The surprising Diepenbach family

In my previous blog I mentioned the brothers Theodor and August Diepenbach, who had photo studios in Roermond in the period 1867-1876. Theodor is best known in Roermond as the photographer of the historic procession in June 1868, which depicted the entry in 1602 of Albertus, Archduke of Austria. The people of Roermond have turned it into a beautiful spectacle with lots of music and a parade of people dressed in historical costumes. Theodor Diepenbach made an overview photo of the historical groups that gathered on the market square, plus a number of cartes-de-visite of individual characters.

Historic groups 1868. Source: Archive Roermond.

My research over the past weeks has focused on Theodor in particular and has yielded some fascinating data. Theodor was born in Coesfeld on December 9, 1829. He married Emilie Klefisch, who was born in Cologne on June 3, 1838. As children I found: Augusta (1865 or 1866), Elise (1867), Theodor junior (1868) and Marie (1870).

A striking feature of Theodor's career is the large number of changes of cities and addresses where he has lived or worked: in any case Coesfeld, Kleef, Cologne, Roermond, Venlo, Tilburg, Eindhoven and Düsseldorf. He often moved from one address to another within a city. Cleves seems to have been a base of operations for many years: his children were born there and in other cities he often called himself “photographer from Cleves”. In 1874, however, he sold his studio there.

Roermond ad, October 12, 1867

During the years he visited a number of places as an itinerant photographer, which was not uncommon in those years. That is how he ended up in Roermond. He also made attempts to establish a number of permanent studios, but all of them only existed for a short time. Roermond only one year, Tilburg 1877 as successor to Schumaker's studio, Cologne 1879 and 1880.

In the summer of 1882 the family arrived in Antwerp with the intention of settling there. However, the authorities were not fond of this. It turns out: Theodor was convicted three times in Germany for pimping and in Antwerp the family is also involved in prostitution. Some girls living with them, Berthe Müller (22 years old) and Catherine Schutz (20 years old), and eldest daughter Augusta stroll along the street past the cafes and talk to men. When they are arrested for illegal prostitution, Berthe makes a confession, but she declares that 17-year-old Augusta would only accompany her on her streetwalks. The conclusion of the police commissioner is clear: the Diepenbach family leads an ambiguous existence; her resources come largely from prostitution. But evidence is hard to get.
A remarkable detail is that father Theodor is usually in Eindhoven for his work as a photographer. Mother Emilie would then be the madam of the bunch. Anyway, in October 1882 they are expelled from the country.

Part of a police report telling that the resources largely come from prostitution, September 1882, Antwerp. Dossier 481#49269.

Apparently Augusta and Elise see a future in the business, because in 1900 they are active again in Antwerp as operators of the bar “Aux caves Portugaises”. They employ some girls as waitresses and the police are convinced they are engaged in prostitution. According to statements, with the purchase of a bottle of champagne one could have a girl. However, hard evidence was difficult to provide. Yet the ladies are again expelled from the country.

Düsseldorf will be Theodor's last city, but he no longer practices there. From 1889 to 1901 the Diepenbachs are fully present: father Theodor, mother Emilie, son Theodoor and the sisters Diepenbach. All the Diepenbachs live at constantly changing addresses and it is unclear whether Theodor senior always lives at the same address as his wife. They do not seem to be poor, because in 1891 and 1892 the sisters owned Kaulbachstrasse 7. In 1893 senior is owner of Kaulbachstrasse 9. From at least 1895 to 1900 Emilie owned Louisenstrasse 64. This is also the address where Theodor senior lived when he died on September 15, 1894. In any case, the widow did not live at 94 Louisenstrasse from 1895. She rents out the rooms of the building to workers and craftsmen with a small income. Where she lived is unknown. Only in the 1901 address book do we see a glimpse of her when she rents an appartment herself between factory workers and locksmiths at 23 Kaulbachstrasse.

Augusta and Elise are registered as fashionists in Düsseldorf. Elise owns the property at 31 Lessingstrasse, where she lives with Augusta until she dies in 1911, only 44 years old.

