Photo tip
singhals
A group of us were talking recently about old photos and the need to
put ID on them.
One of the group mentioned a camera from the pre-Kodak-Brownie era
and the rest of us were fascinated, since none of us had personally
seen a camera from that era.
This camera folded flat, had a lens that pulled out on an
accordian-style arrangement, and after you snapped the picture a
tiny slot opened on the back of the camera and you could print an ID
or a date or whatever in there; whatever you printed would appear on
the face of the picture.
After that description, a lively and informed discussion of why it
wasn't possible occurred, but since we've all seen pictures that had
that writing on it ...
Anyway, for the archives, there's how the writing got on the
pictures.
Cheryl
singhals <sing...@erols.com>
Dudley Simons
look here
http://www.clickondavid.com/no1a.html
shows a Kodak Autographic camera if you google kodak autographic
there loads of info.
As I understand it the K A camera just put a note onto the film
between frames - so you could put a date down etc. Its possible
that other or later models would put the message on the photo. The
writing on photos that I think you are referring to - on portraits
or celebrity photos, where you get an autograph etc typically
written at an angle across a corner at the bottom of the photo,
would have been done by writing directly onto the negative with
indian ink in the case of white writing, or in the case of black
writing by using a special bleaching agent instead of ink.
regards
Dudley
Dudley Simons <drs...@esc.cam.ac.uk>
bob gillis
> A group of us were talking recently about old photos and the need to
> put ID on them.
>
> One of the group mentioned a camera from the pre-Kodak-Brownie era
> and the rest of us were fascinated, since none of us had personally
> seen a camera from that era.
>
> This camera folded flat, had a lens that pulled out on an
> accordian-style arrangement, and after you snapped the picture a tiny
> slot opened on the back of the camera and you could print an ID or a
> date or whatever in there; whatever you printed would appear on the
> face of the picture.
>
> After that description, a lively and informed discussion of why it
> wasn't possible occurred, but since we've all seen pictures that had
> that writing on it ...
>
> Anyway, for the archives, there's how the writing got on the
> pictures.
>
> Cheryl Singhals <sing...@erols.com>
That was an Autographic Brownie and needed special film I had
one but never used the writing feature as I could not find the film.
bob gillis
singhals
singhals
>
> look here
>
> http://www.clickondavid.com/no1a.html
>
> shows a Kodak Autographic camera if you google kodak autographic
> there loads of info.
>
> As I understand it the K A camera just put a note onto the film
> between frames - so you could put a date down etc. Its possible
> that other or later models would put the message on the photo. The
> writing on photos that I think you are referring to - on portraits
> or celebrity photos, where you get an autograph etc typically
> written at an angle across a corner at the bottom of the photo,
> would have been done by writing directly onto the negative with
> indian ink in the case of white writing, or in the case of black
> writing by using a special bleaching agent instead of ink.
>
Hi, Dudley.
The photos I've seen with the writing on were roughly 2x3 inches
(a.k.a. -- credit-card sized), with a white border all 'round. The
printing was always printing, and IME always white. The subject of
these was sometimes people, but most often a local house. Snapshot
sort of things. Been nice if the date had been included, but I've
never seen one with a date. I don't see how an amateur photographer
at a family picnic could send the info about it with the roll of
film -- how would the developer with access to the negative know
which frame to write on?
I concede (g) that I've also seen scenic postal cards with a
handwritten ID, but the composition of those is enough better than
I've always assumed the post-cards were professionally done.
Cheryl
singhals <sing...@erols.com>
Lesley Robertson
> The photos I've seen with the writing on were roughly 2x3 inches
> (a.k.a. -- credit-card sized), with a white border all 'round. The
> printing was always printing, and IME always white. The subject of
> these was sometimes people, but most often a local house. Snapshot
> sort of things. Been nice if the date had been included, but I've
> never seen one with a date. I don't see how an amateur photographer
> at a family picnic could send the info about it with the roll of
> film -- how would the developer with access to the negative know
> which frame to write on?
>
> I concede (g) that I've also seen scenic postal cards with a
> handwritten ID, but the composition of those is enough better than
> I've always assumed the post-cards were professionally done.
>
Are you sure they don't come from glass negatives? I've got
thousands of the things in my work archive, and some are from
foreign trips the Professors made. They habitually scratched the
lables into the glass at the bottom or side of the image, with the
result that the writing shows on whole-negative prints.
Lesley Robertson
"Lesley Robertson" <l.a.ro...@tnw.tudelft.nl>