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Early Photography Was a Chemical Miracle

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Early Photography Was a Chemical Miracle is a 3D virtual gallery on MyGallery3D, a walkable online exhibition of 18 works. Step inside and explore it in your browser: no app, no headset.

About this 3D exhibition18 works

Early Photography Was a Chemical Miracle

Welcome to a 3D virtual gallery you can walk through in your browser, tracing the chemical origins of photography from fleeting shadow images to permanent pictures on metal and paper.

In 1777, chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele discovered that ammonia could dissolve unexposed silver chloride without touching the darkened image, a finding that could have "fixed" a photograph decades before one existed. Thomas Wedgwood, inspired by Scheele's other writings, apparently missed this experiment entirely and died in 1805 never having made a permanent picture.

Silver and Light

In 1614, Angelo Sala noted that sunlight turns powdered silver nitrate black. Around 1717, Johann Heinrich Schulze found that a slurry of chalk, nitric acid, and dissolved silver particles darkened in sunlight. He pressed letter stencils against the bottle and produced dark characters on the whitish surface. He called the substance "Scotophors." These impressions vanished when the bottle was shaken. No one made them permanent.

Works in this exhibition

  1. What Do I Want, John Henry?, from Early Photography Was a Chemical Miracle

    What Do I Want, John Henry?

    Alexander Gardner, November 1862

    Albumen print, pl. 27 from the album "Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book of the War, vol. 1" (1866) · United States

    Gift of Mrs. Everett Kovler

  2. Vienne St. Colombe, from Early Photography Was a Chemical Miracle

    Vienne St. Colombe

    Edouard Denis Baldus, c. 1861

    Albumen print

    The Mary and Leigh Block Endowment Fund, Capital Campaign General Acquisitions Endowment

  3. Studying the Art of War, from Early Photography Was a Chemical Miracle

    Studying the Art of War

    Alexander Gardner, June 1863

    Albumen print, pl. 45 from the album "Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book of the War, vol. 1" (1866) · United States

    Gift of Mrs. Everett Kovler

  4. Skirmish between a Prussian Reconnaissance unit and Advance Troops from Faidherbe’s Army (Amiens, 21 January 1871) (Escarmouche entre une Reconnaissance prussienne et une Avant-Garde de l'Armee de Faidherbe [Amiens, 21 Janvier 1871]), from Early Photography Was a Chemical Miracle

    Skirmish between a Prussian Reconnaissance unit and Advance Troops from Faidherbe’s Army (Amiens, 21 January 1871) (Escarmouche entre une Reconnaissance prussienne et une Avant-Garde de l'Armee de Faidherbe [Amiens, 21 Janvier 1871])

    Unknown, January 21, 1871

    Albumen print · Europe

    Julien Levy Collection, Gift of Jean Levy and the Estate of Julien Levy

  5. Incidents of the War: Battery D, 5th U.S. Artillery in Action, from Early Photography Was a Chemical Miracle

    Incidents of the War: Battery D, 5th U.S. Artillery in Action

    Timothy O'Sullivan, 1863

    Albumen print, pl. 31 from the album "Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book of the War, vol. 1" (1866) · United States

    Gift of Mrs. Everett Kovler

  6. The Day's Orders (L'Ordre du Jour), from Early Photography Was a Chemical Miracle

    The Day's Orders (L'Ordre du Jour)

    Camille Silvy, May 1859

    Albumen print · France

    Photography Gala Fund; Smart Family Acquisition Fund; Purchased with funds provided by Joyce Chelberg; Lucia Woods and Daniel A. Lindley, Jr. Fund · Camille Silvy on Wikipedia

  7. Church of the Madeleine (Eglise de la Madeleine), from Early Photography Was a Chemical Miracle

    Church of the Madeleine (Eglise de la Madeleine)

    Edouard Denis Baldus, c. 1860

    Albumen print · France

    Gift of Robert A. Taub

  8. Mask of Medusa (Masque de Méduse), from Early Photography Was a Chemical Miracle

    Mask of Medusa (Masque de Méduse)

    Adolphe Braun, 1862

    Albumen print · France

    Gift of Robert A. Taub · Adolphe Braun on Wikipedia

  9. King Arthur, from Early Photography Was a Chemical Miracle

    King Arthur

    Julia Margaret Cameron, 1874

    Albumen print · England

    Gift of Robert A. Taub · Julia Margaret Cameron on Wikipedia

  10. Church of Villeneuve le Comte, Seine-et-Marne (Eglise de Villeneuve le Comte, Seine-et-Marne), from Early Photography Was a Chemical Miracle

    Church of Villeneuve le Comte, Seine-et-Marne (Eglise de Villeneuve le Comte, Seine-et-Marne)

    Charles Marville, 1862

    Albumen print · France

    The Mary and Leigh Block Endowment Fund · Charles Marville on Wikipedia

  11. Slaughter Pen, Foot of Round Top, Gettysburg, from Early Photography Was a Chemical Miracle

    Slaughter Pen, Foot of Round Top, Gettysburg

    Timothy O'Sullivan, July 1863

    Albumen print, pl. 44 from the album "Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book of the War, vol. 1" (1866) · United States

    Gift of Mrs. Everett Kovler

  12. Cabaret de l'Homme Armé, Rue des Blancs-Manteaux, from Early Photography Was a Chemical Miracle

    Cabaret de l'Homme Armé, Rue des Blancs-Manteaux

    Jean-Eugène-Auguste Atget, 1900

    Albumen print · France

    Purchased with funds provided by Anstiss and Ronald Krueck in honor of Matthew S. Witkovsky · Eugène Atget on Wikipedia

  13. Winged Victory of Samothrace (Victoire de Samothrace), from Early Photography Was a Chemical Miracle

    Winged Victory of Samothrace (Victoire de Samothrace)

    Unknown, 1860s

    Albumen print

    Gift of Robert A. Taub

  14. Home of a Rebel Sharpshooter, Gettysburg, from Early Photography Was a Chemical Miracle

    Home of a Rebel Sharpshooter, Gettysburg

    Alexander Gardner, July 1863

    Albumen print, pl. 41 from the album "Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book of the War, vol. 1" (1866) · United States

    Gift of Mrs. Everett Kovler

  15. A Sharpshooter's Last Sleep, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, from Early Photography Was a Chemical Miracle

    A Sharpshooter's Last Sleep, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

    Alexander Gardner, July 1863

    Albumen print, pl. 40 from the album "Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book of the War, vol. 1" (1866) · United States

    Gift of Mrs. Everett Kovler

  16. Musket-Proof Half Armor of King Philip III (Media Armadura a Prueba de Mosquete del Rey Felipe III), from Early Photography Was a Chemical Miracle

    Musket-Proof Half Armor of King Philip III (Media Armadura a Prueba de Mosquete del Rey Felipe III)

    Juan Laurent, c. 1868

    Albumen print · France

    Purchased with funds provided by John A. Bross in memory of E. B. Smith · Juan Laurent on Wikipedia

  17. Field Where General Reynolds Fell, Gettysburg, from Early Photography Was a Chemical Miracle

    Field Where General Reynolds Fell, Gettysburg

    Timothy O'Sullivan, July 1863

    Albumen print, pl. 37 from the album "Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book of the War, vol. 1" (1866) · United States

    Gift of Mrs. Everett Kovler

  18. Plaster Cast of Body, Pompeii, from Early Photography Was a Chemical Miracle

    Plaster Cast of Body, Pompeii

    Giorgio Sommer, 1880

    Albumen print · Italy

    Gift of W. Bruce and Delaney H. Lundberg · Giorgio Sommer on Wikipedia