New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-08-21
PHOTOGRAPHIC PROGRESS.

BY the holding of an annual conference IN
Boston this week by the photographers of New
England the question is suggested whether the
art of which these men are devotees has at
tanned its full growth or will develop new feat
uTes If one were to judge from the recent past
alone he would probably hesitate to predict any
considerable advance in the near future Al
most the only advances in the technique OF pho
Biography in the last five or ten years have been
in the range of lenses and the permanence OF
prints One hears good deal just now about
a stricter observance of art principles Ill TINS
profession. Probably there is room for it, but
the suggestion is not novel. The moving plct-
ure involves only an extension of the field OF
usefulness of photography, and not sclentih-
caIly new process. The same may be said of
the adoption by the daily newspapers for pur-
poses of illustration of the half tone, which was
once believed to be available only for books and
magazines
Photography IN cOlors. concerning which
great hopes have been entertained, is practi-
caly at a standstilI. Lippmann's system, which
utilized the interference of rays. gives beauti-
full results but does not admit of any method
of duplication like printing from a negative.
No practical use has yet been made Of it. With
the three-plate plan, with which Bierstadt,
Kurtz. Ives Jolly and others have been identi-
fed, some attractive pictures have been made.
but so much depends upon the way in which
the printer does his work when the photog
rapher's is done that the result is uncertain.
There is no automatic check which insures alb
solute fidelity Of tint. Several variations of the
three-cOlor process have been worked out. One
of the latest plans involves the staining of three
separate transparent films in which the lights
and shades are indicated by inequalities of
thickness, and then placing one above another
with great mechanical precision. This three
ply photograph can be used in a magic lantern
or may be mounted upon a white card as
print However, a method which is both accu-
rate and practicable for the photographer Of
average skill is still lacking. Possibly some en-
tirey new line of experiment is needed to give
the desired result.
Owing to the tckleness of human nature and
the ease with which one fad replaces another
the camera is not so popular with amateurs as
1t was ten years ago. On many accounts this
change is to be regretted. \ photograph af-
fords vivid record of pleasant times, pleasant
places and pleasant people 1t often reproduces
a scene of which it is impossible to get pict-
ure from professional artists OF the shops The
development of Il negative, too, is to many peo-
pie an operation of never failing interest The
way in which the invisible leaps into visibility
Is simply miraculous. Besides. the practical
consequence of doing this part of the work
ones self is that better plate is generally oh
tanned than if the task is performed by any one
else. For these and other reasons it is to be
hoped that revival of enthusiasm in amateur
photography will yet he witnessed Perhaps
the invention of good method of copying
colors viii have that effect.