HF The History of Photography 600pág

15 The progress of photography on paper in
other countries
The Calotype in Germany. Except in France, photography on paper did not gain
popularity on the Continent. Despite a manual published in Aachen in 1841 and DR
F. A. w. NETTO's brochure Die Kalotypische Portraitirkunst, Quedlinburg and Leipzig,
1842, the practical introduction of calotype portraiture into Germany appears to be
due to WILHELM BREUNING, an actor turned daguerreotypist. He announced in the
Hamburger Nachrichten on 22 July 1846 that by unceasing experimentation he had at
last succeeded in bringing to perfection a 'hitherto unknown process called "Kalotypiren"
'. From now on, the advertisement continued, he would take portraits by
Daguerre's and Talbot's processes, praising the many advantages of photographs on
paper in glowing terms. Breuning was five weeks before Biow in practising calotype
portraiture in Germany.
On 28 August 1846 HERMANN BIOW, the Hamburg daguerreotypist, announced
in the same newspaper that he would in future practise both daguerreotype and
calotype portraiture. He laid particular stress on the fact that the paper portraits could
not be rubbed off and therefore did not require a protective glass; that they could
be stuck in an album like prints, and be sent in letters; that they looked like drawings
and avoided the exaggerated sharpness of the daguerreotype. Finally, once a portrait
had been taken, Biow pointed out, people could obtain equally good copies many
years later-much to the consolation of absent friends and bereaved persons.1 In spite
of these efforts, talbotype portraiture appears to have gained no real foothold in
Germany. On the other hand, the paper process did win favour for landscapes and
architectural studies, on account of its portability and the comparative ease with Pl 84
which large pictures could be obtained.
ALOI s LOCHERER, originally a pharmacist, was, with Franz Hanfstaengl and Joseph
Albert, one of the leading Munich photographers of the early period. He had learned
daguerreotyping in 1840, probably from lsenring, and changed over to the paper
process seven years later. 'Locherer's portraits on paper appear without any defect.
They are executed with a fine artistic taste and with due observation of the character
of the person whose portrait is to be taken.'2 Though specializing in portraiture-he
published fifteen portraits of celebrities in Photographisches Album der Zeitgenossen­
Locherer is best known for his calotypes of the transport of the several parts of the Pl 88
60-ft high bronze statue 'Bavaria' from the foundry to its position in front of the
Hall of Fame (Ruhmeshalle) in Munich. This series taken in 18 50 was probably the