Lesson plan
Opalotype
. National Media Museum. Opalotype or opaltype is an early technique of photography. Opalotypes were printed on sheets of opaque, translucent white glass; early opalotypes were sometimes hand-tinted with colors to enhance their effect. The effect of opalotype has been compared "to watercolor or even pastel in its softer coloring and tender mood." "Opalotype portraits...for beauty and delicacy of detail, are equal to ivory miniatures." Opalotypes were first patented in 1857 by Glover and Bold of Liverpool. They were made either by transferring a print to opal glass or by printing directly onto a light-sensitive coating on the glass; later opalotypes used processes including collodion, carbon transfer, and silver gelatin. Opalotype photography, never common, was practiced in various forms until it waned and disappeared in the 1930s. "Milk glass positive" is another alternative term for an opalotype. Opalotype is one of a number of early photographic techniques now generally consigned to historical status, including ambrotype, autochrome, cyanotype, daguerreotype, ivorytype, kallitype, orotone, and tintype. This and many other historical photographic methods are now considered alternative photographic techniques and are practiced by a small number of dedicated artists.
Article summary
. National Media Museum. Opalotype or opaltype is an early technique of photography. Opalotypes were printed on sheets of opaque, translucent white glass; early opalotypes were sometimes hand-tinted with colors to enhance their effect. The effect of opalotype has been compared "to watercolor or even pastel in its softer coloring and tender mood." "Opalotype portraits...for beauty and delicacy of detail, are equal to ivory miniatures." Opalotypes were first patented in 1857 by Glover and Bold of Liverpool. They were made either by transferring a print to opal glass or by printing directly onto a light-sensitive coating on the glass; later opalotypes used processes including collodion, carbon transfer, and silver gelatin. Opalotype photography, never common, was practiced in various forms until it waned and disappeared in the 1930s. "Milk glass positive" is another alternative term for an opalotype. Opalotype is one of a number of early photographic techniques now generally consigned to historical status, including ambrotype, autochrome, cyanotype, daguerreotype, ivorytype, kallitype, orotone, and tintype. This and many other historical photographic methods are now considered alternative photographic techniques and are practiced by a small number of dedicated artists.
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.