New research into some of the world’s oldest photographs which reside at the National Media Museum in Bradford, has revealed a previously undiscovered method of image making dating to the 1820s.
Recent technical analysis by scientists from the Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles show three of the photographic plates created by the world’s first photographer, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce (pictured), demonstrate a range of different photographic experiments.
All the plates, from the Museum’s Royal Photographic Society Collection, were previously believed to have been created using the same method, however the ground-breaking research shows one of the plates illustrated Niépce’s skill in copying prints of the day and included deep etching, done by the photographer, to enhance the original image.
Nicéphore Niépce (born Joseph Niépce) March 7, 1765 – July 5, 1833) was a French inventor, most noted for producing the world’s first known photograph in 1825, as one of the inventors of photography and a pioneer in the field.
A second plate shows light etching over a photograph; however the stand out artefact is a third plate, long thought to be enhanced with etching, which is actually a photograph without any hand tooling at all.
This image, created by a deposit of light-solidified material which resembles the resin obtained when heating lavender oil, is a copy of an illustration by Louis Daguerre, “Un Clair de Lune”.
It is the first and only known example of this photographic process in existence, and can be viewed by appointment at the National Media Museum until the end of October alongside the two other plates, Christ Carrying His Cross, and Le Cardinal d’Amboise.
Director of the National Media Museum, Colin Philpott said:
“These findings demonstrate how important the nation’s collections are to understanding our cultural and scientific heritage, and the benefit of working in partnership with other major organisations such as the Getty Conservation Institute in unravelling the story behind the objects.”
Dusan Stulik, Senior Scientist at the GCI said:
“Our findings are shining a different light on the early history of photography than has been previously described in literature. We have been able to create a fuller picture of Niépce and how he worked, and we can really demonstrate that everything related to photography that surrounds us today – digital cameras, film, TV, even 3D and videogames, go back to his inventions.”
Philippa Wright, Curator of Photographs at the National Media Museum, said,
“The fact these photographic treasures are part of the national collection which is cared for here in Bradford is quite amazing. That they will all be on public display in this manner, out of their frames for perhaps the last time, is very special indeed.”
The research results were shared with international delegates at a two-day conference Niepce in England, being held at the National Media Museum on the 13th and 14th October.
