Chatham Square, New York
Photograph by Struss
SUNSHINE AND SHADOW
Park Row, New York
Photograph by Struss
SUNLIGHT ON SURF
The literalness of photography, which prevents its ever competing with etching or painting in imaginative art, makes it of inestimable value in certain realms, and scientists of all sorts, astronomers, physicists, physicians, pathologists, as well as architects, building contractors, business men, who wish a precise and accurate record of any object, recognize the value of the camera. Photographs are often admitted as legal evidence in court. It is impossible to overstate the value of the dry-plate to the surgeon, since the X-ray, generated by passing an electric discharge through a glass tube from which most of the air has been exhausted, penetrates many objects that are opaque to ordinary light, and, though invisible to the eye, nevertheless affect a photographic plate, thus making possible a precise diagnosis of fractured bones, gun-shot wounds, digestive disturbances, and many other pathological conditions in which diagnosis without a radiograph would be mere guesswork.
In portraiture, photography is superior to any other graphic art, since the camera worker can, by judicious selection of lighting, pose and facial expression, render the character of the sitter quite as well as the draughtsman, this being the final test in portrait work, though it must be admitted that few portrait photographers meet this requirement.