llinois College of Photography
Effingham, Illinois
1905- 1906
LIBRARY OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
Gift of Library- Friends
, v
N presenting this annual catalogue of the Illinois College of Photography, we take the opportunity to extend thanks to our friends who have given us their earnest support and
help to make easy the first steps in the professional
career of our students.
It is a school of practical training under the
direction of photographers of national reputation.
Unequaled facilities are afforded students for a
thorough course, and no other school in the world
of its kind places its pupils before the public under
such favorable auspices.
Any additional information will be gladly
furnished on application to
L. H. BISSELL, President ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY Effingham, 111.
ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Illinois College
of
Photography
E f f i ngham, Illinois 1905-1906
^ Fifty-two Page Illustrated Catalogue No. nE of the Bissell College of Photo- engraving will be mailed free upon application
Faculty and Officers
Illinois College of Photography
and
Bissell College of Photo-engraving
LEWIS H. BISSELL, PRESIDENT HON. WM. B. WRIGHT, VICE-PRESIDENT
Grand Master Mason of Illinois
JOHN A. RINEHART, SECRETARY HON. BENSON WOOD, TREASURER
President Effingham State Bank Commander Illinois G. A. R.
THEODORE F. MOCK, SUPERINTENDENT
GEORGE ROSCOE GRUBB Instructor in Half-tone Operating
A. V. LESLIE Instructor in Three-Color Work, Etching and Re-etching
FELIX RAYMER Demonstrator in Department of Lighting, Posing, Composition and Flashlight
CHARLES W. FISHER Finisher and Proofer
0. E. REYNOLDS, B. S., A. M. Instructor in Latest Approved Methods of Chemistry, Optics and Laboratory Work
RUBY W. BISSELL Department of Retouching and Etching
F. A. STRICKLAND Instructor in Department of Retouching and Etching
DAVID J. COOK Instructor in Negative Making, Process and Laboratory Work
THEODORE HOWE Instructor in Department of Carbon and Platinotype
LEON S. DUDLEY Instructor in Department of Printing and Finishing
Copyright by the Illinois College of Photography
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ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Our Motto: "High grade photography"
THE HOME OF PHOTOGRAPHY
I ntroduction
If you will carefully read this catalogue you will discover that the art of photography is one of the most important of the professions or callings. This being the case, you will be interested to understand something of the work, and also of its desirability as a means of livelihood. It is the purpose of this catalogue to bring the matter fairly before your notice. We believe that if you will give this the time it deserves, and carefully consider the claims of this profession, you will freely admit that the art of photography offers inducements not excelled by any other occupation, for it is pleasant as well as profitable. The objectionable features surrounding a person in a store or office are not found in photographic studios, and the comparative independence of a person commanding a good salary lifts him above the ordinary drudgery to be found in most of the trades. This college was the first of its kind in the world to stand the test of time. Established in 1893, it has passed the stage of experiment. The reason that there are not more colleges of photography in existence is that it is far more difficult to teach high-grade photography than it is to practice it after the art-science has been mastered. The art itself is in its infancy, and is vigorously reaching out into new fields of usefulness. Photography is indispensable, and at the same time requires the highest skill. The demand for good workmen in this line will never diminish, but must steadily increase. If you are looking for steady employment — attractive and at the same time remunerative — you will certainly make a mistake if you do not carefully read this. In case you do not care for such an occupation, or at present unable to avail yourself of it, you will kindly hand this to some friend who, you think, might be interested in this work.- By so doing you may be the means of helping them to a position of profit and pleasure. We feel sure that if you conclude to enter our college our relations will be satisfactory and agreeable, and that in later years you will remember our institution as a helpful and pleasant place — your stepping-stone to prosperity. We send forth this catalogue, hoping that whether you can come or not it may do you some real good.
ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Ph o t ogra phy What It Is and How It Is Dojie
For the benefit of those who are not familiar with the art-science of photography some explanation is necessary. When a picture is taken with a camera it is made upon a glass plate, which, after development, shows the object in shades of black and white inversely. This plate is called the negative, in which all little imperfections of the skin, together with the shadows, wrinkles and facial blemishes, are necessarily exaggerated, and must be overcome by hand work in order to produce a correct and pleasing picture. It is to improve the picture by removing and softening these blemishes that the plate is sent to the " re-toucher," who works upon the negative itself with fine implements. The great secret why one photographer's work is better than that of another lies in the fact that he excels in posing and lighting. The photographer who has picked up his business in the ordinary manner does this work indifferently because he has not learned the best and most modern methods. To become a good workman in this requires careful drilling by expert instructors.
