We say all this because a beginner must be cautioned against paying any serious attention to these subjects if his aim be to become an artist. Art is much too serious for her devotees to trifle with any other subject, and besides the making of lantern and stereoscopic slides is apt to have a bad effect on the beginner. His attention becomes centered on the production of pretty things—a neat, small, superficial prettiness pervading most of the work of good lantern-slide workers. Conventional compositions and Birket-Foster prettiness are the lantern-slide maker’s beau-ideals. Of course these qualities are very admirable for lantern slides, for without them they would have but little attraction; but they are quite distinct from, and very, very far removed from, having any connection with fine art.
Stereoscopic slides.
We know many artists who photograph and value photography per se, but we have yet to meet that one who deigns to make lantern slides except for the purpose of making enlargements from which to draw. It has been said that the appearance of stereoscopic pictures is wonderfully true; this is not the case. There is a lustre, false tonality, and apparent illusion, which to an artist makes them anything but true. In short, until photographers do away with much of the “play” of their art, and look at it seriously, they cannot hope that highly-trained artists will join in with them.
Lecture purposes.
For scientific lectures of course lantern slides are invaluable, as we have already said, and for this purpose they should be untouched; but we cannot help smiling when we hear of producers of slides claiming for their work the title of “artistic,” because they are untouched and true. Absolute truth is not necessarily art, as we have often pointed out, and as Muybridge’s photographs prove.
Let our student, then, avoid these snares, unless he wishes to cultivate what Professor Herkomer has aptly called “Handkerchief-box art.”
CHAPTER XII.
PHOTO-MECHANICAL PROCESSES.
Photo-mechanical process.
From our earliest photographic days we always felt that all “ordinary” printing methods, however good in themselves, would finally have to give way to photo-mechanical methods, as all processes are called by which the negative is reproduced. All the photo-mechanical printing processes may be divided into two great classes:—
Classification.