Photographic Amusements Part 4

THE DISAPPEARING PHOTOGRAPH.

A method of making a photograph which can be made to appear at will is thus described in _Les Recreations Photographiques_.

Take a convex watch crystal, V, or any similar larger gla.s.s if desired--for instance, those used for colored photographs; clean the gla.s.s well, place it perfectly level, convex side down, and fill it even full with a mixture of white wax and hog's lard. When it has solidified, apply to the back a flat gla.s.s plate, P, cut exactly to the largest dimensions of the convex gla.s.s, secure the gla.s.ses together with a strip, B, of gold-beater's skin, fastened by strong glue as shown in the figure. Now mount a portrait, with the front towards the convex gla.s.s, on the plate P. The combination is now ready; by heating it the wax between the two gla.s.ses melts and becomes transparent, allowing the portrait to be seen; on cooling it will lose its transparence and the portrait will disappear.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 36.]

FREAK PICTURES WITH A BLACK BACKGROUND.

If an object be placed against a non-actinic background and an exposure made, the black parts surrounding it will not have any effect upon the plate, and the object can be shifted to another part and another exposure made. In a recent article published in _La Nature_, and translated in the _Scientific American_, a number of curious effects obtained by photography by M. R. Riccart, of Sainte-Foix-les-Lyons, are described and ill.u.s.trated.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 37.--A DECAPITATION.]

The system employed by the author of these photographs is that of the natural black background obtained through the open door of a dark room, combined with diaphragms skillfully arranged in the interior of the apparatus, between the objective and sensitized plate. This is the surest method of obtaining the desired effect with the greatest precision, without the junctions being visible, and with perfect sharpness in the cutting of the parts removed. For this effect, it is necessary to place the diaphragm at three or four centimeters from the ground gla.s.s, in the last folds of the bellows of the camera.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 38.--ANOTHER DECAPITATION.]

The following are a few data as to the manner in which the scenes that we reproduce were obtained. The first, representing a decapitation by means of a saber (Fig. 37), was taken by means of an exposure in which the head was placed upon the block, the subject inclining forward upon his knees, and a diaphragm, occupying about two-thirds of the plate, completely masking the body up to the neck. Then, without changing the position of the apparatus, the diaphragm was placed on the other side in order to conceal the head, and the body was photographed in the second position along with the person representing the executioner. It would have been possible, by a third exposure, to so arrange things as to make the executioner the decapitated person. It was by the same process that the three following scenes were obtained: A person with his head placed before him in a plate (Fig. 38); a man carrying his head in a wheelbarrow (Fig. 39); and a person to whom his own head is served in a plate (Fig. 40). Such scenes may be varied to any extent.

Fig. 41 is a photograph of a decapitation, while Fig. 42 is made by two exposures of an individual at different distances but so combined as to give the appearance of one exposure. Fig. 43 is that of a person in a bottle. The individual represented was first photographed on a sufficiently reduced scale to allow him to enter the bottle. This exposure was by using a screen containing an aperture, as for the Russian background. But this precaution was taken merely to conceal the floor, and yet it would perhaps be preferable in such a case to have the subject stand upon a stool covered with a very black fabric.

However this may be, when once the first impression has been made, there is nothing more to be done than to photograph the bottle on a larger scale and the result is obtained.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 39.--THE HEAD IN THE WHEELBARROW]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 40.--THE HEAD UPON A PLATE.]

HOW TO COPY DRAWINGS.

There are three princ.i.p.al methods of copying mechanical drawings, tracings, sketches, etc. These are: (1) A process to obtain white lines upon a blue ground; (2) a process by which blue lines upon a white ground are obtained; and (3) a process giving black or violet-black lines upon a white ground.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 41.--THE SAWED-OFF HEAD.]

The first process is undoubtedly the simplest, as after printing upon the paper it is developed and fixed by simple immersion in cold water; but, at the same time, the white lines on the blue ground are not so clear and effective as the other processes. The cyanotype paper, as it is called, can be obtained ready for use at any draughtsman's stores, but if you prefer to make it yourself, here is the recipe: Two solutions are made--20 parts of red prussiate of potash are dissolved in 100 parts of water, and 10 parts of ammonio-citrate of iron in 60 parts of water. These two solutions should be mixed together immediately before using, and the operation must be performed in the dark. Paper is floated on this solution, or applied with a broad camels-hair brush, and hung up to dry. If it is well dried and carefully preserved from light, moisture and air, this paper will keep for some time. After printing--which, when sufficient, should show the lines copied of a yellow color upon a blue ground--the prints should be washed in several waters, and if a few drops of chlorine water or dilute hydrochloric acid be added to the washing water, the blue ground will appear much darker and the lines rendered clearer and whiter. The commercial paper sold is generally prepared by this method.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 42.--THE REDUCTION.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 43.--MAN IN A BOTTLE.]