Photography possesses an educational as well as a recreative value, since some knowledge of chemistry, physics and the principles of art is necessarily acquired by practical work with the camera, aside from the training in accuracy and observation, which are not to be undervalued.
Apprenticeship
In this age one cannot learn to be an up-to-date photographer by serving an apprenticeship in a studio A few of our students are those who have paid some photographer to teach them, and after a few months have given up the work and attended our college. The class of people that advise one not to attend a college show their ignorance. Accepting such advice, a person, to study medicine, law, the ministry, pharmacy or dentistry must not go to college, but study with some local practitioner. There was a time when there existed a prejudice against pupils attending colleges of dentistry, medicine, pharmacy, law, etc. Happily that day has passed, and a person to engage in one of these at the present time is compelled by the various state laws to pass a state examination. The time is coming when this requirement will be made of photographers.
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An ounce of experience is sometimes worth a ton of theory. Teaching practical, artistic, money-making photography is our life work.
Occasionally local photographers will advise prospective students to enter their gallery and serve an apprenticeship with them and recommend their instruction as preferable to that of nine or ten skilled instructors who are specialists in their departments. A few have done so and afterwards regretted it. A student will learn more high-grade photography in one month in our institution than in an ordinary gallery in one year.
We are interested in that class of students who desire not only a thorough photographic training but a rapid course of study.
The I. C. of P. Course in Lighting, Posing and Composition
FELIX RAYMER, INSTRUCTOR
There are many, no doubt, contemplating taking up the study of photography who have no conception of the methods followed in imparting this knowledge. For the benefit of those wishing to know something of our methods, we here give a short sketch of the students' study in this department.
When students first enroll with us they are taken to the skylight room and there entered in class D, where they remain until the instructor has ascertained their proficiency in the work. There may be entered in this class at one time students with absolutely no knowledge of the work and others who have had several years' experience, but in a few days those with experience will have shown their abilities, and will be advanced accordingly to either C, B or A classes.
In the D class there is nothing taught but the principles of "plain" or broad lighting. There is no consideration taken of position or effect on each individual face, in this class, as we wish the student to first understand lighting before going into posing.
In class C the student is advanced to another lighting, the Rembrandt. In this class, as in D, lighting alone is taught. In class B we teach the fancy lightings, known as shadow and line effects. In this class we also take up the Inglis method of lighting, which photographers have thought so much of for the past few years.
Class A is the advanced class, and in this class we teach the student the lighting of each individual face. Every subject is posed for the best
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view of the face or body. The student is taught to shorten long noses, long necks, to improve the appearance of hollow cheeks, thicken thin eyebrows, thin hair, change the expression of the mouth and eyes, straighten round shoulders, to increase the character marked in the face or reduce its prominence. In fact, in this class the student reviews all he has been taught prior to entering it, and at the same time is given new instructions each day.
In all of these classes the student performs the actual work. The instructor merely suggests and holds the student at that suggestion until it is successfully carried out.
There are many who wonder how we can teach so much in the time we do. But when one considers that the student sees and helps to make up at least twenty-five lightings daily, and hears the criticism and suggestions made by the instructor on all of these lightings, it is not so much a matter of wonder after all.
After the student has reached the B class he is placed more or less on his own resources; that is, he is allowed the use of one of the skylight rooms, and makes his lightings of his subject without instruction.
After the plates are developed they are brought to the instructor in charge of the Operating Department and criticised. But this "special time" in no way interferes with the class work, as classes are held every day.
We have a class that will suit all, it matters not whether they are experienced or otherwise.
Photographic Operators
In photography, one of the points of the operator's work is the proper lighting of his subject, and a thorough insight into this branch is indispen- sable, as he has to deal largely with lights and shadows. It is our aim to give the student all needed instruction in this as well as other branches of the business.
One among the most important subjects in the whole range of photo- graphic study is that of lighting and composition. Without a thorough knowledge of this branch, no one can be a successful artist. Among the various artistic lightings we teach are: Plain light, Rembrandt, Inglis, line, Sarony, and Heatherington, circular composition and pyramidal grouping. We also teach how to light skillfully so as to treat features to best advan- tage, such as long faces, pug noses, large eyes, large ears, hands and feet, hollow cheeks, high cheek bones, etc. To be successful all these must be understood.
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I. C. of P. Course in Practical Negative Making
DAVID J. COOK, INSTRUCTOR
This department has for its aim the ideal negative, and to this end both the science and practice are taught, thus enabling the student to rank with the better workers of the times.
