Carte-de-visite Do you remember the wallet sized pictures you gave out to your friends when you graduated high school? Well the Carte-de-visite print in the 1850’s was the definition of out graduation wallet memory cards. The old school style photo was the first of its kind to be made for decades and was format for international standards. They were small albumen prints mounted on cards 2-1/2 by 4 inches in size. This standard size was patented by a Parisian photographer, Andre Adolphe Disderi, in 1854. Having the small and inexpensive size print made them available for everyone and given the name calling cards. It is said at one time In England, sales of cartes de visite ran in the hundreds of millions, annually. Below is an example: 
Heliograph What is it? A process in which drawings are copied or drawn by hand onto lithographic stone and then printed in ink also known as (sun drawing). The process was created by Nicephore Niepce, an amateur inventor of his time. one of the key elements used in creating images was the sun. Light was key in the process as it allowed light sensitive solutions to harden and the areas that were dark could wash away. Niepce “oiled an engraving to make it transparent and then placed it on a plate coated with a light-sensitive solution of bitumen of Judea (a type of asphalt) and lavender oil and exposed the setup to sunlight.”(Britannica, 2014) From 1822 onward Niepce was engravings onto lithographic stone, glass, and zinc. On the 1826 he changed to pewter plates. (tin-based alloy) Below is on of Niepce images: 
The Camera Club photographer Alfred Stieglitz, considered by many to be the father of American photography and one of the founding members of the club. It is said that the organization is to be one of the oldest art organization of the NY, metropolitan area. The organization helped photographers in a wide range of disciplines. These disciplines being, portraiture, photojournalism, fashion, street photography, advertising work, documentary, and fine art. If you were wanting to make a name for your self then this club was the way to do it. “great names have passed through the Club’s doors, either as members or lecturers, including Edward Steichen, Paul Strand, Gertrude Kasebier, Berenice Abbott, Richard Avedon, and photographic historian, Beaumont Newhall.”(The Camera Club of New York, 2008) Today the organization still has its doors open and contributes in lectures, class, and exhibitions. 
Bibliography “A Brief History of the Carte de Visite.” The American Museum of Photography. The American Photography Museum, Inc., 2004. Web. 5 Mar. 2014. <http://www.photographymuseum.com/ histsw.htm>. “Early Experiments.” Encylopaedia Britannica. Encylopaedia Britannica,Inc, 2014. Web. 3 Mar. 2014. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/457919/history-of-photography/252841/ Early-experiments#ref886566>. “History.” The Camera Club of New York. The Camera Club of New York, 2008. Web. 5 Mar. 2014. <http://www.cameraclubny.org/history.html>. Images http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Eden_George_Co_Ltd_carte_de_visite.jpg http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2002/02/15/primera.jpg http://www.cameraclubny.org/images/ccny_1884_logo.gif
History of Photography: Carte-de-visite
kenrazz 
