fotoart magazine articles

photography history

THE PIONNERS OF PHOTOGRAPHY

ANGELO SALA (1576 - 1637)
Self-educated chemist that experimented with silver salts.In 1614 published that the paper containing silver nitrate reacted with sunlight causing it to darken. Same observations were made by Robert Boyle, who unfortunately gave the wrong explanation by statingthat the above reaction occurred due to air and
not by sunlight.

JOHANN HEINRICH SCHULZE (1687 - 1744)
German professor at the University of Altdorf. With experiments, proved that silver nitrate becomesdark due to sunlight and not by temperature. He is the first that created photograms with paper masks,which unfortunately could not last due to lack of paper fixer. His observations that opened path, for the creation of photography became know after his death.

CARL WILLIAM SCHEELE (1742-1786)
Swedish scientist, self-educated. He used to work as an assistant in pharmacies and showed a talentin chemistry from a very young age. In spite an offer made to him to study in London or Berlin, heoperated a pharmacy in Kφping where he spend the rest of his life and made all his important inventions. He wasespecially interest on chemical analysis and worked particularly with the chemicalreactions between silver nitrate and sunlight, therefore making a break a through in the chemistry of photography. The records fromhis experiments were of a great importance for the next generations
of scientists.

THOMAS WEDGWOOD (1771-1805)
Son of a well know pottery maker called Josef Wedwood. Spite of his health problems and theinterruption of his studies, continues to experiment with silver nitrate,in order to record photogramms and images from camera opscura. He finally made it with the help of his friend Davy, one of the most important chemists of all times. Unfortunately he had no way to fix the prints, so he wasdestined to view them under very dimmed light in order to prevent them from darkening.

SIR HUMPHRY DAVY (1778-1829)
Chemistry genius, friend and assistant of Wedgwood in his experiments whose results were publishedat Royal Society, in 1802 by Davy. The problem of "fixing" the images remained in spite of Davy's breakthroughs in chemistry.