The very art of photography is based upon the science of chemistry. And the manipulation of that wonder to modern science, the photographic dry plate, the most highly sensitive compound known to chemistry, so delicately constructed as to even eclipse the eye in seeing, becomes one of the vitals in photography — the making of the negative.
Many photographers are content in their belief that the process of development is simply to make visible the latent image, but this does not satisfy the progressive and ambitious, who must and will know the why and wherefore.
Development is something more than the bringing out of mere outlines and getting density. It is the rendering of those delicate gradations and scales of perfect intensity, corresponding in every detail to that which we see upon the ground glass, and giving to the print that effect which will best interpret the character and individuality of the sitter.
A poor negative will make a poor print, but an incorrect or otherwise illy managed exposure, when manipulated by one who thoroughly understands the chemistry of development, may be and is made to produce much better results than if handled by incompetent workmen.
In our teachings we endeavor to inculcate the principles and manipula- tions of the standard make of dry plates under every condition, and in their varied effects and defects. Under and over exposure, under and over development, density, intensity, softness, brilliancy, transparency, contrast, flat lightings, harsh lightings, light effects, dark effects, groups, softening of film, weakness of image, slowness of development, fogs, spots, lines and granularity, etc.
To facilitate instruction the students are divided into classes D, C, B and A. Class D is composed of new students who have been enrolled from one to thirty days. They are required to devote fifteen hours per week in the laboratory to chemistry and practical negative making. The student as enrolled is given individual and private attention, and then transferred to the class where instruction becomes general, thereby, through the system of comparison and criticism, the student has the advantage of viewing and profiting by the mistakes of others. The student is required to show suitable
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proficiency before entering into the higher classes, thus insuring at the start his fitness for and thorough understanding of the fundamental and scientific principles of negative making.
The C, B and A classes are required to spend at least six hours per week in practical negative making. They are taught the after-treatment of the negative pertaining to that particular printing process chosen. They are also given close attention, criticism and individual instruction, thus enabling them to gain practice and perfection in what has been previously taught them in the lower grades.
All students are required to attend one demonstration per day in this department. These embrace such topics as the ideal negative, what it is; the dry plate and its manufacture; the chemical effect of light upon the sensitive salts of silver; the chemistry of development; modern reducing agents compared; the properties of developers demonstrated and explained; manipulatory methods as popularly practiced; fixing, washing and the after- treatment of the negative, color photography, orthochromatic, ischomatic, non-halation, double coated and backed plates, mixing of chemicals and compounding solutions, and the manufacture and properties of all chemicals used in the preparation of the dry plate and in development, fixing, etc.
Everything is done to thoroughly equip the student for practical and scientific work. Technically speaking, practice and theory are close akin — practice developes theory and theory makes practice perfect.
The Illinois College of Photography justly claims to have the most complete and practical method of instruction and the best laboratory and developing room in the United States, which is efficiently presided over by a practical and scientific demonstrator.
The Illinois College of Photography Course in the Art of Retouching
In this department we take for our model a negative which has been retouched in such a manner that, as to modeling, the character of the original has been retained, with such improvement as to details as good taste would dictate, and as are made necessary by the seeming exaggerations of the camera. In addition to this shaping, we would have a clear, transparent texture which blends harmoniously from one tint to another; a texture which seems rather to have been breathed onto the flesh tints than to have been placed there with the pencil.
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ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
This department is divided into four classes. The classes of A and B are on the first retouching floor and those of the C and D on the second. In this department the student is taught what constitutes retouching, the materials that are used and first lesson in modeling, technique, stippling, spotting and etching. In classes A and B these lessons are carried still farther. Also the best method of modeling each feature, together with the location of shadows and furrows which the various expressions produce and the modification of these same variations, so that with a reasonable amount of time and practice the student becomes a proficient retoucher.
Throughout the entire retouching department, individual desks with locker and negative racks are assigned to each student for the time they are in attendance at the college.
Individual instruction is given to each student, both by object and verbal lessons on the negative.
Etching
Until a few years ago the practice of etching negatives was restricted to a few select studios.
Today, the retoucher who cannot skillfully apply the etching tool is of little value to the progressive employer.
Many negatives, apparently showing few of the artistic details that go to make up the perfect photograph, can be etched to give excellent drawing quality, without marring the likeness in the least.
The operator often takes risks in obtaining better positions of the subject — or a superior lighting — trusting the etcher to carry out the idea contemplated when making the negative.
