geese in lower left corner of c 1908 photo from glass plate
Toronto. I grew up seeing photo prints made by indifferent folk from negatives exposed in cheap Kodaks. In the late 1950s, I bought a new Exakta and finally thought I could see good resolution in the tiny 1×1.5 inch negatives.
In the early 1970s, an interest in photographic history prompted me to buy Gernsheim’s wonderful opus on the “History of Photography”. Looking through the massive book, I was surprised and delighted at the fine resolution shown in the old processes, especially prints from large glass-plate negatives.
A few years after I joined the PHSC, I picked up a few 4×5 glass plates at one of our fairs from Marlene Cook. And sure enough when the plates were magnified, fine detail showed up! Those of you who collect photos, glass plates, etc should take a closer look at the details in the images you have (especially dags and plates). You may be pleasantly surprised!
NB the link for Marlene is to a post I made about 1 1/2 years ago. The enlarged portion of the plate is the same and clicking on the thumbnail shows the full pate and the enlarged portion magnified.
