A notablp: advance in color photography.' 



■'It is now possible for a newspaper correspondent in China to 

 take snap shots in his ordinary camera, fitted with a newlj^ perfected 

 screen; to send the negative to New York, and there have the picture 

 reproduced in all its original colors, the printer having no previous 

 knowledge of the colors themselves." 



This is the somewhat startling claim made by two Americ-an invent- 

 ors, Mr. C. L. A. Brasseur and Mr. Sel)astian P. Sampolo. A sample 

 of their work showing the progressive steps of the method will be found 

 as a special insert in this issue of The World's Work. It opens up a 

 whole new world of possibilities in the field of illustration, the modern 

 development of which has been one of the seven wonders of our time, 

 though we who are in the midst of it all hardly realize the fact. In 

 an hour to-day anj^one with eyes can learn more about the externals 

 of China and the Chinese, for instance, than would have been possible 

 b}^ any conceivable means short of a visit to that country twenty-five 

 years ago. The causes are improved photographs and the consequent 

 extension of illustration in newspapers, magazines, and books. 



But so far as color is concerned we are almost as badly off as our 

 forefathers. The camera is not only ineflicient, but often an astound- 

 ing liar in its reports of the colors upon which it looks; and the suc- 

 cessful accomplishment of what Messrs. Brasseur and Sampolo 

 believe they have done would soon work most revolutionary changes 

 in the matter of making pictures. 



Every reader of current magazines and books is familiar with the 

 results of what is known as "three-color Avork." 



With all its present shortcomings, this process may fairly be credited 

 with having done more than any other influence to give us satisfactory 

 colored pictures at a reasonable price. Truth of form it achieves 

 absolutely, photographically; and its defects are due to the mechanical 

 difiicuH-' f applying an absolutely correct theory. 



d-color work has limitations that have greatly hampered its 

 devfci-., ..lent. Roughly speaking, the process consists in making three 

 differr-nt half-tone negatives through as many colored screens— that' is 

 to say, the object or painting is placed before the camera as if an 

 ordinary black and white half-tone (the usual sort of magazine illus- 

 tration nowadays) were to be made; but between the lens and the half- 

 tone screen is placed a piece of glass of a peculiar yellowish color; 



^Reprinted, by permission, from The World's Work, December, 1900. 



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