Photo Archives Boston Fall 2012: Infrared Photography

The origins of infrared photography started as early as 1800 with Sir Frederick Wiliam Herschel. Using colored filters to view sunlight and seeing that some colors had different reactions to heat, he concluded that colors themselves actually have different temperatures. Looking through a glass prism, and no he noted that the temperature beyond the red colored light (with no sunlight) had the highest temperature, but was invisible to the naked eye. What Herschel described as “calorific rays” to this particular type of radiation, we refer to today as “infrared”. Jumping over 100 years later in 1910, the first known infrared photographs were produced by American physicist and Professor, Robert Williams Wood in 1910. Though there were infrared spectrograms produced before 1910, Wood is credited for the first infrared images in print. His first images were published in the October 1910 Journal of the Royal Photographic Society.

Infrared photos by Robert Williams Wood as seen in the Illustrated London News, 1911 / (c) Mary Evans Picture Library

Twenty years after Wood produced the first infrared images with sensitized plates, the first commercial infrared film became available in the 1930’s courtesy of Kodak. The film is sensitive only to light in the infrared spectrum, the human eye cannot see it, and a special filter is required for utilization of the film. It became popular with photographers trying experimental films, as well as huge in the 60s where many recording artists used the film on their album covers. One example of color infrared film was Kodak Aerochrome. The film was originally used during the Cold War as a military surveillance tool, and was manufactured for camouflage detection in the hills. Like much from the analogue ways of photography, infrared film was discontinued in 2007 from Kodak, due to a lack of demand and cheaper alternatives with digital technology to produce the same effects. Despite it's demise and difficulty to find today especially with the expiration dates, photographers have still used the film to capture amazing details and, in Richard Mosse's vision, uses the film's unique qualities for his series on the country of Congo. For more on Richard's work, click here. When taking a photo with this film, foliage and plant life will appear magenta or red, and painted objects may turn purple or blue.

Photo: “Nowhere to Run, South Kivu, Eastern Congo, 2010” by Richard Mosse, from the series titled Photojournalism at the Crossroads

Photo: (c) Elliott Landy, Bob Dylan, Woodstock, NY, 1968

Early uses were for scientific purposes; such as aerial survey work, criminology, medical fields, and space exploration.

Photo: STS068-205-020 Houston, Texas, U.S.A. October 1994

Overall, infrared photography is unique in that with with careful use and if the settings are all correct, it can detect detail in the film that normally the eye could not see. It will detect heat or “breathing” from a living organism, as well as haze produced by the long-wavelength radiation that they can emit. Shooting with infrared film requires a red filter, in order to achieve the desired affects.

Grass and leaves look like they are covered in snow and almost seem to have a glowing effect – especially clouds. The film must be loaded and unloaded in total darkness unlike other traditional films, and the shelf life is about half of regular films. Cameras that have a window on the back to indicate the film canister need to be covered with light tight material in order to prevent fogging and unintended exposure to light.