1865 JOURNAL of the
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY (LONDON)
vol. IX
TRANSCRIPTION CONVENTIONS:
--Italics have been retained from publications, which uses them for both titles as well as emphasis. To more easily locate image titles, I have continued this italicization when titles have been rendered in all capitols or put in quotes, however italics have NOT been used when the general subject of an image is mentioned.
--Photographer’s (or potential photographer’s) names have been bolded – see also below under “Names”
--Brackets [ ] are used to indicate supplied comments by the transcriber; parenthesis
( ) are used in the original sources. If the original source has used brackets, they have been transcribed as parenthesis to avoid confusion.
--Spelling and typos: Nineteenth-century spellings occasionally differs from currently accepted norms. In addition, British spellings also differ from American useage. Common examples are: “colour” vs. “color”; “centre” vs. “center” and the use of “s” for “z” as in “recognise” vs. “recognize. While great care has been exercised in transcribing the 19th-century journals exactly as printed, “spell check” automatically corrects many of these differences. An attempt has been made to recorrect these automatic changes, but no doubt some have slipped through. As for typographical errors, these have been checked although no doubt some have managed to slip through the editorial process. For matters of consequence, I will be happy to recheck the original sources if need be for specific references.
-- Technical articles: For the most part, articles discussing technical aspects of photography, products, etc. were not transcribed unless they are part of a larger article covering photographs. When technical descriptions are too lengthy to include, that has been noted. Exceptions have been made as the transcriber saw fit.
--Meetings of Societies: Names of officers, members attending or referenced, dates and locations of meetings have been given. The first and/or earliest meetings recorded have been transcribed in full. Beyond those early years, only if the reports are very short or discuss photographs, have the articles been copied in full; if administrative or technical in nature. Although not always possible due to time constraints on borrowed materials, when possible, I have included at least the dates of society meetings and any photographer’s names listed.
-- Related, contemporary journals: e.g., The Art-Journal, cover both photographer as well as painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.. As they frequently refer to the production of both the photographer and the painter as “pictures” it is not always possible to tell when photography is indicated. If there is doubt, these articles have been included and the names bolded, but the individuals may, in fact, not be photographers.
NAMES:
--All photographer’s names have been bolded for easy location. EXCEPTIONS: While it is likely that people working with photographic equipment and techniques are also photographers some discretion has been used and not all such names have been bolded. Names of honorary members of a photographic society are assumed to be photographers and thus bolded, when in fact, that may not be the case. Names mentioned in connection with meetings of non-photographic societies have not been bolded unless there is a known or suspected photographic association. A computer word search, however, will still enable the researcher to locate any references to specific names.
--Names: Given abbreviations for titles such as “M” for “Monsieur”, etc., it is not always possible to tell if an individual’s first name or title is being abbreviated. Thus, especially with non-English photographers, too much credence should not be put into an initial that could also serve as an abbreviated title.
--It is not always possible in lists of photographers to know when two separate photographers are partners or not, e.g., in a list, “Smith and Jones” sometimes alludes to two separate photographers and sometimes to one photographic company. Both names will be highlighted and indexed but a partnership may be wrongly assumed. Any information to the contrary would be appreciated.
NUMBERS:
--Numbers referenced in the various journals can refer to either the photographer’s image number, or an entry number in an exhibition catalog. When the number is obviously is obviously that of the photographer, it is included in the index under the photographer’s name, whereas exhibition numbers are not.
1865: JPS Jan. 16, vol. IX, #153, p.170-175:
London Photographic Society. Ordinary Meeting Tuesday, January 3, 1865.
[Summary of meeting: J. Glaisher chaired the meeting. Mr. Maurice Griffiths Williams was elected a member. Mr. Mayall and Mr. Johnson moved and seconded a motion reappointing Mr. Heisch and Mr. H. Claudet were reappointed as Auditors. Mr. H. Cooper could not read a paper on further experiments in uranium printing.]
…Mr. Haes would now proceed to describe his operations in obtaining his beautiful photographs of animals in the Zoological Gardens.
Mr. Haes then proceeded to read the following paper, in the course of which he passed round various fine examples of the photographs obtained, both in stereoscopic size and on plates 7 by 7.
Gentlemen,--It was suggested to me by your very worthy Vice-President, Mr. Glaisher, who is ever anxious to promote the interests of the Photographic Society, when I showed him the series of photographs now before you, that it might be entertaining to the Members to hear the troubles and difficulties I encountered this summer in producing the present series of stereograms and larger photographs of the animals in the Zoological Gardens; I will therefore at once proceed to give you the history of these pictures, but must inform you that, with regard to the method of working, I do not think I have anything new to communicate.
Casting about for some novelty at the commencement of last spring, we thought that a series of photographs of animals from life would be very useful and instructive; and having obtained the necessary permission, we removed everything requisite for working to the Gardens. I first took some views with a pair of ordinary single stereoscopic lenses, but, with three exceptions, I found that it was impossible to succeed in getting good negatives of any of the restless creatures in the Gardens; the exceptions were the Abyssinian Wolf, the Harpy Eagle, which is the largest of the tribe, and the Hippopotami, the last of which I photographed asleep: any persons present this evening who are frequent visitors at the Zoological Gardens, will understand why I preferred them asleep if possible.
Having received encouragement to proceed, it became necessary to decide upon the lenses; and I consulted with Mr. Dallmeyer, who advised me to use, if I could, a pair of his long-focus No. 1B, which we had recently purchased, in preference to his stereoscopic lenses, as I should thus obtain results freer from distortion or exaggeration. I may here mention that I used a Smartt’s tent, which gave me plenty of room; and as the summer was very hot, I contrived generally to pitch it in the shade; though even then, in the months of July and August, I had to hang up wet cloths, and keep the ground well moistened. The collodion used was Rouch’s bromo-iodized. After trying various proportions of iron, and of acetic and citric acids, I at last settled down to the following for the developer:--
Iron …………. 20 grains.
Acetic acid …. 20 drops
Water ………. 1 ounce
I always found it necessary to intensify the negatives, and used pryo and citric acid as follows:--
Pyro ………… 2 grains.
Citric acid ….. 1 grain.
Water ………. 1 ounce.
The bath was of 30 grains, slightly acid; and I believe the one bath would have served me throughout, had I not, one day on returning to the tent after washing a negative, had the misfortune to find that a gust of wind had overturned it, broken every bottle, and given the contents of my bath to be sucked up by the earth; fortunately, being of gutta percha, which material I prefer, it was not injured. The negatives were fixed with cyanide of potassium, 10 grains to the ounce.
You will readily understand that, to produce the fifth-five different subjects, a very much larger number of negatives had to be taken; for very frequently, after waiting ten minutes, a quarter of an hour, or even sometimes twenty minutes before (either by coaxing or menacing) we succeeded in getting the animal into a favourable position, and then exposing, the result was, that the plate was completely useless from drying. The exposure was with Dallmeyer’s shutter, and usually as rapidly as it was possible to move it—I should say, about one-third of a second. Many of the slides speak for themselves on this point, those of the Zebra and Seal particularly; this latter, one gentleman refused to purchase, saying it could not be from life. In photographing this animal, I was much annoyed by the pertinacity with which the visitors to the Gardens would gather round the pond, chattering all the time, and of course attracting the attention of the Seal from the fish held just out of its reach; and I had great difficulty in persuading the teachers of a girls; school that it was quite as necessary for them to remove out of sight and hearing as to send away the children, they themselves remaining behind and talking their best. The Seal evinced a good deal of cunning, by not coming out of the water for a fish until two or three had been thrown in for it to taste, and even then snatching the fish from the keeper’s hand and rushing again into the water.
Upon taking the camera to the Sable Antelope (of which the specimen in the Gardens is the only living one ever seen in Europe, and which is so shy in its native Africa that a full-grown one is a prize which rarely falls to the gun of the most experienced sportsman), I saw I should have plenty of trouble; for as soon s he caught sight of the camera, he leaped up and butted at the rails furiously; the keeper said he would injure himself by his passion. So to accustom him to the instrument, I left it in front of his yard during several hours for two days. Even then he would stand looking at it, which position did not, of course, give a good view of the animal, and we fruitlessly tried many ways to induce him to present himself sideways to the lens. Fortunately the keeper noticed that it was attracted by a light-blue coat which I wore; and this was forthwith transferred to the back of a lad I had with me, and, whilst the antelope watched him standing as I placed him, I succeeded, after a week of attempts, in securing the required position.
With the noble specimen of the Lion now in the Gardens I had not much trouble; and, as you see from the photograph, on the suggestion of the keeper I went into the den, which is double, with a sliding door, and to a certain extent managed to get a portrait which, I hope you will think, gives a fair idea of the grand head of a Lion: the exposure for this picture was eleven seconds. The Tiger is much more restless; and as yet I have only one negative of this handsome creature. The Cheetah is comparatively tame, as the slight wires in front of his den show. This animal is in a room, and was readily induced by his keeper to give me a sitting. Passing to the next in order, the Wolves, I question whether many persons have ever seen these animals quiet for a second; and when I first paid them a visit, they retreated to their sleeping-places. I found this was because they fancied my black cloth was the bag in which they were put when removed from one cage to another. Seeing, however, that I did not attempt to enter their cages, they ventured out; and I noticed that between one and two o’clock they were sometimes quiet for a few minutes; of course I made the best use of this knowledge. But no watching on my part has as yet enabled me to take the Dingo, or native dog of Australia. I pass over the Kangaroo tribe, only mentioning that the constant motion of the upper lip made it difficult to get a negative perfectly sharp. To obtain a good photograph of the Tasmanian Wolf (or tiger), it was necessary to go into the inclosure: these animals are very savage; cowardly, and treacherous; and a pretty dance they led us. The keeper at last despaired of ever getting one of them as we required; and in driving the animals about, one did his best to catch hold of my legs; however we at last tried out one and fixed him on the plate, though the position is not all that could be wishes. Passing over that curious Marsupial the Wombat, next comes the Fretful Porcupine: these being nocturnal animals, are not always seen by visitors; the means adopted to induce them to favour us with a sitting were these: the keeper, armed with a stiff broom, entered their house and drove them out; and whenever the fine specimen of the crested porcupine tried to go in, the broom was pushed in his face; to this treatment he decidedly objected, and we thus got all his quills erected, and, whilst standing perplexed for a second, he gave me a chance which succeeded. I incautiously left one of the legs of my camera-stand in reach of the teeth of one of the smaller porcupines; and if the keeper had not removed it at once, it would, though very stout, have been very quickly destroyed. It was not considered advisable to attempt to bring the Beaver out, as young ones had just been born, it being the first instance of this animal breeding in captivity; and Mr. Beaver has the reputation of making a meal of his progeny if disturbed. The Capybara, or Water-Hog, the largest of the rodents, gave me no trouble: this animal ahs a particular dislike to children, though to grown persons he seems to have no objection; as you may see, I found him sunning himself in front of his grotto-like retreat.
Many persons remark, of course you had no trouble with the Elephant; but they are indeed mistaken; this huge pachyderm is one of the most fidgety animals in existence, and is perpetually moving trunk or legs. They have a curious habit of swinging the legs backwards and forwards; and the keeper who taught the animal to carry the saddle and to kneel when ordered, was baffled several times in his endeavours to make Jenny quiet; and she is certainly very sagacious. I used to feed her with apples, and she soon knew me well enough to go through the various performances at my command. Miss Bet, as the Rhinoceros is familiarly called, is not a young lady of very great amiability of temper. Especially since the arrival of the young rhinoceroses, who, she evidently fancies, are a counterattraction to her charms. In fact, so uncertain is her temper that the keepers never venture into the yard when she is taking her daily constitutional. When she first saw the fresh arrivals, she was in such a passion that nobody knew how to calm her; and her strength is such as few can imagine. I found out that the rhinoceros could run at a good round pace when so minded; for one day walking with my camera covered with a bright yellow cloth over my shoulder, Miss Bet caught sight of it and charged full speed at me; fortunately the rails were between us. The little Babirussa had to be hunted from under his favourite heap of straw, and turned out into the yard, where we found him, like the curious Masked Pig of Japan, very restless; so that we adopted the same measures to get them quiet, namely, keeping them in motion for an hour at least, never allowing them to rest; and during the intense heat of midsummer this preliminary exercise was not much relished by us; neither did the piggies seem to appreciate it, wondering, I fancy, why they could not be left alone in peace. The Babirussa has very formidable tusks, and the injury he could inflict would be very serious.
The Solidungula are well represented in the Society’s collection, the Zebras, Quagga, and Wild Asses being very interesting subjects for the camera. The Zebra I photographed is the one which was treated by Rarey, though at present his behaviour is not such as to make one think he has derived much benefit from his instructions: here again I was cautioned not to give them a chance of getting at my tripod. The Dromedary in the gardens was born on the heights of Balaclava during the Crimean War. I have seen many hundred dromedaries in Egypt, but never saw any so fat as this. Neither the Dromedary nor the Camel was very troublesome; but one of the difficulties constantly occurring with all was, that, after drawing up the slide all ready for exposure, the animal would move a few feet, not sufficiently to make it necessary to refocus, but enough to oblige me to rotate the camera; so that I was often very uncertain on what part of the plate I should find the picture, it sometimes resulting that the animal would be cut in halves by the division in the camera. The Llamas and Alpacas have, unfortunately for photographers, always been accustomed to be together; and on shutting one up in order to take them singly, the animal would turn its back to the lens; so there was nothing to be done but to let the other out. The Deer-sheds are not favourably situated for the camera; and these animals become very savage in captivity, especially when their antlers are hard.
The Giraffes, meek-looking, with large lustrous eyes, are, however, very stupid animals: the keepers say they do not show any intelligence; and this is corroborated by the animals often plucking the artificial flowers from a lady’s bonnet and devouring them with apparently as much relish as a real bouquet; they can give very powerful blows with the head, which they swing against an offender. It is amusing to see them take food from the ground; but I believe nothing but a few lumps of sugar will tempt them to the exertion.
Of the behaviour of the Eland, about which (as making a very acceptable addition, if acclimatized, to our dinner table) so much has been said, cannot report favourably; and indeed, if they were not more amiable than the specimen belonging to the Society which I photographed, I should not care to meet a drove in our streets. Some good-natured individual who was watching and talking to me while I was intent upon getting this animal into a favourable position, would persist in finishing every sentence by saying. “Well, I’m sure you’ll never do it,” till at last I requested him to leave me, thinking one brute enough to manage at a time.
The splendid Piedmontese Bull, presented by the King of Italy, was not much trouble. Not so, however, the Brahmin Bull, who is quite a family character, and did not at all approve of his temporary separation from his wife and son. Talking about cattle, I remember Dr. Farre, who is well known as a distinguished photographer, saying that he found the tails of a herd a very good test of instantaneous photography. The shaggy little Bison would plant himself so near the camera that I could not avoid distortion; but he was equally deaf to threats or entreaties to give me a better position. The Yak, or Ox of Tartary, is a quiet creature, not caring about being disturbed. I have portraits of both father and son. The Brindled Gnoo, or Wildebeest, was truly a wild beast. Those who have seen its behaviour at the gardens may have some idea of the trouble it was to photograph it, a favourite position being with its head almost between its legs, and butting at everything, all this being done to hide its natural inquisitiveness. The Punjab Wild Sheep, sitting quietly in the corner, looks almost a member of the Peace Society; but one of the keepers, unfortunately, can testify that it is not always to be trusted; for it one day flew at the man, jammed his fingers against the palings, and one of the fingers was obliged to be amputated.
I must not forget to mention the Orangoutang, which the Society allowed to be removed from the Monkey-house for the purpose of being photographed. Everybody in sight of course flocked round us at the novelty of Miss Susan taking a walk with her keeper: we put her on her favourite chair, and she sat (with that curious old-fashioned face of hers) looking at the crowd. After developing the negative, I sent a message to the keeper to come and see it, and he brought his charge with him; he looked at it, and then the orang quietly put its paw on my arm and drew it down, so that she could also see; it was indeed a grotesque parody. I can assure you that Susan gave me much less trouble than I have often experienced with Bimana of the genus Homo. The cashmere Goat was a contrast to the last-mentioned; for he butted at everybody and everything, and nearly knocked his keeper over. The remainder of the present series consists of the large birds, The Ostrich is good-tempered and inoffensive enough; but the same cannot be said of either the Cassowary or Mooruk, both of which are very spiteful; the former gave me a great deal of trouble and the least satisfactory results of any of the series: as both of these birds kick very severely, it is necessary to keep out of reach of their legs. The natural curiosity of the Emu was quite sufficient to give me a very good opportunity, notwithstanding a crowd. I remember a tame Emu belonging to Government House in Sydney, which would persist in closely examining the details of a large traction-engine which was being exhibited, and, though repeatedly driven away, always returned, not showing the least fear at the noise of the machine in motion.
The last of my animals is the Tortoise, which would of course always move its head just as I was ready to expose; but having at last caught him napping, I obtained what I required, and so finished my first series of Zoological photographs, after three months’ hard work.
Gentlemen, I thank you for the kind attention you have given me. Notwithstanding my endeavours to the contrary, this, I fear, must necessarily have been a very egotistical paper; and I am only afraid I have occupied your time without giving you a quid pro quo.
At the close of the paper, Mr. Haes said that Mr. Highley would now exhibit transparencies of some of the subjects, by means of the magic lantern and oxyhydrogen light. It was only fair to Mr. Highley to observe that he had been very much hurried in producing the transparencies, having had the negative in his possession for the purpose only twenty-four hours. The transparencies were untouched.
The pictures were then projected on the screen, and elicited much admiration.
The Chairman, after inviting discussion, remarked that they had all doubtless been much delighted with the beautiful results they had just seen produced by their art. Mr. Haes had spoken of going into the lion’s den, in order to secure a satisfactory portrait; for his own part he would rather go into the car of the balloon, although that was no joke during the present weather. All had, however, to face danger and duty, each in his own way. It would be difficult to over-estimate the value of these photographs as means of instruction for those who had no opportunity of seeing the living specimens. He was especially struck with the fine and life-like effect of the attitude of the animals, so different to what had been common in pictures. How graceful and easy in pose they were! To artists they must possess an especial value, and also to naturalists for examination and comparison. For these purposes they should be examined in the stereoscope, in which they appeared very natural and beautiful. Messrs. McLean and Haes had been requested to published them in carte size only. This would have limited their value as a source of instruction, which in the stereoscope was very great. They would also be very valuable in the magic lantern, for class-tuition and for lectures, especially to clergy-men, who frequently selected natural history as a suitable subject for interest and instruction. How the projection of such a lion on the screen as that they had just seen would speak to the audience! Failing the animals themselves, the next best thing was to see them on the screen, and the next best thing to that was to see them by means of the stereoscope; and very great credit was due to Mr. Haes for the trouble he had taken in producing such a series. He understood that Her Majesty had seen them, and expressed her high approval of them, and he hoped Messrs. McLean and Haes would complete the series for the stereoscope. To mechanics’ institutes and schools of art, they must prove of very great value. Personally he had been much gratified in examining them. The sharpness was very remarkable, and the position, proportions, &c. of the animals were admirably rendered, and reflected great credit not only on Mr. Haes’s ability, but on his patience in dealing with such untractable animals. Those which had pleased him most were the Tiger, the Cheetah, the Wolf, and the Seal; the latter was especially fine. He might also mention the Zebra, the Dromedary, the Sable Antelope, and the Eland. In proposing a vote of thanks to Mr. Haes, he would again express a hope that he would continue his labours with renewed success, the result of past experience.
Mr. Mayall said he had pleasure in seconding the vote of thanks; but he should not have risen except to point out an omission on the part of the Chairman in not having mentioned that these animals, or many of them, had been very successfully photographed some years ago by an early member of the Society: he referred to the Count de Montizon. He thought they ought not to ignore these early exertions, undertaken under more difficult circumstances than were possible now. Mr. Haes spoke of being engaged three months in the Gardens. If he remembered rightly, the Count was engaged eighteen months. His pictures were (many of them) very fine and well worth preserving; and if the Society did not possess a set, he thought they ought to make an effort to secure one for future reference. He did not mention this to detract in any way from the merit of Mr. Haes, nor to lower the value of his pictures, which were very fine. The difficulties were evidently under the best of circumstances very great. The animals were evidently opposed to photography, and had as great antipathy to the camera as artists themselves. Possibly, seeing that Mr. Haes had obtained the portrait of the lion Sir Edwin Landseer had been modeling, they might now hope to see the four shortly taken their places in Trafalgar Square. He had pleasure in seconding the motion.
The Chairman said, the Count did not produce pictures equal to those before them, as he had not the means. He had in his possession the whole or greater part of those of the Count; they were quite as remarkable in their day as those of Mr. Haes; but the latter strikingly showed the advance of the art. It was not from intentional neglect that he had not referred to the labours of the Count. He had pleasure in offering the thanks of the Meeting to Mr. Haes, and he hoped he would shortly again so into the lion’s den and add to his interesting results.
[There follows discussions of technical matters on another subject]