Photographic slides

Photography was developed in the middle of the nineteenth century, and one of its earliest uses was in producing lantern slides of real places and people. Slides often showed interesting buildings or natural features. It is also common to find photographs taken by amateur photographers showing their families, homes or holiday travels, just like the photographic slides that we can take today. These images were always in black and white, because there was no colour film.

Another sort of photographic slide that was common was the 'life model' slide. These slides were illustrations that were used to accompany stories told by the lanternist. The slides were created by photographing people posed to represent a scene in the story. The images were often hand-coloured after they had been printed, to give a more realistic effect. The one shown here is a scene from the popular story, 'Jessica's first prayer'.

Slides like these were the mainstay of the lantern show at the end of the nineteenth century. With dissolve effects, clever lighting and sound effects, the lantern show had become a very sophisticated affair. But what happened once films came along? Have a look at the next page to find out.