1255
nature of the photographic process, the pioneering work
of Ferdinand Hurter and Vero C. Driffi eld in England
was pivotal. Their work on the relationship between
development rate and temperature led them to recom-
mend that 65ºF be adopted as the optimum standard,
thus removing, at a stroke, the idea that development
time should be extended in cold weather. Intriguingly,
their recommendation was published in the journal Pho-
tography in 1893, four years before Wall’s Dictionary
of Photography perpetuated the idea of doubling time
in winter!
But Hurter and Driffield’s most significant and
enduring contribution was the recognition that photog-
raphy needed to be considered as a system where each
component and each action was interdependent—that
a deviation in any one aspect had an impact on the
character of the fi nal negative. While their proposal
was not widely accepted or understood at the time, the
various suggestions they made about standardisation,
consistency, accuracy and repeatability established the
foundation not only for the science of sensitometry, but
also for a much wider appreciation of the physical and
chemical inter-relationships upon which photography
depends.
Their H&D speed system, based on the placing of the
full tonal range of the subject on the straight line portion
of the characteristic curve, came at the same time as a
range of devices for estimating the actinic value of the
illuminating light source. Thus, as the century came to
a close, improved consistency in plate manufacture,
coupled with reasonably accurate estimation of exposure
and accurate processing, took photography into a whole
new realm of consistency.
A number of actinometers were on the market by
the 1890s, most using albumen printing-out-paper,
and basing exposure on the time taken for the paper
to darken to a pre-determined tone. The importance of
such instruments as Green and Fuidge’s Actinometer,
Wynne’s Exposure Meter, Watkins’ Exposure Meter,
and similar devices by Reid, Stanley, and Watt, cannot
be underestimated—despite the fact that they used a
blue-sensitive printing-out-paper to estimate the expo-
sure required for orthochromatic emulsions—a problem
noted by Werge without explanation.
The introduction of the Kodak camera in the late
1880s marked the birth of modern photography—with,
for the first time, the science of manufacture and
processing effectively separated from the art of photo-
graphic picture-making.
John Hannavy
See also: British Journal of Photography; Scheele,
Carl Wilhelm; Hunt, Robert; Royal Photographic
Society; Wedgwood, Thomas; Davy, Sir Humphrey;
Daguerre, Louis-Jacques-Mandé;, Niépce, Joseph
Nicéphore; Talbot, William Henry Fox; Hurter,
Ferdinand, and Driffi eld, Vero Charles; Abney,
William de Wiveleslie; and Wratten, Frederick
Charles Luther.Further Reading
Brayer, Elizabeth, George Eastman—a Biography, Baltimore &
London: John Hopkins University Press, 1996.
Ferguson, W. B. (ed.), The Photographic Researches of Ferdinand
Hurter & Vero C. Driffi eld, London: Royal Photographic Soci-
ety, 1920 (reprinted New York: Morgan & Morgan, 1974).
Snelling, Henry H, The History and Handbook of the Art of
Photography, New York: G.P.Putnam, 1849, reprinted New
York: Morgan & Morgan 1970.
Towler, J., The Silver Sunbeam, New York: Joseph H. Ladd, 1864
(reprinted Morgan & Morgan, 1969.
Wall, E. J. The Dictionary of Photography, London: Hazell,
Watson & Viney Ltd, 1897,SCIENTIFIC PHOTOGRAPHY
“Magnifi cent,” declared The Photographic News, refer-
ring to Professor Owen’s opening address to the British
Association in 1858:
Photography is now a constant and indispensable servant
in certain meteorological records. Applied periodically to
living plants, photography supplies the botanist with the
easiest and best data for judging of their rate of growth. It
gives to the zoologist accurate representations of the most
complex of his subjects, and their organisation, even to
microscopic details. The engineer at home can ascertain
...the most complex works on the Indian or other remote
railroads. The physician can register every physiognomic
phase accompanying the access, the height, decrease,
and passing away of mental disease.The speaker had been very prescient and within a few
years, other writers echoed his words. In 1860, F.F.
Statham referred to “the handmaid of the sciences,”
and four years later, a reviewer described photography
as “the child of science,” emphasising the freedom from
fallibility in observations. Praise continued because
of photography’s ability to preserve a faithful image.
“The sensitive photographic fi lm is the true retina of
the scientist,” declared the eminent French astronomer,
P.J.C. Janssen at a meeting of the Société Française de
la Photographie in June 1888. The potential of pho-
tography to the scientifi c disciplines had been present
from the beginning. In 1839, William Henry Fox Talbot
had anticipated future developments by challenging
his “photogenic drawing” to capture the image within
his solar microscope. Many other investigators soon
exploited the advantages of photography, and their
research benefi ted from sharing reliable results with
other practitioners.
In France, the daguerreotype process was also used
with the microscope and, in spite of the lack of rapidity
in the plate, Alfred Donné obtained satisfactory images