The Unrivaled Carbon
Whose Beauty, Artistic Value and Absolute Permanence Have Never Been
Equaled by Any Other Process, Today Holds a More Exalted Rank,
and Is Sought After with More Enthusiasm than Ever.
THEODORE HOWE, INSTRUCTOR
Carbon pictures are the real art gems of photography which, like diamonds and rubies, for brilliancy and purity of tone have never been equaled by any known process.
Vast sums of money have been spent in the past in a fruitless endeavor to make pictures that would at least approach the carbon in appearance, if
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not in permanence, but as yet all efforts have proven a failure, and the carbon picture, as ever, is looked up to as the acme of perfection, and today stands unrivaled and alone.
Carbon is universal and the most capable process on account of the wide range of color available, and its adaptability to all grades of work from all kinds of negatives, and for all classes of subjects, whether it be portrait landscape, animal photography, or still life, the tone or color as well as the surface and texture of the support may be chosen to suit the subjects.
A moment's reflection will convince the intending carbon printer of the advisability of adopting this valuable process for his better class of work.
The make-up of a carbon picture, correctly speaking, is a photograph in pigment — a deposit in paint or coloring matter incorporated in a gelatine film, which by chemical action has been made insoluble or transformed into a sort of leather or vellum, and is therefore the most permanent picture made.
In it we have the most perfect rendering of values, and of every minute detail in the various parts of the negative, with results that are artistic and most exquisitely beautiful.
They are made in about fifteen different colors, of which the warm black, sepia, engraving black, purple, brown, red chalk and sea green are the most popular shades in use at the present time.
The supports used are paper, celluloid, porcelain, ivory and opal glass. Porcelain and ivory are at present much used for miniatures; paper, celluloid and opal glass for portraiture, and rough surface and etching paper for views.
The enthusiasm created by the carbon exhibits at the recent conventions and salons by such men as Pirie MacDonald, Pierce, Flodin, Schumacher, Stein, Steffens, Rosch, Strauss, Steckle, and others too numerous to mention, has awakened an interest all over the country, and it is safe to believe that the greater part of the exhibits at the coming convention will be carbons. Therefore, all persons taking up photography should learn the carbon process, and should be sure to begin right. Do not follow the directions given in old and out-of-date manuals; you cannot afford to experiment with some crude and obsolete process and become discouraged. To begin right you must employ the newest and best methods, and you will at once become a successful carbon printer. The pleasure and satisfaction you will derive from your first efforts in carbon printing will be a lavishing compensation for your trouble. After that you will derive sufficient pleasure and remuneration from your works to prove to your utmost satisfaction that carbon is the coming picture.
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No other institute offers better advantages for learning this process than the Illinois College of Photography, which has a fully equipped and up-to-date carbon department, under the supervision of competent and thorough instructors.
NOTE— It might be of interest to our readers to know that the importers in New York inform us we are the largest consumers of carbon material in America.
A first class photographer will not take an apprentice. Good photographers have all the work they can attend to. Some attempt to learn photography in a studio and find they are expected to do the studio drudgery and perform all the odd jobs about the place. While this is possible for a young man, it is altogether impracticable for a lady to take a position under these conditions and derive any benefit therefrom. Occasionally an opportunity is offered to learn something of the real business, but it is fragmentary and unsatisfactory. A photographer will give only an occasional suggestion, thus allowing the student to fall into errors serious in their results. In a year or two such an apprentice, if he has any natural aptitude, may acquire enough of the business to get employment w ith some third-rate photographer. The advantage over this of a genuine course of study is apparent. Our instructors are secured with especial reference to their ability to teach the art, and are continually guiding the progress of the student. The smallest detail of the student's work is watched, and all necessary hints and helps afforded, thus fitting him in the shortest possible time to do the best work.
An Extract from the Ladies' Home Journal The following, taken from the above journal, is from the pen of
E. Louise Liddell:
"A NEAT AVOCATION FOR WOMEN.
"A woman's natural delicacy of touch is scarcely anywhere more valuable than in the retouching of photographic negatives, an occupation which women find pleasant and profitable. A negative, in all the finer kinds of photography, is a plate glass, specially prepared, on which the image of the one photographed appears inversely; all the light portions, face, hands, etc., appearing dark or black, while what is to appear dark in the finished picture appears light or white. Wrinkles or facial blemishes are often greatly exaggerated, and appear in the negative perfectly white.
