20
—— Alger Photographiee au XIXe Siecle. Paris: Marval, 2001
Killingray, David and Andrew Roberts, “An Outline History of
Photography in Africa to ca. 1940” in History in Africa, vol.
16, 1989, 197–208.
Monti, Nicholas, Africa Then: Photographs 1840–1918. London:
Thames and Hudson, 1987.
Perez, Nissan, Focus East: Early Photography in the Near East,
1839–1885. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1988.
AGFA
AGFA is the acronym of “Aktiengesellschaft fuer Ani-
linfabrikation” (stock corporation for anilin fabrication)
composed at the union of two chemical companies in
1873: The chemical corporation Dr. Jordan in Berlin
which produced potassium ferricyanide since 1850,
and the “Society for Anilin Fabricates” founded by
Carl A. Martius and Paul Mendelsohn-Bartholdy in
1867, as well in Berlin. The acronym was not in use
before 1897 when it was made a trademark with the
logo that lasted to the very end of the company in 2005.
AGFA’s photographic history began in 1887 with the
installation of a photographic department under Dr.
Momme Andresen, a chemist who gained three patents
on developping agents within four years: in 1888 for
Para-phenylene-diamine, in 1889 for Eikonogen, and
in 1891 for Paramidophenol. The same year 1891 saw
three more patents for Andresen and the company, and
it marked the beginning of the production of “Rodinal,”
a developper in practical use for more than a century.
In 1892, the company and Andresen launched the fi rst
fi xing agent that only had to be dissolved in water. The
instant success of all these substances instigated the
company’s concentration on photographic materials, and
in 1893, Momme Andresen succeeded in establishing
the production of dry plates. In 1895, these plates were
undergoing substantial development by the addition of
an anti-halation layer after a patent by Otto Magerstaedt.
The “Isolar” plate was such a success that the fi nal
AGFA acronym and logo had to be launched in 1897, a
year before the production of celluloid-based fi lms was
started. By 1899 the AGFA was able to offer roll fi lms in
suffi cient lengths for fi lm productions. The production
of fi lm rolls brought AGFA into competition with East-
man Kodak and the Lumière brothers but the production
quality suffered from the steam of a nearby railroad line
in Berlin; several areas were tested until the fi nal move
of the company to Wolfen in 1909. By this time the
production of synthetic colours for which AGFA had
been founded was completely abandonded.
In 1896, the optician A. Heinrich Rietzschel founded
a manufacturing company for optical devices in Munich;
in 1900, it began to produce cheap cameras for amateurs.
In 1921, this company was bought by the “Chemi-
cal Company hitherto known as Friedrich Bayer” in
Leverkusen which had installed its own production line
in photographic fi lms and papers by taking over Eduard
Liesegang’s establishment in Dusseldorf in 1904. With
the installation of “I.G. Farben” (Industrial Society in
Colours) as the union of Bayer, BASF, and others chemi-
cal companies, AGFA was made the prime photographic
branch of this group; Rietzschel began to market its
cameras under the AGFA branding in 1927. Between
1927 and 1945, AGFA was the biggest photographic
manufacturer in Germany. With the destruction of “I.G.
Farben” in 1945, AGFA was made a company of its own,
to be united in 1964 with the Gevaert holding, set up in
Antwerp in 1894 by Lieven Gevaert; at the same time
the Perutz company was made part of the new holding
and seized to exist as a trademark of its own.
Rolf SachsseFurther Reading
Kühn, Willy. Die photographische Industrie Deutschlands,
wirtschaftswissenschaftlich gesehen in ihrer Entwicklung und
ihrem Aufbau. Schweidnitz 1929. Reprint New York 1979.
Schmelzer, Janis and Eberhard Stein, Geschichte des VEB Film-
fabrik Wolfen. Berlin 1969, 10–15.
Röhr, Albert. Chronik des Camera-Werkes München der Agfa-
Gevaert AG. Munich (1976).
Kubak, Wolfgang. Erinnert: Momme Andresen (1857–1951), in:
Rundbrief Fotografi e, vol. 2 1995, no. NF8, 47.AGNEW, THOMAS AND SONS
English art dealer, publisher, and patron
The Agnews were well established Manchester art deal-
ers and print publishers long before their involvement
with Roger Fenton and the photography of the Crimean
War. The company regularly commissioned work from
the leading artists of the day. Examples included the
Lake District artist J.B. Pyne in 1853 and the Crimean
War artist Thomas Jones Barker in 1855.
William Agnew (later Sir William) was already
acquainted with Fenton when the idea of sending a
photographer to the war was fi rst mooted, the art deal-
ers became involved in the project because they could
see the commercial potential of such a series of im-
ages. Agnew’s decision to engage Fenton pre-dates the
often-quoted reports by William Howard Russell which
had caused considerable disquiet when published in
the Times in November and December 1854. Agnew’s
investment in the project was considerable, and due to
the time taken to publish the works after the war, their
return was limited.
In September 1855, the works were exhibited at
London’s Water Colour Society, and William Agnew and
Fenton travelled to Osborne to present a set of prints to
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and to St. Cloud, Paris
to show them to Napoleon III. In 1858, the Agnews pub-
lished albums of photographs by Caldesi and Montecchi