Bosco machine
The Bosco machine was a photo machine invented and produced by Hamburg-based Conrad Bernitt in 1890 (DE Patent 58613 of July 16, 1890) , which produced a ferrotype . In this system, the black lacquered sheet metal base was shaped like a small tub by raised edges, so that it could function as its own developer and fixer tray during processing in a horizontal position .
The production of the ferrotype in the machine took three minutes according to self-promotion. However, it still had to dry afterwards; the surface of the image was not allowed to be touched during this time. The edge served as a frame for the finished picture ; accordingly it was decorated with a gold-colored print. To the photograph in the format of 60 x 83 mm was an appropriate case from cardboard included.
The device had the shape of a man-high column and was sold worldwide. The name is said to go back to a famous 19th century magician named Bartolomeo Bosco . The quality of Bosco photographs is judged by today's collectors, as well as that of other ferrotypes, to be rather inferior. Many pictures are "dark and look rather cheap" (see web link to the "Club Daguerre"). However, it was almost always about "occasional shots", which were mostly taken at fairs , folk festivals or in tourism centers and were not supposed to meet high artistic or even technical requirements from the outset . In addition, the image layer is not under glass and is therefore not protected from abrasion or scratches.
Since the recordings were mostly made more or less spontaneously and the people depicted often took “funny” poses, the characters differ in character from the arranged studio recordings of the time, so that they can also be found in collections as unusual pieces of their time.
Web links
- "Bosco" images. In: Club Daguerre - Association for the Care of the Historical Aspects of Photography e. V. Manfred Romboy, accessed on July 16, 2015 (illustrations and some additional information).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Patent specification (PDF)
- ^ Wolfgang Baier: History of Photography. 2nd Edition. Schirmer / Mosel, 1980, ISBN 3-921375-60-6 , p. 294.