CdV by Theodor junior, 1895-1896. Source: Delcampe

Finally son Theodor. In the 1890s he was based in Düsseldorf as a photographer under the name G.O. Diepenbach. Like his father, he is at a different address every few years. In 1899 he moved to Berlin, where for many years he had a well-run studio with a branch and a publishing house. He died on August 8, 1924.

Death certificate of Theodor senior, 
Düsseldorf #2489, 1894

The artistic Lasinsky family

Back in the 1980’s I researched the 19th century photographers in the town of Roermond in the south of the Netherlands. The results were published in the Dutch photo-historical journal and used by the RKD, the Dutch institute of art history, in their online database of artists.

CdV by Adolf Lasinsky in Venlo 
(source: Archive Venlo)

Some time ago I decided to update my research. My goal is not only to find facts that I missed in the 80’s, but to dig deeper into the matter. What was the career of the photographers before and after they were in Roermond? What did their studios look like, what kind of photos did they take, what was the financial position? How does the history of photography of Roermond compare with other cities? Also I want to add biographic data to the names of the photographers. Date and location of birth and death, names of parents and children. This will help future researchers to identify them and also to link them to relatives. The importance of this is illustrated in the case of Wilhelm Adolf Lasinsky.

One of the most interesting studios in Roermond is the one that started in 1867 when Theodor Diepenbach (Dec. 12, 1829 - ?) from the German town of Cleve, came to Roermond as an itinerant photographer. In October 1869 he opened his permanent studio, but had to close it one year later because a new building had taken away the light from his studio. 
In 1870 his brother August Diepenbach (April 9, 1837 – January 26, 1876) was back in town with his own studio. One of his ads mentions that he had worked before in the city, probably with Theodor. In November 1871 he married Elise Mischke (born January 5, 1842 in Hüth – died April 11, 1895 in Krefeld). Unfortunately her husband died in January 1876 at the age of 38 years. As far as I know Elise was not a photographer at that time. For a short period her brother in law Theodor helped her. Also photographer Wilhelm Penning (May 14, 1848 – March 24, 1883) worked in her studio, but in October 1876 Elise made known that he was not working for her anymore. It sound like there had been some trouble. Then new help came in the person of photographer Wilhelm Adolf Lasinsky (born February 6, 1849 in Cologne – died February 28, 1891 in Roermond), who had a studio in the city of Venlo, not far from Roermond. Elise and Adolf married on February 8, 1877 and until his death forteen years later he was the photographer of her studio.

Source eBay

Wilhelm Adolf Lasinsky

Adolf came from a very artistic family. His father Johann Adolf Lasinsky (born October 16, 1808 in Simmern – died September 6, 1871 in Düsseldorf) was a famous German painter of the so called Düsseldorf school. He is best known for his romantic landscapes of the Rhine and received orders from the rich and famous, like the later tsar of Russia, Alexander II.

Painting by Johann Adolf Lasinsky,
Ehrenbreitstein, 1828

His grandmother Anna-Maria Lasinsky (born as Von Knapp, March 8, 1782 in Heidelberg – died June 19, 1839 in Koblenz) was a poet, whose poems were published in 1827.

That is not all. Wilhelm Adolf had an uncle August Gustav Lasinsky (born October 27, 1811 in Koblenz – died July 24, 1870 in Mainz), who was also a famous painter of the Düsseldorf school and was best known for his religious paintings.
As far as I know Wilhelm Adolf’s mother Antoinette Margaretha T. Sauset (dates unknown) was not an artist, but his sister Laura (Born January 20, 1844 in Cologne – died November 27, 1919 in Düsseldorf) had many artistic talents.

