Johann Heinrich SCHULZE (1687-1744)

CONSTRAINT : ϕ with fixed image + ϕ without camera obscura.

INVENTION : “Scotography”, or “stencil ϕ” (1727). Jar of scotophorus (silver nitrate) and powdered chalk with a stencil stuck round the outside and exposed to sunlight. The photohistorian Eder in 1881 called Schulze “the inventor of ϕ” on the basis of the words he printed (in the beginning was the word…).

WORKS : Various words written on the inside of a jar that may be inspected in subdued light. The works faded with time and were not preserved. Angelo SALA wrote in 1614 that lapis lunearis (powdered silver nitrate) turns “black as ink” when exposed to the sun — but none of his ink blot ϕs remain.