Finding hidden gems inside everyday images

Lynn Savage, lynn.savage@photonics.com

From manufacturers’ production lines to cell biology labs to astronomical observatories and everywhere in between, imaging technology allows us to deeply explore the universe around us. But no matter what equipment you use or what target you point at, the images you acquire certainly will offer more than you might ever expect. The photos on this page offer further proof.

The top image was taken by Louis J.M. Daguerre, creator of the photographic process now known as daguerreotype. Because each photographic exposure required minutes to accomplish, the street scenes captured by Daguerre seemed devoid of people and carriages – they simply smeared themselves out of history. Nonetheless, in this 1838 scene from slightly above Boulevard du Temple in Paris, one gentleman paused long enough to get his shoes polished, making him and the shoeshine boy likely the first people ever recorded thusly.

The bottom image came 10 years later and is part of a set of eight daguerreotypes comprising a panoramic view of Cincinnati as seen from Kentucky across the Ohio River. Produced by William S. Porter, possibly assisted by Charles Fontayne, the photos have earned warm regard as an early example of how the art of photography could reveal the specialness of a place. It currently is held by the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, which permitted researchers at the University of Rochester and the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography Conservation Laboratory in New York to examine the images under the microscope.

Although their investigations have advanced how early photographs can be analyzed, the researchers also found the images of two men buried more discreetly than Waldo. The figures would not have known they were being photographed, but neither could they be recognized until the high-powered microscope revealed them.

So, whether you take aim at a tiny cell or a giant star, be sure to take note of everything else your camera captures!