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If one surface of a compound optical system can be
made to change shape microscopically and the image
sharpness can be sensed instant by instant, you can
use computer control to integrate this information and
“sculpt” the fl exible surface to make ultra sharp images
in real time. Such star “de-twinkling” systems (“rubber”
mirrors) are now available for astronomers and can make
earth-based telescopic images almost as sharp as those
made from Earth orbit. But they are not yet available
for ordinary commercial cameras. However, overall
motion compensation (“de-jiggle”) is here in binoculars
and some digital cameras. It may not be long before it
appears in fi lm cameras too.
Holography, the making of 3-dimensional images
using laser light, can use or dispense with lenses and
mirrors to achieve focused images. The images are
formed by preserving the distance, brightness and color
information carried by light waves, in the form of mi-
croscopic interference patterns, which are recorded on
super-high resolution emulsions. Only laser light has
the color purity and wave orderliness to form stable
interference patterns, and all motion must stop for the
duration of the exposure, down to a millionth of an inch,
to avoid blurring out the interference pattern.
Holograms can, however, be made of small moving
objects if the laser can emit a very intense short fl ash.
Holographic large-scene snapshots are not yet on the
horizon.
William R. Alschuler
See also: Lenses: 1. 1830s–1850s.
Further Reading
Eder, Josef M., History of Photography, transl. E. Epstein, New
York: Dover, 1978
Jenkins, F.E. and White, H.E. Fundamentals of Optics, New York,
McGraw Hill, 4th ed., 1976
Mortimer, F.J., and Sowerby, A.L.M. Wall’s Dictionary of Pho-
tography, London: Fountain Press, 16th ed., 1940.
ORIENTALISM
The term Orientalism was particularly used in the 19th
century often as a facet of Romanticism to refer to the
depiction of the Near and Middle East, primarily by
western artists. Images of history, everyday life, monu-
ments, landscapes, portraits, etc. depicting the life and
culture of the geographic region that included modern
day Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran, the Arabian peninsula,
Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria,
Morocco, and sometimes modern Greece, Albania, and
Sudan, constituted the realm of Orientalism.
In the 19th century the lure of the exotic, the mys-
tique of the lands of the “Arabian Nights,” the “Other”
of unseen landscapes and unexperienced cultures, and
the adventures of travel to new frontiers, all contributed
to the growing popularity of Orientalism in painting,
sculpture, and photography. Eugène Fromentin wrote
in 1859, “The Orient is exceptional...it escapes general
laws...This is an order of beauty which, having no prec-
edents in either literature or art, immediately strikes us
as appearing bizarre. All its features appear at once: the
novelty of its aspects, the singularity of its costumes, the
originality of its types, the toughness of its effects, the
particular rhythm of its lines, the unaccustomed scale of
its colors...It is the land of...infl amed landscapes under
a blue sky, that is to say brighter than the sky, which
constantly leads...” (Eugène Fromentin, Une Année
dans le Sahel, ed. Elisabeth Cardonne, Flammarion,
Paris, 1991 (1859) pp. 184–85.)
Orientalism frequently implies travel, in actuality, or
simply from one’s armchair, evoking deep seated color-
ful and/or steamy reveries, that inspired artists as they
attempted to trace the trails that led to new geographic
vistas, and to new realms of the imagination. The Ori-
ent was to become “unveiled” in images that were both
accurate and inauthentic as artists and photographers
worked “in situ” and in studio settings, often confl ating
dream and reality, truth and fi ction.
In more recent years writers such as Edward Said in
his 1978 Orientalism or Linda Nochlin in her 1989 es-
say, “The Imaginary Orient” (in The Politics of Vision:
Essays on Nineteenth Century Art and Society, New
York, 1989, 33–59) have argued that the Orient was a
“creation of the West” and that many images represented
aspects of Western domination and imperialism. Thus,
in viewing “Orientalist” photographs, it is important to
consider issues such as: why and how various photo-
graphs were taken; the role of individual and national
power; the role of large format images, albums, and
postcards; Colonialism and Post-Colonialism; docu-
mentary, propaganda, and artistic elements.
One of the most important publications in the early
development of Orientalism was the French govern-
ment’s Déscription de l’Egypte (Paris 1809–22), 24
volumes illustrating the monuments, people, fl ora, and
geography of Egypt following Napoleon’s campaign
in Egypt. Writers such as Flaubert, Chateaubriand,
Théophile Gautier, and Pierre Loti all visited the Near
and Middle East and incorporated “Oriental” themes
and elements in their writings. With the advent of
photography in 1839, the latter part of the 19th century
saw increased demands for albums and images of the
“alluring” Orient.
Improved means of transport and organized tourism
also caused an increase in the market for photographic
images of the Orient. The advent of steamships made
it possible for the middle classes to travel to distant
shores. In 1841 Thomas Cook began his organized
tours. A full Mediterranean tour took passengers to the