Antique Photographs

Old photographs arouse a fascination only matched by the first films, shot by the pioneers of cinema. The discovery of photographic techniques can be described as a huge breakthrough, both for history (for its ability to immortalize historical moments) and for art and society. From the first photograms, printed directly on emulsioned supports, to the digital photographs that we save on our cell phones, old photos have evolved at incredible speed from their origins to the present day.

History of photography

The first ancient photographs were actually photograms printed on leather sheets. To make them, an object (a leaf, an insect, etc.) was placed on the emulsified support and exposed to light, achieving a life-size printed silhouette. However, the true origins of photography were established in 1938, when Louis Daguerre succeeded in printing images of scenes on emulsified silver-plated copper or polished silver surfaces. At the same time, the discovery of stereoscopic vision by Sir Charles Wheatstone initiated the development of stereoscopic photography. Following the printing process begun by Daguerre, in 1851 Sir David Brewster perfected and marketed cameras that generated stereoscopic plates on glass. Stereoscopes were used to visualize them in three dimensions. Meanwhile, in 1841 William Fox Talbot invented the calotype, which is considered the precursor of modern positive-negative photography.

During the second half of the 19th century, photographs and copies on albuminated paper predominated; the first photographs with added color were made by James Clerk Maxwell in 1861. At the end of the 19th century the first photographic film appeared, marketed by Kodak; about 30 years later the first slides were launched on the market. The 1940s saw the splendor of photojournalism, war photography and artistic photography. In a few years the Polaroid, a camera that photographs and develops images at the same time, was also launched. During the second half of the 20th century, photographic processes continued to evolve until the arrival of digital photography, a true revolution that completely transformed the field of modern photography.

Types of old photographs

Within the old photos that we can find for sale, there are different types of great interest to the collector. We can highlight the following:

Dagerotypes . Black-and-white images printed on emulsioned metal, made during the first half of the 19th century. The emulsion was an alloy of mercury and silver, exposed to iodine vapors to make it photosensitive. After exposure to light, the image was subsequently developed with mercury vapors.

Ferrotype . Photographic process invented by Adolphe-Alexandre Martin in 1853, which consists of making a positive image on a sheet of blackened metal with a collodion emulsion.

Ambrotypes . Ambrotypes are early photographs on glass plates, which like ferrotypes carried collodion emulsion. They were very popular in the mid-19th century.

Calotype . Calotypes are the true predecessors of modern photographs. They were made on emulsioned paper that gave rise to a negative image. From the first image, countless copies could be made. The economic cost was much lower, since instead of metal the support was paper.

Photos to albumen . These photographs were printed on albumin paper (with a photosensitive emulsion based on egg white). This technique resulted in photographs of great quality and detail that were developed by gold printing. Designed by Blanquart Edvard in 1850, this type of paper was the most popular photographic support for making prints between the 1960s and 1990s.

Collecting old photographs is a hobby that has more and more followers. The indefinable charm of these objects and their ability to retain in time fleeting moments makes them pieces of enormous evocative power.