72
Daguerreotype Views
Nowadays, the only extant nine daguerreotype views are
those preserved at the Museo Histórico Nacional (Bue-
nos Aires), fi ve of them signed by Charles De Forrest
Fredricks and the rest attributed to Antonio Pozzo.
Ambrotype, Tintype, and Carte-de-Visite
These one-image procedures were common, in par-
ticular the ferrotype or tintype, but the albumen paper
became popular in the carte-de-visite format and soon
afterwards it was used in all the photographic size styles,
including views for albums, that began to be produced in
the midst of the 1860s. Some salt paper prints reached
Argentina but they are very scarce.
Albums of Views
In the sixties, the fi rst albums of views appeared. Some
of the pioneers were Esteban Gonnet (1830–1868),
Benito Panunzi (1819–1894) [Many albumen prints
of outdoors scenery or popular types were wrongly at-
tributed to Panunzi. A recent study clarifi es the mistake
and shows that Gonnet was the author of many of them.
(Alexander & Priamo, 2000)], Adolfo Alexander, Georg
Alfeld (in Rosario), and Ángel Paganelli (in Tucumán).
In the following decades other authors were Antonio
Pozzo, Christiano Junior, Desiderio Aguiar, Saturnino
Masoni, Carlos Feltscher, Samuel Boote, Francisco
Rimathé and Walter Bradley.
Portraitists
An English citizen, Alejandro Samuel Witcomb
(1835–1905), was probably the most renowned por-
traitist of the 19th century [His archive—that included
part of Christiano Jr. and Loudet’ archives—is kept in
the Archivo General de la Nación, Buenos Aires]. He
arrived very young from England, and settled in Rosa-
rio; several years later he established in Buenos Aires,
were he became a famous artist. Other outstanding
masters were Antonio Aldanondo, Luigi Bartoli, Emile
Mangel du Mesnil, F. Meeks, W. Bate & Co., Emilio
Lahore (1825–1889), Bartolomé Loudet (1823–1887),
Juan Ansaldi, Carlos Chute, Alfonso Fermepin, Arturo
Mathile, Arquímedes Imazio, Francisco Monzón, Ro-
berto Offer, and Juan Portal.
Photo Illustrated Books
William Fox Talbot rapidly realized that the photograph
had a wide terrain to expand itself: the printing press
products and as early as 1839 introduced an album
with mounted photographs. In Argentina, as in other
countries in the region, the photo illustrated book can
be traced to the 1860s. Initially, the usual image was the
author ́s portrait but soon in the 1870s it was common
to illustrate a book or a brochure with different kinds
of images: city views, anthropological portraits and any
kind of objects.Photomechanical Processes
In early times different varieties of photomechanical
systems were employed, mostly illustrating books, bro-
chures and magazines. The fi rst practitioners included
Christiano Junior and Emilio Halitzky, who used mostly
the phototype. In 1885 the Museo de La Plata brought
from Europe modern photomechanical printing equip-
ment, the best for the time being, for phototypes. As
far as we know, woodburytypes were never made in
Argentina.Scientifi c and Technical Uses of Photography
During the 1860s the fi rst medical uses of photography
appeared. In the early 1870s Schultz-Sellack succeded
in taking astronomical photographs, and the growing
community of scientists left anthropological, paleon-
tological and natural science testimonies by means of
photography.
Engineering activities such as dam building, bridge
construction, industrial facilities, railroad construction
and mining activities were recorded.
The phototeodolite was briefl y used, according to
universitary registers.
Photomicrography was fi rst tried by Roberto Wer-
nicke, who made early experiments between 1884 and
1887.
Early experiments with X rays were conducted at the
Faculty of Sciences of Buenos Aires, two months after
the publication of Roentgen’s paper.The Argentine Society of Amateur
Photographers
As in many other countries, a select group of the high
society showed interest in photography and founded
this Society in 1889. This Society was instrumental
during several decades in publishing albums, as well as
in organizing contests and printing a Bulletin.
Roberto A. Ferrari
See also: Daguerreotype; Tintype; and
Cartes-de-Visite.Further Reading
Adelman, Jeremy & Cuarterolo, Miguel A., Los Años del Da-
guerrotipo — Primeras Fotografías Argentinas 1843–1870,
Buenos Aires: Fundación Antorchas, 1995.