One man stands at left in front of a large three paneled switch board, holding a telephone receiver to his ear. A second man stands at a machine that receives images through wire transmission.
One man stands at left in front of a large three paneled switch board, holding a telephone receiver to his ear. A second man stands at a machine that captures and transmits photographic images. An original print photograph has been wrapped around a horizontal cylinder attached to the apparatus. The machine was designed to scan photographs and convert their light and dark tones into signals that are carried over telephone or telegraph wire. The machine at foreground holds a slightly different cylinder than the first, and is likely used to receive images. Here, signals transmitted from other locations would be converted back into light, then recorded on a negative contained inside the cylinder, thus reproducing original photographs sent from any location connected through the wire network.
One of several related photographs housed in this negative sleeve that document the process of phototelegraphy -the process of transmitting photographic images over telephone wire. Though there were advancements - namely the Telediagraph, the Belinograph, and the Telephotograver (invented by Los Angeles Times managing editor Ralph Trueblood) – the technology left much room for improvement. In the 1930s, the Associated Press began working with Kodak to create a machine that could transmit quality images over wire networks. On January 1, 1935, the AP sent the first photograph out over its Wirephoto service to 47 affiliated newspapers across the United States. The Los Angeles Times documented their contribution to photojournalism while touting the latest innovation in a related article.
Technician manipulating a mechanical component (possibly the optical scanner) on a Wirephoto transmitter. A print photograph of actress Elissa Landi is wrapped around its cylinder. The scanner shines a thin beam of light onto the photograph which spins on the cylinder at one hundred revolutions per minute. The light from the scanner is then reflected back onto a photoelectric cell where the image's light and dark tones are converted into signals that are carried over telephone or telegraph wire.
Related to the article, "Wirephoto Shows Lead: "Times" Keeps in Forefront. Recalls Pioneering in Picture Transmission Over Wire Systems," Los Angeles Times, 6 Jan. 1935: 26.
