Movement

JOSEPH NICEPHORE NIEPCE

 

JOSEPH NIEPCE WAS A FRENCH INVENTOR. HE WAS BORN MARCH 7TH, 1765. HE DIED JULY 5TH, 1833. HE WAS MOST WELL KNOWN FOR DISCOVERING PHOTOGRAPHY IN 1826 OR 1827 THE EXACT DATE IS UNKNOWN. IN 1816 NIEPCE WAS BECOMING OBSESSED WITH THE IDEA THAT HE COULD MAKE AN IMAGE PERMANENT. THIS IDEA CAME ABOUT BECAUSE OF THE CAMERAE OBSCURAE - BOX WITH A LENS ADAPTED ON A HOLE - WHICH PROJECTED AN IMAGE WHICH WAS USED FOR A DRAWING AID. DURING HIS FIRST EXPERIMENTS, NIEPCE HAD POSITIONED AT THE BACK OF A CAMERA OBCSURA SHEETS OF PAPERS THAT WERE COATED WITH SILVER SALTS, KNOWN TO BLACKEN WITH DAYLIGHT. MAY 1816, HE PRODUCED THE FIRST IMAGE OF NATURE WHICH WAS A VIEW FROM A WINDOW. THE IMAGE WAS NEGATIVE AND IT VANISHED, BECAUSE IN BROAD DAYLIGHT THE COATED PAPER BECOMES COMPLETELY BLACK. NIEPCE CALLED THESE IMAGES "RETINAS".



 

NIEPCE WAS SEEKING TO OBTAIN POSITIVE IMAGES, SO HE TURNED COMPOUNDS THAT ARE BLEACHED BY LIGHT INSTEAD OF BLACKENED. HE HAD TRIED WITH SALTS AND IRON OXIDE, AND ALSO MANGANESE BLACK OXIDE. HE HAD GOT SOME RESULTS BUT HE WAS HAVING A HARD TIME TRYING TO FIX THE PROBLEM, WHICH ARISED WHEN HE TRIED ELIMINATING THE INITIAL CHEMICAL THAT WAS NOT TRANSFORMED BY LIGHT YET.

NIEPCE SOLVED THIS PROBLEM BY TRYING TO FIND A METHOD THAT WOULD MAKE HIM OBTAIN IMAGES ECHTED ONTO A BASE. IN ORDER TO DO THIS HE HAD TO RESEARCH THE EFFECTS OF LIGHT ON ACIDS IN THE HOPE THAT HE COULD OBSERVE THEIR DECOMPOSITION. BECAUSE OF HIS RESULTS HE THOUGHT HE WAS ABLE TO JUST SPREAD ACIDS ON CALCAREOUS STONES, WHOSE STRENGTH WOULD DIFFER WITH THE LIGHT INTENSITY AND ETCH THE STONE MORE OR LESS, ACCORDING TO THE HUES OF THE IMAGE WHICH WAS PROJECTED. BUT, ACIDS ARE NOT DECOMPOSED BY LIGHT, SO THIS ENDED IN ANOTHER FAILURE. NIEPCE CAME TO REALIZE THAT IS WAS NOT NECESSARY TO USE A COMPOUND THAT HAD A CHEMICAL TRANSFORMATION VISIBLE TO THE NAKED EYE, EVEN AN INVISIBLE CHANGE OF CHEMICALS UNDER LIGHT ACTION MAY ALTER THE APPEARANCE OF AN IMAGE DURING A REACTION, WITH EITHER THE BASE OR A DIFFERENT COMPOUND. AS A RESULT OF THIS NIEPCE HAD BECOME INTERESTED BY ALL SUBSTANCES THAT INTERACTED WITH LIGHT.

NIEPCE DECIDED TO TAKE A BREAK FROM HIS STUDIES TO HELP HIS BROTHER TO FIND A NEW FUEL FOR THEIR ENGINE.

IN MARCH 1817, HE DECIDED TO START ON IMAGES AGAIN. WHILE HE WAS READING CHEMISTRY TREATIES, NIEPCE FOCUSED HIS ATTENTION ON THE RESIN OF GAIACUM WHICH WAS EXTRACTED FROM A CONIFEROUS TREE. THE YELLOW RESIN BECOMES GREEN WHEN EXPOSED TO DAYLIGHT. THIS WAS PARTICULARLY INTERESTING BECAUSE IT LOSES ITS SOLUBILITY IN ALCOHOL. HE UNDERSTOOD THAT THANKS TO ITS PROPERTY IT WAS EASY TO SEE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE MODIFIED AND THE INTACT RESIN, WHICH FIXED THE IMAGE. HE HAD GOT GOOD RESULTS AT FIRST WITH DIRECT SUNLIGHT, BUT THEN STARTED TO FAIL DUE TO THE FACT HE USED A CAMERA OBSURA. AT THE TIME NIEPCE DID NOT KNOW THAT ONLY U-V RAYS WERE ACTIVE ON THIS RESIN AND THAT THEY WERE FILTERED BY HIS CAMERA OBSCURA LENS.

1822 ON, HE SUCCEEDED IN PRODUCING DRAWINGS PUT IN CONTACT WITH GLASS PLATES, CALCAREOUS STONES, THEN COPPER OR TIN PLATES. AFTER HE USED THE AQUA FORTIS PROCESS TO ETCH THE IMAGE MADE WITH ACIDS, WHICH THEN WERE PRINTED ON PAPER.

IN 1824, NIEPCE PUT LITHOGRAPHIC STONES, COATED WITH BITUMEN, AT THE BACK OF A CAMERA OBSCURA AND OBTAINED FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER A FIXED IMAGE OD A LANDSCAPE. IN ORDER FOR THIS TO HAPPEN THOUGH HE HAD TO KEEP IT EXPOSED, IN BROAD DAYLIGHT, FOR A FEW DAYS. THIS WAS THE FIRST FIXED PHOTO TAKEN.

SOURCES:

GOOGLE IMAGES

http://www.photo-museum.org/niepce-invention-photography/