Argyronomicon, Silver Photographs on Paper, Alternative Photographic Processes

Table of Contents
Preface...................................................................................................................................8
Acknowledgements...................................................................................................... 10
Section I Essays on Pre- and Proto-Photography..................................... 11
1 Luminescence and Photography.................................................................. 12
1.1 Types of Luminescence ........................................................... 13
1.2 Early Phosphori....................................................................... 14
1.3 Schulze’s Serendipitous ‘Scotophorus’ .................................... 17
1.4 Light, Dark, and Alchemy ........................................................ 17
1.5 Ontology of the Negative ........................................................ 19
1.6 Ambivalent Daguerreotypes .................................................... 20
1.7 Negative Inhibitions ................................................................ 22
1.8 Negative-Positive Processes .................................................... 23
2 Proto-Photographic Substances.................................................................. 28
2.1 Silver Salts .............................................................................. 28
2.2 Iron Compounds ..................................................................... 29
2.3 Salts of Other Metals............................................................... 30
2.4 Dichromated Colloids.............................................................. 31
2.5 Sulphur................................................................................... 33
2.6 Bitumen.................................................................................. 35
2.7 Resins..................................................................................... 36
2.8 Plant Matter ............................................................................ 36
2.9 Animal Matter ......................................................................... 38
2.10 Molluscan Dyes..................................................................... 41
3 Invention of Photography............................................................................... 44
3.1 The ‘Gernsheim Question’....................................................... 44
3.2 Proto-photography ................................................................. 44
3.3 Photographic Sensitivity .......................................................... 45
3.4 Sunlight.................................................................................. 46
3.5 Contact Prints and Photograms ............................................... 47
3.6 Development of the Lens ........................................................ 48
3.7 Criteria for Camera Photography ............................................. 49
3.8 Historical Proto-photographs.................................................. 51
3.9 Niépce in England 1827 .......................................................... 52
3.10 Sindonography...................................................................... 54
4 Optics of Shadows ............................................................................................... 59
4.1 Skiology or Sciagraphy............................................................ 59
4.2 Angular measure .................................................................... 60
4.3 The Eye's Resolution ............................................................... 60
4.4 The Sun's Aspect..................................................................... 60
4.5 The Sky's Luminance............................................................... 61
4.6 Sharpness of Shadows............................................................. 62
4.7 Duration of Exposure .............................................................. 63
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4.8 Laws of Skiology ..................................................................... 64
4.9 Photograms ............................................................................ 67
5. Herschel’s Photographic Prints from Engravings ............................... 72
5.1 Exposure Duration in Early Photography.................................. 72
5.2 Sciagraphs or Photogenic Drawings......................................... 72
5.3 Herschel's Versions of Photography......................................... 73
5.4 Herschel’s Use of Engravings................................................... 74
5.5 Identification of the Engravings............................................... 77
5.6 Literary Annuals and Gift-books.............................................. 80
5.7 The Evanescent Anthotype ...................................................... 83
5.8 Invention of Siderotype ........................................................... 83
5.9 Herschel’s Photo-etymology ................................................... 86
5.10 Siderotype Processes.............................................................. 86
5.11 The Exasperating Kelainotype ................................................ 88
5.12 A Neologism: the Diaphane.................................................... 89
Section II History of Silver Photography on Paper .................................... 90
6 Talbot's Achievements and Legacy............................................................ 91
6.1 Invention of Photogenic Drawing............................................. 91
6.2 Development of the Calotype .................................................. 95
6.3 Collections of Talbot's Photographs ........................................ 96
6.4 Correspondence...................................................................... 98
6.5 Catalogue Raisonné ................................................................ 98
6.6 Publications ............................................................................ 99
6.7 Patents ................................................................................. 101
6.8 Talbot’s Contemporaries in Photography............................... 101
6.9 Texts on Photographic Chemistry.......................................... 102
7 Talbot's Materials and Modus Operandi ...............................................103
7.1 Classification and Nomenclature ........................................... 103
7.2 Silver Print-out Processes...................................................... 107
7.3 Photogenic Drawing Paper..................................................... 108
7.4 Ammonio-Nitrate of Silver Paper ........................................... 109
7.5 Fixation: Chemistry and Etymology ....................................... 110
7.6 Waterloo Paper...................................................................... 116
7.7 Leucotype Paper.................................................................... 116
7.8 Calotype Paper...................................................................... 117
7.9 Albumenised and Waxed Papers............................................ 120
8 Chronology of Talbot’s Developments...................................................122
9 Properties of Early Silver Images..............................................................125
9.1 Exposure Considerations....................................................... 125
9.2 Reciprocity Law and its Failure .............................................. 125
9.3 Coating Weight and Particle Size ........................................... 127
9.4 Colours of Talbot’s Prints...................................................... 128
9.5 Old Hypo Colouring Baths ..................................................... 129
9.6 Sparling’s Iron Toner............................................................. 130
9.7 Gold Toning.......................................................................... 130
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10 Photography in Scotland 1842-1846....................................................133
10.1 Innovations at Saint Andrews .............................................. 133
10.2 David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson............................. 136
10.3 Robert Adamson’s Salted Paper Prints ................................. 137
10.4 William Holland Furlong ...................................................... 137