Laura Lasinsky

In 1870 Laura started her photographic studio in Düsseldorf, probably at the Hohestrasse 6 (here she is located according to a May 1873 ad). She must have been very successful because there are still many Carte de Visite portraits of her studio around. On October 30, 1880 she married painter and photographer Wilhelm Lüdcke (dates unknown), but for many years the name of her studio remains “Photographische Anstalt der Firma Laura Lasinsky”. Later it is called “Photographische Anstalt Lüdcke-Lasinsky” but with the remark that it was formerly called “Laura Lasinsky”.

Source eBay

In the 1888 address directory of the city, the studio was still located at Hohestrasse 6, but in the 1889 book it is at the Oststrasse 75. There Laura remains until her death on November 27, 1919. In the 1920 address directory she and her photo company are still mentioned. In 1922 the studio is not mentioned anymore but Laura is. I guess everyone simply forgot to get her out of the directory, because she is still in it in 1939.

That’s not all about Laura. She also was a concert singer and music teacher. This is even mentioned on her death certificate.

Adolf Lasinsky for some
time used the same CdV
design as his sister Laura

So this is the story of the Lasinsky family, but what happened to Elise Mischke and her studio in Roermond? After the death of Adolf in 1891 she continued her studio for a couple of years. In March 1894 her last ad appeared in a newspaper and in July all her possessions were sold. At that time she already was married to merchant Franz Simon (dates unknown). They moved to the German city of Krefeld, were Elise died on April 11, 1895, just 52 years old.

Her Roermond studio was bought by O. Hegemann and E. Bingen (dates unknown), who continued it into the 20th century.

Düsseldorf photographer Beate Knappe has written the book “Die Atelier-Fotografin : Ein Frauenberuf im 19. Jahrhundert zwischen Modeerscheinung und Profession”, which was published in 1995 by the university in Essen. Part of it deals with Laura Lasinsky. The book is hard to find, but I’m still trying to get hold of it. Beate Knappe was so kind to send me the date and place of birth of Laura and to confirm that she had died in 1919. I had to leaf through 2700 death certificates before I found the exact day. But now it’s official: Laura Lasinsky is dead.

Detail of death certificate of Laura Lasinsky. She died the day before.
It takes a bit of practice to read it.

This is a PDF of the Dutch text of my article: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_RLGmLfS_2iZ1V1OTN4WVVoalE/view?usp=sharing

And here you can read the poems of Anna-Maria von Knapp: http://www.deutsche-liebeslyrik.de/lasinsky.htm

 

Kodet season

Sometimes it takes many months between the appearance of Kodet cameras that are for sale and sometimes you can buy a small collection in a few weeks time. This is the case now. In my last blog I wrote about my newest addition, a horizontal style No. 4 Folding Kodet. Now there is a vertical No. 4 Folding Kodet for sale at eBay. It is missing the top and back doors, but the rest of the camera is in decent original condition. The brass and the woodwork seem te be clean and without major damage. This is a very rare camera, only 2246 being made, horizontal style included, in the period 1894 - 1897. The missing doors can be replaced without much trouble. Only 14 hours to go, 11 bids at the moment, price $ 268.

The second Kodet that is for sale is a No. 4 Kodet box camera. It is missing the back door and the side door is not attached. The rest seems to be OK and it even has three double plate holders and a ground glass frame. The leather is dry but in original condition and not spoiled with a thick layer of shoe polish.
There are only two box Kodet cameras, the smaller No. 3 Kodet and this one for 4 x 5 inch photos. The No. 3 is extremely rare, only 405 being made, but this larger one is also not seen often. During the period 1894 - 1897 only 1413 were made. So if you want one, get it now. Still 6 days to go, no bids yet and starting price is $ 400.

A nice non-Kodak item for sale is this 5 x 7 inch group photo with a young lady holding a large box camera. I don't recognize the camera, but as far as I can see it is no Kodak. It would be a nice addition to any collection of turn of the century photography. Still 3 days to go, 2 bids yet, price $ 1.04.

Part of a larger photo.

