DICTIONARY

This page gives brief explanations of related terminology widely used in photography and collection areas. In order to see the explanation of a term just click on the link and you will be taken to the start of the related paragraph.

1. Cdv
2. Albumen Print
3. Visiting Card
4. Albumen
5. Andre Disderi
6. Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre

CdV (Carte de Visite, Carte-de-Visite)

The carte de visite (CdV or carte-de-visite) is a type of photograph popular from the 1860s to the 1880s. The carte de visite developed from the practice of using visiting cards as a means of communication. Usually an albumen print, the carte de visite is a photograph measuring 2.125 x 3.5 inches mounted on a card sized 2.5 x 4 inches. The cartes were often placed in carte albums which were the forerunners of photo albums.

The carte de visite was popularized by Parisian photographer Andre Disdéri who patented a method of taking several photographs on a single plate in 1854. Copies of cartes de visite of royal or famous figures were sold to the public at large.

Albumen Print

The albumen print, invented in 1850 by Louis Désiré Blanquart-Evrard, was the first commercially exploitable method of producing a print on a paper base from a negative. It used the albumen found in egg whites to bind the photographic chemicals to the paper and became the dominant form of photographic positives from 1855 to the turn of the century, with a peak in the 1860-90 period.

The process is as follows;

1) a piece of paper is coated with an emulsion of egg white (albumen) and salt (usually sodium chloride). The albumen tends to seal the paper and create a slightly glossy surface.

2) the paper is then dipped in a solution of silver nitrate and water which makes the paper light-sensitive.

3) the paper is then dried in total darkness.

4) the dried prepared paper is then placed in a frame under a glass negative and exposed to light. Often, it is a glass negative with a collodion emulsion. This is exposed to direct sunlight until the image achievs the proper level of darkness.

Albumen prints are placed in direct contact with the negative. Since the image emerges as a direct result of exposure to light and without the aid of a developing solution, the albumen print is a 'Printed' rather than 'Developed' photograph.

A bath of Sodium thiosulfate then fixes the print’s exposure and prevents further darkening. Finally, gold toning improves the photograph’s tone and helps protect it from fading.

Visiting Card

Visiting cards also known as calling cards first appeared in China in the 15th century, and in Europe in the 17th century. The footmen of aristocrats and of royalty would deliver these first European visiting cards to the servants of their prospective hosts solemnly introducing the arrival of their owners.

Visiting cards became an indispensable tool of etiquette, with sophisticated rules governing their use. The essential convention was that one person would not expect to see another person in their own home (unless invited or introduced) without first leaving their visiting card with the person at their home. Upon leaving the card, they would not expect to be admitted at first, but might receive a card at their own home in response. This would serve as a signal that a personal visit and meeting at home would not be unwelcome. On the other hand, if no card was forthcoming in return, or if a card was sent in an envelope, a personal visit was thereby discouraged. As an adoption from French and English etiquette, visiting cards became common amongst the aristocracy of America and Europe. The whole procedure depended upon there being servants to open the door and receive the cards and it was, therefore, confined to the social classes which employed servants.

Some visiting cards included refined engraved ornaments and fantastic coats of arms. However, the standard form visiting card in the 19th century in the United Kingdom was a plain card with nothing more than the bearer's name on it. Sometimes the name of a gentleman's club might be added, but addresses were not otherwise included.

Albumen

The egg white is the common name for the clear liquid (also called albumen or ovalbumin or glair) contained within an egg. It is the cytoplasm of the egg, which until fertilization is a single cell.

Andre Disderi

Andre Adolphe-Eugene Disderi was initially a merchant, an actor, and a daguerreotypist before he invented the carte-de-visite in 1854. The invention was a small portrait about the size of a business card that could be used for the same purpose. Disderi established a second studio in Paris in 1862 that was devoted to equestrian portraits. Disderi�s invention remained popular until the late 1860�s when it was replaced by the cabinet card. He then photographed the siege of Paris in 1870 and 1871. After bankruptcy, he moved to Nice and began studios there. After returning to Paris at the end of his life, Disderi was put into an institution where he died in 1889.

Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre

Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre was the French artist and chemist who is recognized for his invention of the Daguerreotype process of photography. He was born in Cormeilles-en-Parisis on November 18, 1787. He experimented on making pictures from 1824, showing dioramas around France, England and Scotland. A few years after Nicéphore Niépce produced the world's first photograph, the two men started a four-year cooperation until Niépce's sudden death in 1833. Daguerre announced the latest perfection of the Daguerreotype, after years of experimentation, in 1839, with the French Academy of Sciences announcing the process on January 9 of that year. Daguerre's patent was acquired by the French Government, and, on August 19, 1839, the French Government announced the invention was a gift 'Free to the World.' The Daguerreotype was the Polariod of the day producing a single image which was not reproducible. Despite this major drawback millions of Daguerreotypes were produced. Daguerre died on July 10, 1851 in Bry-sur-Marne, 12 km from Paris. A fine monument marks his grave there.