10.5 George Smith Cundell ......................................................... 138
11 French Calotypists 1847-1852...............................................................141
11.1 Louis-Désiré Blanquart-Evrard ............................................ 141
11.2 Dr A. Guillot-Saguez........................................................... 143
11.3 Gustave Le Gray .................................................................. 144
11.4 Arsene Pelegry’s Process..................................................... 145
12 British Photographic Practices in the 1850s......................................148
12.1 Roger Fenton ...................................................................... 148
12.2 Calotype Variations............................................................. 148
12.3 Societies and Journals ......................................................... 149
12.4 Photographic Materials Suppliers......................................... 150
12.5 Pre-waxed Paper: John Percy............................................... 150
13 Developments in Europe..............................................................................152
13.1 Frédéric Flacheron and the Rome Circle............................... 152
13.2 John Stewart in the Pyrenees ............................................... 153
14 Photography in India 1855-1870............................................................154
14.1 Photography in the Tropics ................................................. 154
14.2 Paper: the Negative Substrate of Choice .............................. 154
14.3 Tropical Cameras................................................................ 155
14.4 Calotyping in India.............................................................. 155
14.5 Jesse Mitchell’s Procedure ................................................... 156
14.6 Alexander Greenlaw............................................................ 157
14.7 The Legacy of Greenlaw's Process........................................ 158
15 Summary of Calotype Variations............................................................161
Section III Deterioration and Conservation of Silver Photographs.165
16 Light Sensitivity of Photogenic Drawings...........................................166
16.1 Threshold of Perceptibility .................................................. 166
16.2 Threshold Exposure ............................................................ 167
16.3 Protection by Ultraviolet Filtration ....................................... 170
16.4 Becquerel Effect.................................................................. 171
16.5 Implications for Conservation.............................................. 171
17 Case Histories ...................................................................................................173
17.1 Identification of Processes................................................... 173
17.2 Photogenic Drawings by Talbot........................................... 174
17.3 Deterioration by Environment.............................................. 175
17.4 Salted Paper Prints .............................................................. 176
17.5 Albumen Prints ................................................................... 176
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18 Experiments on Simulacra...........................................................................178
18.1 Previous Work..................................................................... 178
18.2 Time-resolved Densitometry............................................... 178
18.3 Results ............................................................................... 178
18.4 High Intensity Reciprocity Failure ........................................ 179
18.5 Evaluating the Threshold Exposure...................................... 179
18.6 Demonstrating the Becquerel Effect..................................... 179
18.7 Thiosulphate-fixed paper ................................................... 179
18.8 Conclusions........................................................................ 180
19 Feasibility of Interactive Testing.............................................................181
19.1 The Ethical Dilemma ........................................................... 181
19.2 Tolerable Damage............................................................... 182
19.3 Sampling and Image Granularity.......................................... 182
19.4 Time-resolved Microdensitometry....................................... 182
19.5 Microfadeometry................................................................. 183
19.6 Microfader testing of Talbot prints ...................................... 184
20 Conservation Issues.......................................................................................186
20.1 Minimising Exposure to Light on Exhibition......................... 186
20.2 Dangers of Densitometry .................................................... 188
20.3 Photographing Light-Sensitive Objects................................ 189
20.4 Illumination of Light-Sensitive Photographs ........................ 190
20.5 Review of Light Sources....................................................... 191
20.6 Risk Assessment of Illumination.......................................... 192
20.7 Examples of Potential Damage by Copying Lights ................ 198
20.8 Light Exposure by Photo-flash ............................................ 199
20.9 The Collection Environment ................................................ 201
20.10 Wrapping Materials and Enclosures .................................... 201
Section IV Photochemical Appendices...........................................................204
21 Proto-photographic Sensitivity...............................................................205
21.1 Coating Weight, Covering Power and Photometric Equivalent205
21.2 Nutting Density Equation .................................................... 205
21.3 Extinction Coefficients of Photolytic Silver ........................... 206
21.4 Grain Size and Uncertainty in Density Measurement............. 207
21.5 Calculation of Exposure Times ............................................ 208
21.6 Quantum Yields from Silver Halide Photolysis ...................... 209
21.7 Evaluation of the Threshold Exposure.................................. 210
21.8 Jones-Condit Equation ........................................................ 211
22 Colours of Silver Images.............................................................................212
22.1 Surface Plasma Resonance Absorption................................. 212
22.2 Size and Colour of Nanoparticle Silver ................................. 212
22.3 Refractive Index of the Environment.................................... 213
22.4 Re-fixing Photogenic Drawings ........................................... 213
22.5 Effect of Aggregation .......................................................... 213
22.6 Effects of Surface Adsorption .............................................. 213
22.7 Problem of Photolytic Silver................................................. 214
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22.8 Effect of Ammonia .............................................................. 215
22.9 Effect of Sulphiding on the Colour of Silver.......................... 215
23 Chemical Models for Silver Photography ...........................................216
23.1 Explanation of the Phenomena ............................................ 216
23.2 Photolytic Silver .................................................................. 216
23.3 Significance of Halogen Acceptors....................................... 216
23.4 Impurity Adsorption onto Silver Halide Crystals ................... 217
23.5 ‘Sensitized’ Silver Halide ..................................................... 217
23.6 ‘Fixed’ Silver Halide............................................................. 219
23.7 Back-reactions Destroying Print-out Silver .......................... 220
23.8 Significance of Redox Potentials .......................................... 221
23.9 Fading of Iodide-fixed Prints............................................... 221
23.10 Sulphiding of Silver Images ................................................ 222
23.11 Gurney-Mott Model of the Latent Image ............................. 223
Notes & References....................................................................................................225