No. 4 Folding Kodet, horizontal style

This week I have added a new camera to my collection: it is a very rare No. 4 Folding Kodet horizontal style. The No. 4 Folding Kodet cameras were made in two styles, a vertical and a horizontal one. The vertical I already had, so I was excited when I found the other model for sale on eBay. It is not in a good condition, but the camera is so rare that I would not let it pass. Only 2246 were made of both versions together.

The camera is mentioned in the 1895 to 1897 Kodak catalogs. It could be had with a simple achromatic lens for $ 12 and with a better Rapid Rectilinear lens, as in mine, for $ 17.50.
Like all No. 4 cameras made by Kodak, it took 4 x 5 inch pictures. The Kodets are primarily plate cameras, but roll holders were available. For this model it would cost another $ 10.

Since the previous blog I have been able to identify the aeroplane in the photograph. It is a Curtiss model D, with one canard (the little wing in front of the pilot), dating it to 1910. See one in action in the video below.

There have been some other interesting items at eBay, like the landmark Luzo camera. It most probably is the first camera that sported the front roll design, meaning that the feed and take up spools are located in the front of the camera and not behind the plane of the projected image. H.J. Redding patented this design on November 28, 1888 in England and produced the Luzo. Look here for excellent information about the Luzo.
The one on eBay sold for US $ 2400 after two bids.

A second interesting item is the original No. 3 Folding Pocket Kodak that sold for $ 368. Early No. 3 FPK's are seen often, but the real first model, with the full "Eastman Kodak Co." on the metal plate below the lenspanel and not just "Kodak". See my original model on my site.

The third collectible camera that was sold is a No. 4 Eureka. This camera was made in 1899 and only 4500 were produced. It is not really very rare but it is not often seen, so the price of $ 327 is appropriate. The No. 4 Eureka was renamed No. 4 Zenith for the British market, were the Eureka name was already in use. The Zenith is more rare because only 1000 were made.

Shutter speeds, apertures and Warnerke sensitometer values

In my previous blog I mentioned that I did not have the means to measure shutter speeds. Since then I experimented with a fast rotating disc. I put a little bulb on the rim of the disc and one in the center. The rotating light on the edge of the disc is projected on a ground glass in the back of the camera. When I snap the shutter of the old camera, I take a photo of the image on the ground glass with my digital reflex. The degrees of the arc of light on the ground glass is measured and when the rotations of the disc per second are known, I can calculate the speed of the shutter.

My testlab to measure shutter speeds.

To photograph the ground glass I set my camera to 3400 ISO, f/2.8 and 6 seconds exposure. During the exposure the room is dark, so the image on the ground glass can be seen and photographed. With much lower ISO settings the image could not be photographed.

To "calibrate" the speed of the disc I photographed it with my digital camera set on 1/10, 1/20 and so on. Calculations showed how fast the disc had spinned. Also I filmed the rotating disc and viewed it in slow motion, counting the turns per second.

I am still trying to find out the film speed of the early films. There are some original film boxes with the text "30 sensitometer", but I do not know which scale was used. Maybe it is the Warnerke scale, but even if it is, I cannot compare the Warnerke scale to a ASA/ISO or DIN scale. Even a conversion to a Scheiner or H&D scale would be useful, as long as I know which version of these scales are used. There are US, UK and German versions of these scales.

My own conclusion based on shutter speeds and standard aperture settings is that film speed around 1900 was about 25 ISO. 

What else did I do? Well, I bought two nice photographs to go with my cameras. The first one is a scene made with a No. 4A Folding Pocket Kodak. Yes, it says Folding on the back of the card. It must be a mistake of the printer, because the 4A was called Folding Kodak. It was and is way to large for any Pocket.

The second photo is a beautiful shot of an early aeroplane. It was made with a No. 3A Special Kodak. I do have that camera model, but I display the photo with my much more interesting Military version of the No. 3A Autographic Kodak Special. Only 100 of these cameras were made in 1916 for the US Signal Corps. 