"It is to improve the picture by removing or softening these blemishes that the plate is sent to the 'retoucher.' The Drocess consists in filling in
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with skillful touches of a fine-pointed pencil, all the inequalities and irregularities of the surface, molding and smoothing the face as much as desirable, while preserving the likeness. The retouched plates are sent back to the photographer, who makes the prints from them.
" The work is not difficult to learn. One girl of my acquaintance took a dozen lessons, and in six weeks from the time she took her first instructions she was able to obtain negatives from a studio at very fair pay, and in the busy season was offered more work than she could do. Her case may have been exceptional, but I think that any bright woman can become a fair retoucher in three months' practice.
"An outfit for doing ' piece-work,' as work taken from the photograph studio is called, may be provided at small expense. A retoucher's desk costs from five dollars up, but one may be made by anyone handy with tools for much less.
" The pay for negatives taken away from the gallery is from twenty cents to one dollar each for ' cabinets,' and more or less for other plates, according to size. Eight to ten negatives is a fair day's work, though a retoucher in a studio will sometimes do a half dozen or more negatives in the evening, besides the regular day's work. But this is, of course, exceptional. A first-class operator or retoucher, regularly employed, commands a salary of from $15 to $40 a week, some as high as $65 a week. If a woman be so situated that she cannot leave home, she may earn many a dollar at ' piece-work,' as there is always a demand for extra help at retouching.
" While I think I am safe in stating my opinion that a really first-class operator or retoucher can always find work at a reasonable remuneration, it is naturally not to be expected that every person who desires employment can become an expert. But the work is of a sort specially adapted to women/'
NOTE— The advantages of taking a course of instructions in a college devoted to the work are greatly superior to the method suggested in the above article, which is fully explained in this catalogue under the heading, "Why Such a College Is Necessary," on page 14.
Photography Compared with Other Professions and Trades
This work is intensely fascinating; becoming a pleasure to all devoting their time to it, and is suited to both sexes. There is always a demand for good retouchers, printers and operators; every issue of our art publications
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contains offers of situations, and the daily papers of cities often contain similar advertisements. Traveling men for photographic stock houses are continually looking for operators and retouchers to fill positions for their customers, and the supply is not equal to the demand. Compare this to bookkeeping, stenography and other trades we might mention, and the difference is obvious. Hundreds of schools are teaching medicine, law, bookkeeping and kindred branches, turning out students in excess of the demand, while to the best of our knowledge this is the only college in the world devoted exclusively to this work. The demand now is for specialists. The day of the jack-of-all-trades is past. In the light of these facts it will be seen that few other special callings have so many promising elements. We therefore claim these three things: First. We can in a much shorter space of time fit a person to enter upon a paying position than according to the ordinary methods. Second. A course of instruction in our school gives the student the widest scope of qualifications — all branches of the work, including carbon and platinotype, as well as other branches of the photographic art. Third. These are all taught according to the latest and most approved methods, and with the view of turning out the very best workmen. The business itself has an elevating and ennobling tendency, and is calculated to develop the best traits of character. How many other trades and professions can honestly lay claim to so many advantages? The instruction furnished in schools devoted to other professions and trades is, of necessity, more or less theoretical in its nature. With us a student in a short time is able to work in actual business that pays him something, and at the same time gives him the necessary practice to command a position immediately upon completing the course.
Practical Business Training the Commanding Influence of the Age
"Every man is the architect of his own fortune" — Proverb.
This is a commercial age and a commercial nation. The essential requirement of the hour is a knowledge of some line of business. The ignorant are crowded to the wall to make room for the live, active, vigorous young men and women who possess the keenness of intellect and readiness of comprehension resulting from a thorough business training. Practical knowledge is marketable and has a commercial value. It is always in
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demand, but the price paid for it depends upon its quality. The best article commands the highest figure. The difference between the rich and the poor, the exalted and the lowly, the known and the unknown, is mainly difference in knowledge. Education is a wondrous power. It opens up the highway to prosperity. Through its potent influence many a boy and girl has been raised from a state of timidity and diffidence into the fullness of business capacity, self- confidence and general development which mark the well-balanced and capable young man and young woman. To learn a profession or trade is the best investment a person can make. It is productive of immediate and gratifying returns. It can be applied to a great manypurposesandagreat PHOTOGRAPHIC ART CLUB ROOMS many ways. It is avail- able at all times and under all circumstances. It improves with age. The longer it is used and the older one grows the greater the income it produces. It is better than capital, because it cannot be taken away. Business knowledge is the only means by which wealth can be acquired. It is the only safeguard which can secure the preservation of other possessions, for without business capacity riches melt rapidly away.
