There are quite a number of different methods of making caricature
portraits. A simple one is to make two photographs of an individual,
one of the head alone and another of the entire body on a much smaller
scale. From these two negatives prints are made, and the larger head
is cut out and pasted on the shoulders of the full length figure. Any
signs of the cutting out are removed by the use of a brush and a
little coloring matter. From this combined print another negative is
made so that any number of these caricature prints can be made without
extra trouble. The effect is shown in Fig. 44.
[Illustration: From Tissandier's Handbook. FIG. 44.--CARICATURE
PORTRAIT.]
Foregrounds for making caricature portraits are sold in this country.
The method of using them is shown in Fig. 45. The card containing the
grotesque drawing is held by the sitter on his knees and arranged by
the photographer in such a way that his head rests just above the neck
of the painted body. A white background is arranged behind and when
the negative is made all traces of the edges of the foreground are
removed by careful re-touching.
[Illustration: FIG. 45.--CARICATURE]
[Illustration: FIG. 46.--MAKING THE CARICATURE PORTRAIT.]
Another method of obtaining grotesque caricature portraits has been
devised by M. Ducos du Hauron. His apparatus, which he calls "La
Photographie Transformiste," is thus described by Schnauss in his
"Photographic Pastimes." A, Fig. 47, is the front of the box, which is
furnished with an exposing shutter formed of a simple sliding piece
fitting into the grooves R R, R R. B P are two screens pierced with
slits _a a_, _c c_. C is the rear end of the box where the dark slide
is placed. D is the lid of the box, which is lifted either for placing
the slotted screens or for putting in the sensitive plate. When not
working direct from nature, the transparency is placed in the grooves
R R, R R, at A.
[Illustration: FIG. 47.--THE HAURON "TRANSFORMISTE."]
[Illustration: FIG. 48.--PHOTOGRAPH AND DISTORTIONS WITH THE
"TRANSFORMISTE."]
According to the arrangement of the slits, the caricatures obtained
will be different. If, for instance, the first slit be a vertical one,
and the other, _i.e._, the one nearest the picture, a horizontal one,
the picture, in comparison with the original, will be distorted
lengthwise. If, however, one of the slits forms no straight line, but
a curved one, the transformed picture will show either lengthwise or
sideways curved lines, according to the slit being a vertical or a
horizontal one. The form of the resulting picture will also be
different according to which one of the slotted plates is placed more
or less obliquely in the box.
[Illustration: FIG. 49.]
[Illustration: FIG. 50.]
[Illustration: FIG. 51.]
[Illustration: FIG. 52.]
The slits must be made very exactly; above all, their edges must be
absolutely sharp, every incorrectness being transferred to the
picture. They may be made about one-third of a millimeter wide; if
they are too narrow the picture will not turn out sharp. In making the
slits it is a good plan to cut them in thin black paper, and to mount
the latter on glass plates.
[Illustration: FIG. 53.]
In a later description of the apparatus we learn that the discs
containing the slits are often made circular in shape and so arranged
that they can be revolved as shown in Fig. 53. This, of course, allows
of a still greater variety of positions of the two apertures in
relation to each other and an increasing number of grotesque effects.
Reproductions of some of the pictures obtained are given.[3] See Figs.
48 to 52.
[3] Reprinted from _La Science en Famille_.