Of apertures and a 1893 world fair album

You know Le Corbusier? If not: he's one of the most important architects of the 20th century. That's short enough, isn't it? And if you want to know more, just Google.
What about him? I have been asked by the author of a book on Le Corbusier to say some sensible things about the first camera that our famous architect bought. Guess what brand it was! Some questions related to the apertures of Kodak box cameras from the 1900 period. I have a nice library of photo-history books and journals, but in it I could not find what the apertures on these cameras are. So I had to go back to the basics, meaning that I had to measure the diameter of the stops and the focal length of the cameras. Of course you all know that you can calculate the aperture value with the simple formula a=f/d, where a is aperture value, f is focus and d is diameter of the opening. To make a long story short, here's what I found:

My measuring tool is a simple caliper, nothing digital, no laserbeam. So give or take a millimeter in the focal length and + or - 0,2 in the diameter of the stop. The results stay much the same.
The largest stop on these cameras is about f/15, very close to the value we are used to: f/16.
The smallest stop is about f/30, also very close to the better known f/32.
There is one stop in between and it wouldn't be foolish to expect that this was f/22 or f/21. But it is not. The middle stop is f/18, about halfway between f/15 and f/21. Rather confusing if you are used to the standard range where every stop is equal to half the light passing through the lens. That made combining shutter speeds (1/30 - 1/60 - 1/125 - 1/250 etc) and apertures simple in the days not so long ago, when your camera was not a computer.

But in the days of the No. 2 Bull's-Eye or No. 2 Falcon, the stops on these cameras were not used to combine with shutter speeds for artistic effect. They were meant to accomodate to light conditions. Standard condition was bright sunny weather. Everything else was some sort of a problem. Let's see what the No. 2 Flexo instruction booklet say about this. (They all say the same.)

The largest stop f/15 is for all ordinary work in sunny conditions.
The middle stop of f/18 lets in slightly less light in very bright conditions.
The smallest stop f/30 is for Time exposures only, out doors or in doors.

There is some more info in the booklet that confirms the calculation of the middle stop as being f/18 and the smallest as being f/30.
When the middle stop was used, one had to add one half of the exposure time. That is equal to one half stop.
With the smallest stop f/30 one had to give four times the exposure time. This is equal to two stops. Example:
f/15 with 2 seconds
f/21 with 4 seconds
f/30 with 8 seconds

Apart from the question about the apertures, there was a question about film speed in the early 20th century. There was not a global system to indicate the speed in those days, but several methods. Kodak used a very indistinct system with descriptions like "slow" of "fast" films. Quite a difference compared to our ISO system or the ASA and DIN system of my youth.

No. 2 Falcon, one of the cameras that was used to
calculate the aperture range of early Kodaks.

Do you remember the old Sunny 16 rule? I quote from wikipedia: The basic rule is, "On a sunny day set aperture to f/16 and shutter speed to the [reciprocal of the] ISO film speed [or ISO setting] for a subject in direct sunlight." For example: On a sunny day and with ISO 100 film / setting in the camera, one sets the aperture to f/16 and the shutter speed to 1/100 or 1/125 second (on some cameras 1/125 second is the available setting nearest to 1/100 second).
Knowing that the largest stop in the early Kodak boxes is f/16, one can calculate the speed of the film if one knows the speed of the shutter. I have not the means to measure the shutter speed, but my guess would be between 1/25 and 1/60 of a second. Following the Sunny 16 rule, this would mean that the speed of the film woud be around 25 to 60 ISO.
If I follow the instructions in the booklet and give 20 seconds exposure with f/15 in door on a cloudy dull day (like today), I can calculate that the speed must be around 40 ISO. We will leave it to that for now.

Something quite different is the photo album I stumbled upon while browsing through eBay. It is a Columbian Exposition album, dated 1893, with cabinet and CDV portraits and tintypes. I assume it was sold at the world fair as a souvenir. I have no idea of its value or rarity, but I would want it because of its beauty. Be quick if you want it. Only 14 hours to go, no bids yet, starting price is $ 150.

