Salt Prints (Group of Five)

Location: Bermuda

Date: ca. 1860

Note: These are some of the earliest ever photos taken of Bermuda. They were created using the salt print photographic process, which was the dominant process for producing positive prints from negatives from 1839 until the 1860s.

According to Antony Davis “Salt prints are very rare because of the small numbers that were produced, the license was expensive for professional photographers, which limited the number of those who used it, as opposed to Daguerre’s process that was more readily available as it was declared “Free to the World” or at least free in France. 

Another reason why salt prints are rare is that over the more than 150 years they have existed, very thin paper does not survive well, much of it destroyed by poor handling, damp conditions, insects and vermin. 

 When we hold and examine a salt print, we are looking at the keystone in the history of photography. This forerunner was the start of paper photographs which lasted more than 150 years.”