Blue prints may be given a black tone by plunging them into a solution of 4 parts of caustic potash in 100 parts of water; then, when the blue color has entirely disappeared under the action of the potash, and a yellowish color has taken its place, they are immersed in a solution of 4 parts of tannin in 100 parts of water; then washing them again, we obtain prints whose tone may be a.s.similated to that of pale writing ink.

In the process giving blue lines upon a white ground, it is necessary that the action of the light shall be to convert the iron compound into one that can be discharged from instead of being fixed on the paper, so that we obtain a positive from a positive. Abney describes the process as follows: Thirty volumes of gum solution (water 5 parts, gum 1 part) are mixed with 8 volumes of a citrate of iron and ammonia solution (water 2 parts, double citrate 1 part), and to this is added 5 volumes of a solution of ferric chloride (water 2 parts, ferric chloride 1 part). This solution thus formed is limpid at first, but will gradually become thicker, and should be used soon after mixing.

It is then applied with a brush to the paper (which should be well sized) and dried in the dark. Exposure is accomplished in a few minutes, the paper being placed under the drawing in the printing frame. It is then developed with pota.s.sium ferrocyanide, 50 grains, water 1 ounce, applied with a brush until all the details appear of a dark-blue color. The print is then rapidly rinsed, and placed in a dish containing the clearing solution, made of 1 ounce of hydrochloric acid and 10 ounces of water.

The third process, which gives violet-black lines on a white ground, is the following: Make up the sensitive solution with water, 16 ounces; gelatine, 4 drachms; perchloride of iron (in a syrup condition), 1 ounce; tartaric acid, 1 ounce; sulphate of iron, 4 drachms. The paper is floated on or brushed over with this and dried.

The exposure is about the same as with the last process. When sufficient, the greenish-yellow color will turn white, except the lines, which should be somewhat dark. The developing solution is composed of 1 part of gallic acid in 10 parts of alcohol and 50 of water. When immersed in this solution the lines will turn blacker. The finish is then made by thoroughly washing in water.

SYMPATHETIC PHOTOGRAPHS.

These are obtained as follows: A sheet of paper is coated with a ten per cent solution of gelatine, and when dry this is floated on a ten per cent solution of bichromate of potash. Again dry and expose beneath a positive transparency. The print thus obtained is then immersed in a ten per cent solution of chloride of cobalt. The parts unacted upon by light will absorb the solution. Wash and dry. We then have a faint image which will alter its color according to the state of the atmosphere. In damp weather it will be almost if not entirely invisible, but when the weather is fine and dry, or if the image be heated before a fire it will turn to a bright blue color.

DRY-PLATES THAT WILL DEVELOP WITH WATER.

Some time ago dry-plates were placed on the market which would develop, apparently, with water and a little ammonia only. The secret of the method was that the backs of the plates were coated with a soluble gum, containing the developing agents, and, of course, when the plate was immersed in the water, they instantly dissolved and formed the developer. Plates thus prepared are useful in traveling where it is not always possible to get the necessary developing solutions. To prepare them the backs are coated with the following mixture:

Pyrogallic acid 154 grains Salicylic acid 15 grains Gum or dextrine 154 grains Alcohol 1 fluid dr.

Water 5 fluid dr.

This is allowed to dry at an ordinary temperature. After exposure, all that is necessary to develop is to immerse the plates in water containing a small quant.i.ty of ammonia.

CARICATURE PHOTOGRAPHS.

There are quite a number of different methods of making caricature portraits. A simple one is to make two photographs of an individual, one of the head alone and another of the entire body on a much smaller scale. From these two negatives prints are made, and the larger head is cut out and pasted on the shoulders of the full length figure. Any signs of the cutting out are removed by the use of a brush and a little coloring matter. From this combined print another negative is made so that any number of these caricature prints can be made without extra trouble. The effect is shown in Fig. 44.

[Ill.u.s.tration: From Tissandier's Handbook. FIG. 44.--CARICATURE PORTRAIT.]

Foregrounds for making caricature portraits are sold in this country.

The method of using them is shown in Fig. 45. The card containing the grotesque drawing is held by the sitter on his knees and arranged by the photographer in such a way that his head rests just above the neck of the painted body. A white background is arranged behind and when the negative is made all traces of the edges of the foreground are removed by careful re-touching.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 45.--CARICATURE]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 46.--MAKING THE CARICATURE PORTRAIT.]

Another method of obtaining grotesque caricature portraits has been devised by M. Ducos du Hauron. His apparatus, which he calls "La Photographie Transformiste," is thus described by Schnauss in his "Photographic Pastimes." A, Fig. 47, is the front of the box, which is furnished with an exposing shutter formed of a simple sliding piece fitting into the grooves R R, R R. B P are two screens pierced with slits _a a_, _c c_. C is the rear end of the box where the dark slide is placed. D is the lid of the box, which is lifted either for placing the slotted screens or for putting in the sensitive plate. When not working direct from nature, the transparency is placed in the grooves R R, R R, at A.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 47.--THE HAURON "TRANSFORMISTE."]