Photography.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 907, 19 July 1889, Page 8

Photography.

Marked as has been the progress of all branches pf'mechanical art during the Dast ten years," nCHS n*: made strides as photography. Tne «v-7 ent 0 gelatino-bromide dry plates, the ligh*J2 n!l shutter, new developers, and the thousand and one devices for attaining the best results has awakened a wonderful interest in this noble art. The votaries of photography number many thousands, and are, as a rule, people of leisure and artistic tastes, and to this class more than to any other are the recent improvements duo. This assertion is borne out by Patent Office reports. It is also undeniable that at the photographic exhibitions, both in this country , and Europe, the prizes for the best studies are, with few exceptions, awarded to amateur artists. The range of the photographer is wide and hia field is vast. He takes an eclipse of the sun or a star cluster in the infinite fields of space with the same ease that he delineates the nfinitosimally minute microbe. Photographing the inside of a man’s stomach when alive stiikes one as rather unique, but doctors are finding the camera a valuable aid in the diagnosis of many diseases. Many remarkable feats by amateur attists have beeti recorded. Taking a flash of lightning after expdsing neatly a hundred plates is one of them. We might also cite the photographing of a cyclone in its wild career, a racehorse at full speed, an express train under way, the flight of a cannon ball, a tiger about to spring Upon the Intrepid amateur, as instances of special note; No situation, however unfavourable, can daunt the ardour of the yoiiDg photographer. He takes a shot at the immense combers of a Cape Horn sea from a heaving, rolling deck, or of the fast receding earth from the bottom of a balloon basket, and when mother earth is no longer to be seen he turns his attention and camera to the billowy masses of fleecy clouds. There seems to be practically no limit to the uses of which photography can be put ; artists use it for an underground in painting portraits, groups or copies, and attain thereby an accuracy impossible in a handsketch outline. It is also opening up a new field of art with alluring prospects that bids fair td revolutionise pictorial illustrations ; we refer to photogravure in half-tones, photo-etching, and photo-lithography, which combines thoughtfulness of detail with a delicacy of shading and a beauty of finish at a greatly reduced cost. Photography has also invaded the printing office and by a similar process used in photo engraving, books can be reproduced without a type being stuck or a proof read. Even war has pressed it into its service. During the lata Franco-Prussian conflict it enabled the besieged Parisians to keep up outside communications by means of reduced photographed newspapers delivered by pigeon post. Side by side with the camera goes the stereoptican which has become so popular of late. It is alike useful in the college classroom and on the lecture rostrum. With it the traveller takes us through the great cities of Europe, the ruins of Egypt, the wonderlands of the American continent-;—we see the great falls and climb snow-capped peaks without effort by the enchanter—while in politics it is a power in the land. . The great ultimatum toward which progressive artists are now working is colourphotography. This is by no means the dream of an enthusiast,"but a reasonable possibility. How we will revel then in the bright hues an! delicate shades of nature’s own colouring. The gorgeous sunset, the ultramarine sea, the brilliant sky and the rich greens of the tropics will be displayed with life-like fidelity ; then every one may possess a perfect c >py of Raphael, a Titan, a Yan Dyke or a Rubens, as well as the master pieces of the modern school. When science can thus hold up the camera to nature and reflect back view for view and tint for tint, then indeed, will the millennium of photography have arrived. A, V. F.