The San Francisco call., 1908-03-01
Preparing the Plate

preparing the Flate
The method which has finally been
evolved by Lumicre is based on the
same principle OF the separation OF the
colors OF the spectrum This Is Sc
cured by dusting the plate With very
fine grains impregnated with dye In
stead Of using the three primary col
ors he uses light green. blue violer
and red orange, which. discourse. are
combinations of the three primary col
ors. distributed in equal proportion.
Potato starch is found TO be the best
medium and there are about 5000 o00
grains 10 the square inch Each of the
PARTICLES is acted upon only by the
color to which ii has been made sensi-
tive and this makes the impressionistic
effect of the tiny spheres of color that
Maurer showed me through the lens.
The smallness of the particles makes it
possible To get all the cOlOrs on one
surface. blended so that the separate
ingredients are not visible TO the naked
eye. At first il was found difficult to
exclude the white light from altering
between the color grains, but a roller
has now been perfected which dusts
the grains thickly and evenly over the
surface They are then isolated with
wafer proof varuish and coated with
a panchromatic cOllodion emulsion. A
very long exposure is necessary.
In the case OF the most successful
plates taken in Maurer's studio an ex-
pOsurc OF from four to five minutes
had been found right If I remember
rightly 1s hours was the time required
in the earliest days OF photography.
Nftcr developing he plate without FIX
ing is treated With an acidif1ed per-
n,anganate Of potash. which acts as
reducer, The colors sometimes run IL
tic water used i'm developing pene-
tIaIes through the varnish. This OF
serious proposition SO long as each
plate must be brought from Paris.
rhe FIRST exhibition OF color photOg
raDhy in this country was held last No
venlber ia the -Sccessionist rooms
ir New York of work done by Stieglitz
and Eugene in Munich and by Steichen
ia Paris some beautiful reproductions
have been seen. and il is claimed that
FOR artistic merit tho works Of the
Americans are ahead Of those shown
b. L-umiere himself who has paid more
attention to scientific perfection of de-
tell tnan TO artistic composition. 10
was an American. Robert Cornelius.
who established the first photographs
studio in the world. This was in Phila-
deIphia in 1910. the very year after
paguerre'S discovery. Americans have
always led the world in the field of
pictorial photography. which has firmly
established itself as an art. u is to he
expected that although the two great
est discoveries in the realm Of pho
Biography have been made In France its
finest development in the future as in
the past will be in the United States
Viii the new color photography uf-
timstelv supersede the various forms
OF color printing The coarse wooc
cut which we can see by turning back
70 old ma gazincs-not so very tar
back either-has been replaced By the
ftofF brrr
cuts Of Timothy Cole. each one q
dream of poetry visuallzed By tis- Gu
ressing touch of the master working in
the materials he likes host will never
be superseded by any ready made me-
chanical devices. So the raw bung-
ling specimens Of color printing viii
no doubt have to so, but there Will al
ways be room Tor the best work i'm
every branch. The more forms OF art
there are, the more room for individ-
uality.
VIII photography when II has sue
ceeded in transferring color TO paper.
supersede painting? The question is al
most too nonsensicaI to be answered
and Yet it has been propounded Ia All
seriousness Nothing can ever render
superfluous the creative genius OF the
artist. The smaller cannot take the
place of the greater. A great deal OF
what now maSqUerades as art will be
shown up in its true or rather false
coIors when photography can record
accurately not only the forms. but the
colors OF nature. but the sincere art
will by the same means be aided in its
striving after truth.
The thought Of the benefits TO be de-
rived from color photography opens a
field too wide to be explored at pres
ent In the medical science alone the
effects Will be revolutionary.