The photo paper during the time of the combination printing was not sensitive to red but very sensitive to blue. So with that being said when a photo was taken of the sky there was little to no detail. 
Hippolyte Bavard was the first one to think of combining two or more photos in to one image (combination printing). Being that there was a long time for the exposure to happen would cause the subject/object to be completely exposed but the sky would be lacking the detail that the photo needed. When the photo was processed, the image with the subject/object would be exposed and the sky would be white. So what Hippolyte would do is take the subject/object from one image and then the sky from another image and merge them into one. When doing this you have to make sure that the lighting from the sky photo and the lighting form the subject photo matched. If the issue comes up to where your sky lighting doesn't match your subject/object photo you sometimes are able to flip the sky photo around and match it up with the subject photo. William Lake Price and Oscar Rejlander are famous for using this process of combination printing. Oscar Rejlander managed to combine thirty-two images in to one single photo called Two Ways of Life (shown below). 
After this process was founded there was a big controversy with in the photographic community about the combination printing. Photographs were known as truth and that the camera never lied, but once the combination printing started and multiple images could be merged in to one image, shattered every ones beliefs that the camera never lied. This process was the start for another artistic process called Photo montage. Photo montage is a smilier type of process but instead of it looking real it looks fake. Or so i think.
Hippolyte Bavard was the first one to think of combining two or more photos in to one image (combination printing). Being that there was a long time for the exposure to happen would cause the subject/object to be completely exposed but the sky would be lacking the detail that the photo needed. When the photo was processed, the image with the subject/object would be exposed and the sky would be white. So what Hippolyte would do is take the subject/object from one image and then the sky from another image and merge them into one. When doing this you have to make sure that the lighting from the sky photo and the lighting form the subject photo matched. If the issue comes up to where your sky lighting doesn't match your subject/object photo you sometimes are able to flip the sky photo around and match it up with the subject photo. William Lake Price and Oscar Rejlander are famous for using this process of combination printing. Oscar Rejlander managed to combine thirty-two images in to one single photo called Two Ways of Life (shown below). 
After this process was founded there was a big controversy with in the photographic community about the combination printing. Photographs were known as truth and that the camera never lied, but once the combination printing started and multiple images could be merged in to one image, shattered every ones beliefs that the camera never lied. This process was the start for another artistic process called Photo montage. Photo montage is a smilier type of process but instead of it looking real it looks fake. Or so i think.
If you would like to create you own photo using the combination printing process click here for the steps.
I also thought this was interesting, it seems as though right after photography started to become the least bit practical, it started to become an art form and artists began various ways of distorting images or just giving them an artful style by messing with them... interesting stuff
ReplyDeleteWhat a phenomenal post - great finds. By the way, the guy who made the youtube video has a terrific portfolio site of his own photographs:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.glassbrain.com/
Take a look.
I just took a look at that website. He has a very interesting type of style. I really liked the one of the guy in the back corner with the bright light.
ReplyDelete