Our College
This is the pioneer college of photography of the country, devoted exclusively to teaching this art, and was founded by L. H. Bissell, who has had many years' experience in technical school work.
Our methods are those practiced by the best artists of the world. As our special line of work is teaching photography, we are continually watching the development of the art for new and valuable methods. Our teachers are first-class and practical, giving individual instruction, and our course is so arranged and systematized as to produce the best workmen in
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ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
the shortest possible time, so that after completing our course you will be certain of a thorough knowledge of the work, and will be competent, if you apply yourself, to fill a position in any of the best plants. In the college, occupying forty-four rooms in the different departments, we have three thoroughly equipped operating rooms in Rem- brandt Hall, single and double slant skylights. Our studios are fitted throughout with the finest apparata, Dall- meyer, Voigtlaender, Cooke, and other first- class lenses, which are at all times at the service of the students. It is our aim to give our students
CORNER OF THE FACULTY ROOM
a general insight into the
entire business of all branches required in a first class studio, and students are given instruction in any or all branches without extra charge, if they so desire. As we are constantly turning out the finest work, and as each department is under the direction of competent and skilled workmen, the knowledge gained in our college is thoroughly practical, and we guarantee to make good workmen of all who have ordinary ability and will apply themselves.
Interested parties are cordially invited to visit and investigate our college. A well-selected library of standard works on photography and kindred subjects are accessible to all students in the school; also the leading photographic periodicals of the day.
We have in connection with the college the Photographic Art Club, which meets at regular intervals in the assembly r6om of the college. The meetings are very instructive and entertaining.
Management
The school is under the direction of photographers of recognized ability, and no pains will be spared to make the student's course a real benefit. Regular hours for instruction are observed, and careful attention
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ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
is given to their social relations. Our regulations, being simple, are not burdensome to the well-disposed person, and are only such as are necessary to produce the best results.
Certificates are required as to character, and all persons who do not properly conduct themselves will be dismissed. We always take pleasure in corresponding fully with parents as to the student's progress, and require teachers to make monthly report of the standing of pupils, and reserve the right to forward the same to parents.
As to our responsibility would refer you to Dun, Bradstreet, any mercantile agency, or any Photographic Magazine.
The College Buildings
The college buildings, located in the midst of a large grove of natural forest trees, in the most attractive part of the city, are admirably adapted to school purposes.
The main building, Garnet Hall, is a handsome, substantial edifice of Virginia brownstone, pressed brick and New York red slate, heated by steam and lighted by gas and electricity, and is abundantly equipped with the most approved sanitary appointments Spa- cious halls and long, covered verandas abound, where the students may find recreation and enjoy- ment when the weather is unfavorable for golf, football, baseball, bicycling, tennis, croquet, etc. Every room is well lighted, well ventilated and comfortably furnished. Besides being heated by steam, the rooms are also supplied with open grates, which insure their perfect ventilation, and materially add to their comfortableness and cheerfulness. For those musically inclined, the buildings are equipped with
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ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
UNDER THE SKYLIGHT
Steinway pianos. Many of "Love light and find knowledge"
our students are musicians and these find great pleasure in the college orchestra, which is composed of students and instructors. This is a very popular feature of the school with all of the students, and is a great factor in enter- tainments, receptions, etc., that are held at the college. Nothing is lacking to give the pupils all the comforts and conveniences of a well-ordered and elegant home.
Rembrandt Hall, recently completed, has every photographic and sanitary accessory and effect. Here are located the laboratories, printing departments, assembly rooms, studios, finishing departments, etc., comprising every photographic convenience that could be desired. The studios in Rembrandt Hall are fitted with two magnificent ground-glass north skylights, where students are taught to manipulate both the single and double slant lights.
The college campus, consisting of a beautiful lawn of several acres, bounded by streets on three sides, is in pleasant walking distance of all the principal churches in the city.
The halls are situated adjacent to Bliss Park, which is a delightful recreation ground for the students. Directly through the park to the west is situated Austin College, which has collegiate, normal, music and business courses. Frequently a student enrolls at the Illinois College of Photography, and a brother or sister enrolls for a course at Austin College. Their catalogue can be secured by writing them.
All visitors, whether they intend to take up the work or not, receive a cordial welcome, and our buildings are open for inspection at any time and by anybody. The superintendent will gladly take parties through the institution and show them our equipment.
