Josef Maria Eder

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Josef Maria Eder (born March 16, 1855 in Krems an der Donau ; † October 18, 1944 in Kitzbühel ) was an Austrian photo chemist who achieved world renown with his research activities relating to the scientific application of photography. He was the ideal founder of the Vienna " kk teaching and research institute for photography and reproduction processes ", which he headed for more than three decades. He wrote numerous articles in periodicals, books and catalogs about his scientific work, which convey a vivid picture of the beginnings of photography.

Photo of Nadar (1887)

He was the son of the district judge Joseph Eder (1801–1869) and Karoline geb. Borutzky (1828 - circa 1898). In 1885 he married Anna geb. Valenta (1859–1941), the daughter of a ministerial secretary. He died in Kitzbühel at the age of 89. The grave of honor for him and his wife is in the cemetery in Kitzbühel / Tyrol.

Creation and works

Josef Maria Eder studied chemistry , physics and mathematics at the Imperial and Royal University of Vienna from 1871 to 1875 , and in 1878 taught chemistry at the Staats-Oberrealschule in Opava. He completed his habilitation in 1880 at the Imperial and Royal Technical University of Photochemistry. In 1881 he worked with the photo technician Giuseppe Pizzighelli. In 1882 he taught as a professor of chemistry and physics at the kk Staatsgewerbeschule in Annagasse in Vienna and from 1892 to 1925 as a professor in the chair for photochemistry and scientific photography at the Vienna University of Technology .

He was a member of the Photographic Society . In 1885 he presented his idea of ​​a photography school. As a result, the kk teaching and research institute for photography and reproduction processes was founded in Vienna in 1888 . Eder was entrusted with the organization and management, which he held until 1922. During Eder's period of activity, this training facility served both teaching and research. With the support of the Photographic Society, equipment and apparatus for research purposes were purchased, including a. a solar camera by Jacob Wothly . In 1887 Eder's “Yearbook for Photography and Reproduction Technology” appeared for the first time, where he recorded all technical developments in photography. Eder soon became the news center for this publication and he received a lot of information about essential technical innovations for publication. Eder made many contacts and corresponded with Étienne-Jules Marey for many years . Eder was also president of the Photographic Society from 1901 to 1924.

Among other things, Eder was a member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in Vienna, the kk Patent Office , the advisory board of the kk Hof- und Staatsdruckerei in Vienna, the art council in the kk Ministry of Education, the state examination commission at the kk Technical University in Vienna and chairman of the panel of experts in matters of the Copyright in the field of photography.

His “detailed handbook of photography”, published in numerous volumes and in many editions, is still one of the most important reference works today.

Extract of his achievements

Eder was a passionate, practice-oriented researcher. His extensive network allowed him to participate in new discoveries and developments, to further research and refine them.

Already during his student days he paid attention to the chemical principles of photography. With his brother-in-law, the amateur photographer Viktor von Tóth, he invented lead reinforcement in 1875, later the dyeing methods with ferricyanides and in 1880 discovered catechol as a developer for silver bromide gelatine. Eder and Tóth published numerous reports in relevant specialist journals about the discoveries made by their test series.

Around 1879, in teamwork with the photo technician Giuseppe Pizzighelli, he developed the process using chlorosilver gelatine. Immediately afterwards Eder worked out the procedure with chlorobromosilver gelatine. These two processes were the cornerstones for the development of a large industry in the area of ​​the production of artificial light papers and cinema positive films.

In a series of experiments in 1896, Eder and his colleague and father-in-law Eduard Valenta succeeded in drastically improving the newly discovered effect of X-rays on light-sensitive substances within a few days. The photographs that were taken in this way are now in the collection of the Viennese Federal Higher Education and Research Institute , which emerged from the former kk teaching and research institute. A selection of these scientific photogravure was at a special exhibition of 2009 Albertina is presenting on "Photography and the Invisible".

Awards and honors (selection)

  • 1876: Voigtländer Prize of the Photographische Gesellschaft together with Victor Tóth for "work submitted to the society on strengthening the negatives and on iodination"
  • 1888: Honorary award of the Photographic Society for "his uninterrupted research and publications in the field of photography and the lectures given at society meetings"
  • 1889: Elected member of the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina
  • 1890: Honorary membership in the Camera Club, London
  • 1896: Honorary membership in the Société des Sciences photographiques, Paris
  • 1897: Order of the Iron Crown , III. Class by the Emperor of Austria
  • 1907: Honorary membership of the kk Society of Doctors in Vienna
  • June 12, 1907: Compassion cross of the Franz Joseph Order by the Emperor of Austria
  • 1924: Honorary President of the Photographic Society
  • 1916: Membership of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in the mathematical and scientific class, Vienna

Writings and works

He published over 650 publications. The History of Photography was published in four editions between 1881 and 1932 , each of which was expanded.

  • Die photische Camera und die Momentapparate , Photographica, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-89506-272-8 (reprint of the edition: Knapp, Halle an der Saale 1892).
  • Detailed manual of photography :

literature

Web links

Commons : Josef Maria Eder  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/gnd118687824.html#ndbcontent
  2. ↑ https://austria-forum.org/af/Bilder_und_Videos/Historische_Bilder_IMAGNO/Eder%2C_Josef_Maria/00523511
  3. ^ A b Articles on photochemistry and spectral analysis. Vienna, kk graphic teaching a. Research institute 1904. 4 °. With 60 tls. folded. (some color) plates u. 93 text fig. XII p., 2 p., 425 p., 1 p., 174 p., 1 p., 167 p., 1 p., 30 p., 1 p., 51 p. Mod. Lwd. Using the Olwd. online .
  4. ↑ Photo-biobliographic database by Timm Starl on albertina.at .
  5. ↑ Member entry of Joseph Maria Eder at the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina , accessed on November 27, 2015.
  6. ^ Personal data , in: Photographische Chronik , No. 1, Wilhelm Knapp, Halle 1898, p. 6.
  7. ↑ Photographische Chronik , No. 14, Wilhelm Knapp, Halle 1907, p. 333.
  8. ^ The History of European Photography 1900-1938 , FOTOFO., 2011, ISBN 978-80-85739-55-8
personal data
SURNAME Eder, Josef Maria
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian photo chemist
DATE OF BIRTH March 16, 1855
PLACE OF BIRTH Krems at the Donau
DATE OF DEATH October 18, 1944
Place of death Kitzbühel