On this day (September 4) in the year 1841, the following article
appeared in "The Spectator" (London):
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PHOTOGRAPHIC MINIATURE.
INVITED lately by M. CLAUDET to witness his method of taking
Photographic Miniatures, in operation at the Adelaide Gallery, we had an
opportunity of ascertaining in what consists the difference between it
and that of MR. BEARD at the Polytechnic Institution, and of comparing
the results of each. As the sun-limned portraits are become very
popular, on account of the quickness and cheapness of the process and
the force and minute fidelity of the resemblances, though they are
unflattering to disagreeableness, an explanation of the two methods may
be interesting.
To render the Daguerreotype applicable to the purpose of portraiture,
it was necessary to accelerate the action of light on the plate; for
rapid as was the formation of the image, even five minutes was too long
for any sitter to remain perfectly still. This has been accomplished by
various modifications of the chemical preparation of the plate, which it
is needless to specify: suffice it to say, that the diminution of time
required to form the image is in the ratio of seconds to minutes. The
process of MR. BEARD is the quicker of the two; but as M. CLAUDET takes
two different views of the face at once in two cameras, and Mr. BEARD
two in succession in the same, the time required to produce a couple of
miniatures is about equal in both cases.
The principal difference, and that which affects the likeness, is the
means of transmitting the image formed by the pencils of light on to the
plate. M. CLAUDET accomplishes this by refraction, Mr. BEARD by
reflection,--that is, M. CLAUDET, following the practice of DAGUERRE,
transmits the rays of light radiating from the face of the sitter
through a plano-convex lens; while Mr. BEARD avails himself of the
improvement of an American optician, of which he has purchased the
patent, and reflects the image on the plate by a concave mirror. The
distortion of the image in the refracting medium is less in amount than
that of the reflector, and of the opposite kind,--that is, the image
transmitted by the convex lens is larger in the centre and smaller at
the circumference; while that of the concave reflector is smaller in the
center and larger at the circumference: though the deviation in either
case is so slight, owing to the smallness of the surface affected by the
rays of light, that it is almost incalculable. But the image
transmitted through the lens is reversed laterally,--that is, the left
side of the face appears to be the right in the miniature, and vice
versa; so that if a sitter had the right eye closed the left would be
closed in the miniature, and a person taken in the act of writing would
appear to be left-handed. This reversal of the lineaments has an
injurious effect on the likeness; much more so than the slight deviation
from actual proportion in those taken by the reflector. M. CLAUDET has
a process of fixing the portrait which is peculiar to himself; but that
adopted by Mr. BEARD has not been known to fail, as far as we can learn,
though we have seen miniatures exposed to the light for several months
without changing; the process of gilding them, however, effectually
secures the plate from the influence of climate, and any but violent
injury.
On an attentive comparison of the two, we are bound to say that the
Photographic Miniatures taken at the Polytechnic Institution by Mr.
BEARD'S process are superior to those taken by M. CLAUDET at the
Adelaide Gallery, in fidelity of resemblance, delicacy of marking, and
clearness of effect; in a word, they are more pleasing and artistical:
the shadows are denser and the lineaments less defined in those produced
by M. CLAUDET; though these objections are less important than the
reversal of the countenance and figure.
At the Adelaide Gallery we saw two or three cancelled miniatures of
persons who had very red faces, which looked black and heavy; from which
we infer that the redness of the lips contributes to give to the mouth
the dark tint that, added to the strong shadow between and below the
lips, makes this feature look larger and coarser than in life, at least
I the instance of persons with full and prominent lips. The grave look
and formal attitude commonly assumed by the sitters, being faithfully
reflected in the miniature portrait, the sombre effect of the strong
shadows and colourless light of the photograph is increased to an
unpleasing degree of sternness, occasionally amounting to a
repulsiveness, and sometimes even falsifying the likeness; an animated
expression, therefore, is essential to the production of a pleasing
portrait, and the most vivacious countenances appear to the best
advatage. In every case, however, the want of brilliancy in the eyes,
and the strong shadows beneath the nose and about the mouth, cause the
physical peculiarities of form to predominate in an exaggerated degree.
The apparatus used to steady the head gives a fixed and constrained air
to the sitter; and it would be well if this could be dispensed with,
that persons might assume their habitual posture and be at ease. The
great pains taken to place the sitter and to satisfy the parties with
the likeness, by taking fresh ones if the first is defective, indicates
a praiseworthy willingness to please. The photographs may best be
copied through a powerful lens, not only for the sake of enlarging their
size, but for bringing out the details of form and lightening the
intense shadows; the mere addition of colour to the copy will effect a
marvelous improvement, and may, perhaps, render a fresh portrait painted
from the sitter unnecessary; the photograph alone will satify but in few
instances.
(Cited from a reprint in William Welling "Photography in American: The
Formative Years, 1839-1900" [New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press,
1987] pg. 26)
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Posted for your enjoyment. Gary W. Ewer
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09-04-95 |
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