Advantages of Effingham, Illinois, Our Location
In seeking a location for the Illinois College of Photography, no better site could have been selected than the city of Effingham, a place that is noted for the high moral standing of its citizens, a people whose hospitality
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ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
is unbounded, and whose every sympathy is enlisted in the grand and ncble work. It is such a place as that to which you have often wished to go — a place where interest lies. The good influences that are brought to bear upon you, the moral tone of the community and the kindness of the people, surely prove to us "one touch of nature makes the whole world kin."
Eifingham is the county-seat of Effingham County, located 200 miles south of Chicago, 100 miles east of St. Louis. It is 660 feet above the sea level, has a mild and delightful climate, and is one of the most healthful cities in the Central West. Four great railroads center here, viz: The Illinois Central, the Vandalia, the Wabash, and the St. Louis, Indianapolis and Eastern. Forty passenger trains enter and leave Effingham daily, making it very convenient for the traveling public. Religious denominations are well represented, and Effingham, as an educational point, is the queen city of Illinois, having public and high schools, Catholic and Lutheran schools, St. Joseph College (two and one-half miles from city limits), Austin College, Illinois College of Photography, and the Bissell College of Photo- engraving. The hundreds of students from all parts of the country are provided with the best social advantages and are placed in respectable private families, with whom the management are personally acquainted and where the pupils have all the comforts of a home at moderate rates. Pleasant and elevating companions, together with the best of amusement and entertainments, are everywhere present. Effingham has from the beginning realized the fruitful doctrine of modern education — that "one learns best what he learns with pleasure."
Good Pay
Photography is an art that commands good pay, is an accom- plishment that any one should be proud of, but, like all other good things in this world, costs some- thing in both time and energy. Still, we have had no student of ordinary intelligence who would apply himself to the same extent as is necessary in acquiring knowledge
in the common school branches, who did not make a good workman. It is dangerous to postpone your education. The only sure way of
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ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
A QUIET CORNER FOR THOUGHT
obtaining a thorough training for business is to begin your studies now while you have a chance. You can probably come this year better than at any future time. The sooner you begin, the sooner you will be ready for a good position, or to go into business for yourself* To students wanting positions, retouching, printing and operating are the most important branches.
We advance our students as fast as they are individually capable of taking up the work. In other words, students at our institution could do special work and they will get credit for such work as done, and will be advanced accordingly.
Cordial Co-operation and Sympathy
The teachers are in cordial sympathy with all students who are ambitious to prepare for wider fields of usefulness. They always interest themselves warmly and actively in behalf of every aspiring pupil, and put forth their best endeavors to assist the students under their care to qualify for more remunerative employment and a more honored place in the business community. People who are industrious and ambitious, and who wish to place themselves under instructors who are thoroughly imbued with the importance of the duties devolving upon them, will appreciate the intelligent instruction and hearty sympathy and co-operation of the teachers. Those who are thoroughly in earnest, and prepared to enter upon their work in proper spirit, will be more than satisfied with the very unusual facilities provided, and will feel that their course has been productive of more than ordinary pleasure and profit. All who wish to avail themselves of the excellent advantages offered by the superior course of training arranged by the college for the benefit of the enterprising and ambitious people will be cordially welcomed, and given a thorough and practical preparation.
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ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
If a student is taken sick or called away for any reason he will receive a due bill for the balance of his course and can return and finish it at any future time without additional expense.
One fact is worth a thousand theories, and it is on this basis that we teach high-grade photography. The average student's stay with us is too short to dwell long on the theoretical side of photography. Had they time to put in years at the work, as in some professions, it would be different. We make changes from time to time in the work, when we feel that it is to the student's advantage, and as fast as new processes come out we take them up.
Photography is a life study, the same as law, medicine, dentistry, etc., and we teach the elementary as well as the advanced work. The information that is gained is put into practice over and over again each day
during the student's stay with us.
•
A lawyer, walking down the streets of Boston, was accosted by a business man, who asked him a question. It was answered in ten words. The fee of fifty dollars was paid. "That brief answer was worth fifty thousand dollars to me," said the business man. "And it cost me three years of research and a lost case," said the lawyer. It is the same in photography. It is not the length of time that we give instruction, but what we teach in that time.
First Corner-stone ever Dedicated to Photography, Photo-engraving and Allied Arts
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ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
How We Teach Photography
It is not our purpose to advertise any particular brand of plates, paper, mounts, etc., but to demonstrate to our students the manipulations of all reliable brands. We teach, and frequent class demonstrations are given on opals, plain transparencies, colored transparencies, lantern slides, celluloids, collodion, gelatine and bromide papers, platinotype paper, carbon, printing, X-ray, animated photography, flash-light, posing, lighting and composition, copying, enlarging, retouching, developing and process work, landscape and architectural work, etc.
