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 Belinograph BEP2V wirephoto machine by Édouard Belin, 1930 | |
| Process type | Physical,analogue |
|---|---|
| Industrial sector(s) | Wire service,photojournalism |
| Main technologies or sub-processes | Telegraph,telephone, photography |
| Product(s) | Fax,photography |
| Leading companies | Western Union,AT&T,Associated Press, others |
| Year of invention | 1920s |
Wirephoto,telephotography orradiophoto is the sending ofphotographs bytelegraph,telephone orradio.
Technologically and commercially, the wirephoto was the successor toErnest A. Hummel'sTelediagraph of 1895, which had transmitted electrically scannedshellac-on-foil originals over a dedicated circuit connecting theNew York Herald and theChicago Times Herald, theSt. Louis Republic, theBoston Herald, and thePhiladelphia Inquirer.[1][2]
Édouard Belin's Bélinographe of 1913, which scanned using aphotocell and transmitted over ordinary phone lines, formed the basis for the Wirephoto service. In Europe, services similar to a wirephoto were called a Belino.
TheBartlane system, invented by Harry G. Bartholomew and Maynard D. McFarlane, was a technique invented in 1920 to transmit digitized newspaper images over submarine cable lines between London and New York.[3][4] and was first used to transmit a pictureacross the Atlantic in 1921.[5]
Western Union transmitted its first photograph in 1921. Marvin J. Ferree announced a system in November 1923. His system was adopted during some months by several newspapers under the name Telepix and succeeded on 1st January 1925 with the first coast-to-coast transmission.[6]AT&T followed in 1924,[7] and RCA began sendingRadiophotos in 1926.[8]
The first wirephoto systems were slow and did not reproduce well. In 1929,Vladimir Zworykin, an electronics engineer working for Western Electric, came up with a system that produced a better reproduction and could transmit a full page in approximately one minute.[9]
In the 1930s, wirephoto machines of any reasonable speed were very large and expensive and required a dedicated phone line. News media firms likeAssociated Press used expensive leased telephone lines to transmit wirephotos. In the mid-1930s a technology battle began for less expensive portable wirephoto equipment that could transmit photos over standard phone lines.
The Associated Press began its Wirephoto service in 1935 and held atrademark on the term "AP Wirephoto" from 1963 to 2004. The first AP photo sent by wire depicted the December 1934 crash of a small plane in New York'sAdirondack Mountains.[10][11]
When the U.S. Navy airshipUSS ZRS-5 crashed into thePacific Ocean (12 February 1935) off the coast ofCalifornia, the AP Wirephoto transmitted its first drawing — a conceptual sketch by staff artistNoel Sickles of the crash and search for survivors. According to Sickles, the Wirephoto staff initially did not want to transmit the drawing because it was not a photo.[12]The New York Times's Wide World News Photo Service had just installed a prototype photo transmitting machine inSan Francisco the day of the crash. A photo was taken of theMacon's survivors when they came ashore and quickly transmitted toNew York City over regular phone lines for publication the following morning.[13] By 1936, a wirephoto copier and transmitter that could be carried anywhere and needed only a standard long-distance phone line was put into use byInternational News Photos.[13]
During the United States'sleaflet dropping campaign over theEmpire of Japan near the end ofWorld War II,Honolulu would transmit some radiophoto images toSaipan depicting proposed leaflet messages for theprinting press on Saipan to produce.[14]
After World War II athaute couture shows in Paris, Frederick L. Milton would sketch runway designs and transmit his sketches via Bélinographe to his subscribers, who could then copy Parisian fashions.[15] In 1955, four major French couturiers (Lanvin,Dior,Patou, andJacques Fath) sued Milton for piracy, and the case went to theAppellate Division of the New York Supreme Court.[16] Wirephoto enabled a speed of transmission that the French designers argued damaged their businesses.[17]
The first AP Wirephoto with original caption affixed: 'The wreckage of a small plane lies in a wooded area near Morehousville, N.Y., on Dec. 31, 1934.'
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