Houder voor glasnegatieven before 1932

Here's a page, or rather a spread, from a manual on photographic processes, probably made with ink and paper sometime in the 19th century. You can see the plate holder, and the way it was made, described in exacting detail. I can imagine the writer getting so into it. The inky smell, the texture of the paper. They’re really thinking through the chemical process of light hitting a plate and making an image. You can almost feel them explaining it, gesturing with their hands. There's something beautiful about how the text tries to capture something so ephemeral, like the action of light, and then to describe how that invisible action becomes visible. It’s like trying to grab smoke. It makes me think about how all artists, including painters, are always trying to do that, trying to make something tangible out of something that’s fleeting, invisible, or just plain weird. It’s a conversation we’re all having across time, trying to show each other what it feels like to be human.