THE PAINTED PHOTOGRAPH 1839-1914: ORIGINS, TECHNIQUES, ASPIRATIONS, by Heinz K. Henisch and Bridget A. Henisch (Penn State Press, 248 pages, $75.00).
Beautifully illustrated with 131 examplesof nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century photographs–daguerreotypes, tintypes, milk glass, and magic lantern slides–drawnmainly from the United States and Great Britain, this book examines the skill and techniques used in the overpainting ofblack-and-white-photographs to create color images. When photography was introduced in 1839, it was the sensation of itstime, but soon its admirers were complaining that the images were not produced in realistic colors and tended to fadeeventually. Photographers, anxious to please their customers, began painting over their black-and-white creations with avariety of materials, including watercolors, oils, chalk, and even crayon. Despite the expected criticism from the artistic sectionsof society, the colored images enjoyed immense popularity.