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Graftombe van koning Hendrik VII in Westminster Abbey te Londen

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Graftombe van koning Hendrik VII in Westminster Abbey te Londen

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Summary

The albumen silver print is a photographic printing process that was widely used in the 19th century. It involves coating paper support with a mixture of egg whites and salt, which creates a glossy surface to hold light-sensitive silver salts. The paper is then sensitized in a solution of silver nitrate, and exposed in a camera or under a negative. After exposure, the print is developed in a solution of gallic acid and silver nitrate, which reduces the silver salts to metallic silver and creates the final image. The albumen print process was widely used for commercial and fine art photography in the 19th century and produced high-quality, detailed images with a distinctive glossy finish.

Blanchard was born in Wisbech, Isle of Ely. Other Wisbech photographers included Samuel 'Philosopher' Smith and Lilian Ream. According to Bill Jay, Blanchard "took stereoscopic pictures, cartes-de-visite, 'quality' portraits, instantaneous views, and art studies in platinum". He died in Meadow Lea, Herne Common, near Canterbury. He was born and raised in Wisbech, the son of Lucy and Valentine Blanchard a solicitor's clerk. In 1851 the census records him living with his parents in Bedford street, Wisbech. On completing an apprenticeship he moved to London. By 1852 Valentine had completed his printing apprenticeship, moved to London and on 7 May 1854 he married Mary Ann Allen. About this time Valentine set out on a new career as a photographer, using the Daguerreotype process. In 1869 he was in his studio at Camden Cottages, when the gun cotton and collodion he was working with caught fire and exploded. The blast destroyed his equipment and he received a hand injury. By 1870 he was operating from a studio in Piccadilly before moving to Regent Street in 1876. His entry, 'Study of an Italian Girl', in the 1870 Winter Exhibition of the Photographic Society, was described Of the portraits, first and foremost should be placed the silver photographs of V. Blanchard, which have only one fault, if it be one, that of being a little too dramatic and pronounced. The "Study of an Italian Girl" is a genuine work of art, though the portrait might pass for that of a Hindu, so far as the features are concerned. He died in 1901. An obituary appeared in The British Journal of Photography. He was survived by a nephew, Valentine Louis Blanchard, also a photographer with studios in Cambridge. His pictures are in collections including the J Paul Getty Museum and the National Portrait Gallery.

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Date

1850 - 1880
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Source

Rijksmuseum
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Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication ("CCO 1.0 Dedication")

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