126. Latent Image

Photography was first invented in the 1820's. The phenomenon of a camera had been known for thousands of years earlier. A camera is a simple black box with one small hole at one end that will create a projection of light. The recording of that projection of light (photography) was met will some difficulty. There are several men who ended up contributing to what solved the puzzle.  Initially, early experiments required exposures of several hours before an image appeared on light sensitive material. An enormous break through came with the idea of the latent image. William Henry Fox Talbot with the help of Sir John Herschel, discovered an image was recorded long before it was visible to the naked eye and with the help of chemistry this image could be developed. This image was a negative recorded on paper - the calotype.

Fast forward over 150 years and photography has made obvious technical advances. Out of necessity for this blog (at least a photograph a day) I have relied heavily on my iPhone for convenience and portability. Do you think Talbot would have ever imagined that his time consuming, complicated, and expensive process would have ever come so far? During a movie today, I looked over at my girls and their friend and with my naked eye saw an image I wanted to record. I didn't have a manual camera with adjustable exposure controls, just the iPhone. Determined I took a several photographs that were totally dark, no detail was revealed on the screen. Tonight when I got home PhotoShop helped me develop the latent images. The end result is far from perfect or clear, but recognizable.