Continental Zenith camera

They all come along, some sooner, some later, but eventually all those rare camera models cross your path. Last month I noticed a 9x12 cm Zenith Kodak box on eBay. I had known for a long time that the model existed. Brian Coe mentioned it in his book Kodak cameras, the first hundred years. According to Coe 1000 were made in 1899, but I had never seen one before or heard of one. And now a Paris dealer had one for sale. When the auction ended I had been the only bidder.

So now I am the happy new owner of a very rare camera (that almost no one cares tuppence about). It completed my series of Eureka and Zenith Kodaks. This is a range of cheap box cameras that were made during a short period, ranging from 1898 until 1900. Apart from the extremely simple No. 2 Eureka Junior, all could accomodate plate holders and roll film holders. The Junior only took a single metal plate holder.
The Eureka name was already in use in Europe, so (t)here some models were sold under the Zenith name. The No. 3 Zenith came in two versions: one for the UK market and one for the continental (metric) market. This last one was called 9 x 12 cm Zenith.
There are 6 different models (and some variations within the models):

From left to right:

From the 1899 RPS catalog.

• No. 4 Zenith
• No. 4 Eureka
• No. 2 Eureka Junior
• No. 2 Eureka
• 9 x 12 cm Zenith (see it on my website)
• No. 3 Zenith

Apart from the two lines in the Coe book, I knew nothing about the 9x12 cm Zenith. That was a good reason to dive into the deep web to hunt for some more info. I tried the digital repositories I know, like the Hathi trust, Internet Archive, Gallica and even Google Books. What I did find were some tiny remarks about the No. 3 Zenith, but not one single word about the 9 x12 cm Zenith. There must be an ad around somewhere in all those online journals, magazines and newspapers of 1899 and 1900, but I did not find it.

The best find was a small piece in a Royal Photographic Society exhibition catalog of 1899, describing the No. 3 Zenith.

Le Pascal

What else is going on?

Most interesting was the auction of a Japy & Cie "Le Pascal" box on eBay. This small simple looking camera of the late 1890's is described as the first motor drive camera. When loading the camera the roll of film is wound onto a drum. At the same time a spring is tensioned. The mechanism advances the film after a pic has been taken. On one roll there were 12 exposures of 40 x 55 mm.

The one on eBay sold for € 335, which is about US$ 435.

Tisdell Detective camera

Another fine item is a 4 x 5 inch Tisdell Detective camera from the 1890's. Only 1 day to go, 14 bids at the moment, price now $ 520.

The last item I mention is a negative with an Autographic remark on it. There must be many of these around, but I do not see them often. If you would like to have one, here's your chance. 4 days to go, no bids yet, starting price $ 5.

Autographic negative

35 years of Dutch collectors journal on CD

In October 1977 the first newsletter of the Dutch photohistorical society was mailed to its 70 or so members. It was a stenciled affair, much like the first American newsletters of camera and photo collectors clubs. It must have been a great step forward for the first collectors to have a platform to exchange information about books, dealers and auctions.
When I became a member in 1983 the newsletter had grown into a real journal with interesting articles. I still have all the issues and what is more, I have indexed them digitally. Without an index it makes not much sense to keep all the journals.
In 2012 the Dutch collectors society Fotografica celebrates its 35th anniversary. For this occasion all the journals were scanned, put on a CD and this was distributed to all the members. Great! It is a fantastic source of information.
There is an index file on title and author on the CD, but that is a rather meager tool. If you know how, you can search the PDF files with the Adobe Reader search engine. This way you can search for every word in every file. Click on a result in the list and the PDF file opens on the exact page.
Alas this doesn't work with all files on this CD. The period 1983 - 1999 can not be searched. I guess the scanner was not set on OCR (optical character recognition) while these issues were scanned. What a pity!
See the results list on the left. I searched for the word "camera" and all the other years and issues appear in the list.
So, if you are going to scan all issues of a journal, take care to set the settings to OCR!

