While all these wonders have come to pass in practical service, photography has likewise grown and expanded in the field of fine art. There are photographic art schools, and clubs and exhibitions—all for the purpose of cultivating and developing the camera to the finest forms of expression. We have highly cultivated and skilled photographers who are true artists, and who are engaged in employing photography as a means to fine art achievement. Among such artist photographers in this country mention should be made of Mr. Paul L. Anderson—the author of the present article; Arnold Genthe, who, besides his wonderful portraits, has, by his art, preserved for future generations the scenes of old San Francisco—especially Chinatown—that have now passed away; Gertrude Käebier, Baron de Meyer and Jan de Strelecki, Stieglitz, Eyckmeyer, Steichen, Sümons and so many others that the list would fill this page.
W. D. Moffat
EDITOR
What, Who, and When?
WHAT IS PHOTOGRAPHY?
It is the science and art of producing pictures by the action of light on chemically prepared (sensitized) plates or films.
WHO DISCOVERED PHOTOGRAPHY?
No one particular individual. There is no known date on which “photographic action” was first recorded. The action of the sun in making impressions of one sort or another on surfaces was known to man from the earliest times. Records of it can be seen in fossilized vegetable remains—and this action of the sun is apparent in the change of color that takes place in the ripening of fruits and foliage.
WHO FIRST APPLIED A SENSITIZED PLATE TO THE PURPOSE OF MAKING PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTS?