When you look at a family photograph collection, you may see all types of pictures: tintypes, paper prints, case images, Polaroids, black-and-white, color, and digitalized. Over the years, types of photographs have come and gone quickly, which is why there is a good market for buying, selling, and collecting photographs today. Here is an overview of the types of photographs.
NOTE: all photographs are from the author's collection. They are not in any order, I randomly placed them within this blog post.
Daguerreotypes were made from about 1839 to 1870. The sitting time for these photographs could be five to 30 minutes. Photographers sometimes used clamps to help their subjects sit still.
Calotypes were the first paper images from about 1841 to the late 1850s. These photos were not very popular, and the ones that survive today are usually found in museums.
Ambrotypes were negative images made on glass plates with a dark coating on the backs. They lasted from about 1852 to the early 1870s.
Tintypes, also called ferrotypes or melainotypes, were created on a thin, blackened iron sheet, then coated with chemicals and varnished to protect the image. In a future column, I will cover much more information about the popular tintype photographs.
From 1850 to the early 1900s, Albumen prints, which were also printed on paper, helped make photography profitable.
Stereographs were prints of nearly identical images mounted beside each other and viewed through a viewer called a stereograph. They were popular from about 1854 to 1938.
Cabinet card photographs were made from about 1866 to 1906. The photographic images were put on large, oversized card stock. I have quite a few of these cabinet cards in my collection.
George Eastman founded the new age of photography with black-and-white snapshots. From the late 1880s to the present, these prints were taken with box cameras that were easy to use. Eastman named his new camera Kodak, and the company’s promotion was geared specifically to women and children.
Photo postcards are a particular class to me. I own a precious photo postcard dated February 1912. The photo shows my paternal great-grandmother, 17, holding her son, my grandfather, Perry Utter. On the postcard side, she wrote to her younger sister in Rocky Comfort. There is a lot of information about photo postcards, which I will write about in a future column.
Autochrome photographs were the first color prints dating from 1904 to the later 1930s. There are special handling tips for owners of these types of prints.
Color paper prints are well known today. The Kodak Company introduced Kodachrome 16mm movie film in 1935 and color prints with negatives in 1941. However, the popularity of Digital Imaging in today’s market ended the manufacture of Kodachrome film.
From 1947 to the present, an instant photo is recognizable due to its thick black pouch-like backing. Polaroids became popular because consumers could snap a picture and wait for a few seconds while the photo developed inside the camera, not needing to take the film to the store for development. Special care is necessary for these types of photos.
Today, digital cameras are a popular way for photographers to take family photos. Digital imaging goes along with scrapbooking-treasured pictures for fun and easy creative projects. While many people embrace digital cameras, the cameras requiring film continue to be popular.
Sources:
“Photography as a Tool in Genealogy,” by Ron and Maureen Taylor and “Getting Up To Date,” Family Tree Magazine, Volume 11, Issue 7, November 2010.
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