frederic Ives, which was ex-
hibited last year by special request at
the Royal Institution and at the ROYAL
society and the Society of Arts, SAYS
the Pail Mall Gazette of London. In
this process three pictures are taken
simultaneously on one plate, through
cOlored screens Of special construction,
by means of which each image is made
to represent one of the three funda-
mental color sensations produced on
the eye in accordance with the vision
theory Of Young and Helmholtz. These
three images are superimposed one on
another by triple optical lantern or
In an instrument of highly ingenious
construction called the "heliochromo-
scope" of Mr.. Ives own invention, by
means of which the original object
is shown not only in apparent relief,
f. Sfn b,,% ole
In the exact cOlOrs and shades of ma
| ture.
| No one who has seen Mr.. Ives pic
lures could fail to be impressed with
the beauty, the brilliance and the alb
sOlute faithfullness to nature of these
reproductions, which are based upon
scientific principles Of a very high or
der; but, speaking vulgarly, they are
not coloredl photographs. The three
actual images on each plate are black
and white as usual, with a difference
merely as regards the distribution of
light and shade in each it is only
when they are combined, and when
the proper conditions are restored, that
the illusory effects of color are given.
Wild Reports From France.
Recently there have been wild re-
ports of color photography emanating
from France. The Messrs. IAlmiere,
working on a process known as Lipp-
mann's, with dry plates Of their own
manufacture, are said to have eclipsed
this roundabout method entirely and
by a new system to have succeeded in
reproducing exactly, in one picture, all
the delicate tints of nature. M. Leon
Vidal, who is recognized as an author
| ity on the subject in France, writes
to the Photographic News:
| 'sIhe great characteristic of these
projected pictures is the faithful repre-
sentatiOn of landscapes The effect is
extraordinary on account of the adj
mirable reproduction of the colors Of
nature. The blue of the sky, the green
in their various tints and gradations
with all the most delicate grays and
whites all is here depicted with I'M
rivaled exactitude"
Similarly glOrified accounts have ap-
peared in other papers, English as well
as French, and a representative of the
Pail Mall Gazette called upon Mr.. Ives
in order to find out how much had real
ly been done in this direction. Mr..
Ives, it should be explained is a Phila-
delphian, and is at present on a visit
to England.
When the business was explained to
him Mr.. Ives smiled his faintest He
is a tall and somewhat misunderstanding
man, with eyes that show the lines Of
patient study, a thin black beard, and
the hand Of born experimenter.
''What led you to the idea Of hello
chromy?"
cit is not new. Mr.. Collen, the
queens painting master, suggested the
idea of photographing three images
to represent the three primary colors
twenty-eight years ago, and various
methods Of carrying it out have been
tried abroad by eros and Du Hauron
in France and DIR. VOgel in Germany.
But they did not hit the true idea. It
has taken me eight years to perfect
my three-color screens in such way
as to make each image when taken a
true representation of one of the fun
damental color sensations, so that when
the three were once more blended In a
common image through similar screens
the actual colors of nature would be
returned to the eye"
"AI1d have you succeeded in this? p
Look at these specimens"
Here Mr.. Ives brought down his
heliOchrOmoScOne small Snu9re box