What is going on at eBay? There was a very interesting early twin lens reflex LONDON STEREOSCOPIC COMPANY TLR CAMERA OUTFIT for sale, but shortly after it appeared the auction was ended. I mention this camera because I once owned the first example of the Francais Cosmopolite TLR with serial number 1. It is the same model as the London Stereoscopic Co. TLR, but mine had a simple rotating disc shutter, while the camera on the right has a roller blind shutter.
In issue 1, 2012 of Photographica World there is a short article about my Cosmopolite and the the London Stereoscopic Co. TLR.

At the moment there are two No. 2 Stereo Kodak box cameras for sale. One is a buy it now item for $ 800. That is a price of 20 years ago and I do not think it will sell. Another one started at a realistic price. It is a camera in fair condition. Only two days to go, price is $ 225 at the moment.
See mine at http://www.kodaksefke.nl/2-stereo-kodak.html.

Another nice item is an empty box for 4 No. 2 Brownie film rolls. It has a develop before 1911 date. The Brownies are rather dull cameras and a bright yellow box will be a nice addition to a display. Three days to go and the price now is $ 10.

Visit to Niepce's Point de vue du Gras in Mannheim

This week I have been to Mannheim (Germany) to see the first photographs that was made by a camera. It is part of the exhibition "Die Geburtsstunde der Fotografie / The Birth of Photography" in the Reiss Engelhorn Museum.

I went to Mannheim only to see this photo. The rest was interesting and nice, but not sufficient reason to travel to Mannheim and stay there for a couple of days. The 1826 Niepce photograph was worth all the trouble. For me it was a very exiting moment to see the Point de vue du Gras in real and from only a few centimeters distance. It was the chance of a lifetime and something that I will not forget.

It was not allowed to take photos at the exhibit, so I can't show you any pics from my visit to the rooms. But here are some photographs from the internet.

The photo in its original frame, photo by the Harry Ransom Center, Texas, that owns the Point de vue du Gras.
This comes closest to what I have seen in Mannheim.

This is a digital scan that also give a good impression of what the photo looks like. In real you can't see all the parts at once, as you have to move your head to view the plate from different angles to see what is on it.
The three bumps in the corners were made in 1952 when they tried to photograph the plate at Kodak.

Helmut Gernsheim rediscovered the plate in 1952 after it had been lost for more that half a century. Above is a much retouched reproduction that he made in 1952.

This is a computer image depicting the original scene that was photographed by Niepce in 1826 from a window of his house. In the photograph left and right are mirrored, so the pigeon tower on the right (in real) appears on the left in the photographs. This image is a reconstruction of the view. The buildings do not exist anymore, but the house from which the photo was made is still there and can be visited.

There is a lot of information on Niepce and the first photograph available on the internet, so I won't go into it here.
What I will do is provide some more information about the exhibition. If you want to see it, you can do so until January 6, 2013. After that the Point de vue du Gras will return to Austin, Texas.
There is a beautiful and well made catalog available, with all the 250 photos, for € 30 at the museum. It can also be bought online (probably for a higher price). The first 80 pages are devoted to Helmut and Alison Gernsheim, who founded the Gernsheim collection of historical photographs that is now at the Harry Ransom Center. Then there are about 10 pages on the Point de vue du Gras. Pages 96 to 274 show all the photos, accompanied by short descriptions. In the appendix there is an index on names and some information about the development of photography. It is bilingual: German and English.
The book has hard covers and measures about 24 x 30 cm.

The photos on display are a mix of old and "modern" works. There a some important daguerreotypes, like the full plate Notre Dame and the Ile de la Cite, made by Louis Daguerre himself in 1838. Also there is a salt paper print by Fox Talbot, The Bridge of Sighs, St. John's College, about 1845. Other well known photographers include Berenice Abbott, Ansel Adams, Paul Strand and Francis Frith, Felix Beato or Herbert Ponting, to name a few. All the big names are there, but only with one or two photos.

 And here, to end this blogpost, is a video still of the Museum Zeughaus, where the photos are on display.