A History and Handbook of Photography

Scottish photographer John Thomson (1837-1921) is renowned for his pioneering book Street Life in London, widely regarded as a classic of social documentary and as laying the foundations for today's photojournalism. In a career which also included a series of outstanding photographic portfolios - shot in challenging conditions - documenting life, landscape and architecture in the Far East, followed by a successful studio portraiture business in London, Thomson also took time to translate and edit this edition of Gaston Tissandier's book. 

First published in 1876, A History and Handbook of Photography was a standard reference work of the period, and blends a concise and highly readable history of the invention and development of photography with a uniquely readable account of late-19th century photographic practice - a time when the making of a new image could be measured in hours rather than seconds.

This newly-designed and typeset, richly illustrated, 276-page edition provides - for the first time - an accessible selection from the original Victorian edition.

Among the many fascinating topics addressed are:

  1. The arrangement of a good studio.
  2. Lighting the object to be photographed.
  3. Coating the glass plate with collodion.
  4. Developing, fixing and varnishing the negative.
  5. Preparing the photographic paper for printing.
  6. Toning and pressing the proofs.
  7. The necessity for long practice.
  8. Photography and travel.
  9. How to remedy accidents with negatives and prints.
  10. Colouring photographs.
  11. Apparatus employed for enlarging negative proofs.
  12. Waxed paper and carbon processes.
  13. The dry collodion process.
Preface   History The Origin of Photography Daguerre Nicéphore Niepce The Niepce-Daguerre Partnership The Daguerreotype The Progress of a New Art Photography   Operations and Processes The Studio and Apparatus The Negative The Positive on Paper Theory and Practice Retouching Enlargement of Proofs

Processes

Problems to be Solved

Appendix 

Scottish photographer John Thomson (1837-1921) is renowned for his pioneering book, Street Life in London, widely regarded as a classic of social documentary and as laying the foundations for today's photojournalism. In a career which also included a series of outstanding photographic portfolios - shot in challenging conditions - documenting life, landscape and architecture in the Far East, followed by a successful studio portraiture business in London, Thomson also took time to translate and edit this edition of Gaston Tissandier's book. 

Title: A History and Handbook of Photography Author: Gaston Tissandier Editor and Translator: John Thomson First published: 1876 Size: 203 x 127mm Illustrations: 38 Pages: 276 
Date: 2013

Editions: £29.00 [paperback] | £24.00 [eBook] 
ISBN: 978-1-907697-82-1 [paperback]

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Also available: Street Life in LondonStreet Life in London: Context and Commentary 



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