Photographic plate
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Photographic plates preceded film as the primary medium for capturing images in photography. These plates, made of metal or glass and coated with a light-sensitive emulsion, were integral to early pho
Packaging cover of AGFA photographic dry glass plates designed for use with metal cassettes, circa 1880
Mimosa Panchroma-Studio-Antihalo Panchromatic glass plates, 9 x 12cm, Mimosa A.-G. Dresden
Negative glass plate
Image resulting from a glass plate negative showing Devil's Cascade in 1900
Heliography
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Heliography is an early photographic process, based on the hardening of bitumen in sunlight. It was invented by Nicéphore Niépce around 1822. Niépce used the process to make the earliest known survivi
Photographic plate
…in photography. These plates, made of metal or glass and coated with a light-sensitive emulsion, were integral to early photographic processes such as heliography, daguerreotypes, and photogravure. Glass plates, thinner than standard window glass, became widely used in the late 19th century for their clarity and…
This earliest known surviving heliographic engraving, printed from a metal plate made in 1825 by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce using his "heliographic process". The plate was exposed under an ordinary engraving. Heliography was also used to capture a scene directly from nature with a camera.
Comparison between the original engraving and the heliography of Joseph Nicephore Niépce. Left: Engraving of Portrait of Georges d'Amboise, 1650 right: Heliography (Heliogravure) of the engraving, 1826
View from the Window at Le Gras, by Joseph Nicephore Niepce, 1826 or 1827, France - Harry Ransom Center - University of Texas at Austin