Frequent demonstrations are also given by the leading dry plate and paper demonstrators of the country.
In taking a course in our institution a student receives a thorough training in the artistic, technical, theoretjpal, as well as the practical side of photography.
We teach four methods of retouching — English, French, American and German.
The attendance of the college is about at the rate of 250 per year. About thirty-five per cent of them are ladies.
If a student is taken sick or called away for any reason he will receive a due bill for the balance of his course and can return and finish it at any future time without additional expense.
Students are required to make negatives of lightings each day, and for subjects and models they photograph each other as well as a great many residents of the city who kindly volunteer.
Quite a number of our gentlemen students bring their wives with them and have them take up the work.
Individual instruction is made a special feature of this college. One of the main reasons why so many photographers attain such eminent success in their work is without a doubt to be found in the fact that they are regular and careful students of photographic literature. We find the more text-books the students own or read on the subject of photography the more advanced they become in the art-science. We have the largest and best selected library of standard works on photography and kindred subjects in the United States, also keep all of the leading photographic periodicals of the day on file.
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ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Calendar of Sessions
New classes are formed on the 1st and 15th of each month, so that a student may enroll at any time, and the college is in session twelve months in the year.
We have arranged our courses to meet the requirements of all classes of students and are prepared to give instruction for any length of time.
Our Terms
One month course .... . . $ 50.00
Three months' course 100.00
Six months' course . . .... 125.00
Nine months' course 150.00
One month course or less, which is similar to a post-graduate course, is for those who have had experience. $10 will be charged for each additional week.
Three months' course is for those who have had experience and wish a rapid course of study.
The six months' course is a special course and is well patronized.
The nine months' course is a popular course, and is for students wishing to take a thorough training, with review and practice.
When parties enroll for nine months the scholarship is made out for one year by the payment of $5 additional laboratory fee.
A diploma is issued as soon as the student receives a rating of 85 per cent. The time required varies greatly with the industry and application of the student.
Special Concession
It is customary to choose and pay for the course in advance. However, the student may take any length of term, say three, six, nine months, or longer, and at the end of that time continue the course for an additional period by paying the balance that would be due had he selected the length- ened course on enrolling, and by the payment of an additional $10. Upon enrollment the student's work is arranged for the entire time he will remain, and it never is quite so satisfactory to follow the above plan as it is to decide fully at the outset, and in addition the student saves $10 by securing the straight rate.
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ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Special Branches
Our prices for teaching a few of the leading branches of photography separately are as follows:
Artistic retouching, modeling and etching . . . $75.00 Artistic posing, lighting, composition, flash-light, landscape
photography and laboratory work . . . . 75.00
Printing, toning, finishing and mounting . . . 50.00
Carbon and platinotype and bromide enlarging . . 50.00
Reception room training . . . . . . ' 50.00
All the above are included in the three, six or nine months' course.
Laboratory Fee
A laboratory fee of $10 entitles the student to the use of the laboratory, developers, such as pyro, fixing baths, retarders, reducers, strengthened, retouching medium, etc., and in the carbon department, sensitizing baths, ice, fixing baths, hot and cold water, trays, etc., during six months' course, or less in the college.
Material
In regard to material, we furnish instruments, cameras, back-grounds and accessories, text books, magazines, printing frames, washing, toning and fixing trays, retouching stands, retouching chairs, developing outfits, emboss- ing presses, etc. Students will furnish the supplies they use and the outfit of paper, pencils, plates, mounts, etc., will cost from $3 to $6 per month, which may be purchased of the stock-houses in the cities, in Effingham or of the College, and can be made into pictures of themselves, friends and relatives, by sending home for negatives.
When a student purchases two or three months' supply of material at one time we give a 15 per cent, discount.
Illinois Photographers Meet in Effingham in 1905
It may be of interest to mention that at the recent Illinois State Convention of Photographers at Aurora, 111., it was unanimously decided to hold the next annual convention at Effingham. The members were offered the freedom of the college for that week, and all possible assistance from the faculty. The conventions have always heretofore been held in large cities, such as Quincy, Bloomington, Peoria, etc., and that it has been taken to Effingham is due to the estimation in which the Illinois College of Photography is held by the photographers throughout the state. We naturally feel much complimented.
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ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Expenses
Our terms are from $50 to $150, which must be paid at time of entering. No deviation is made from this rule. This being a college town, no pains are spared to make it a homelike place for the students. Good board can be obtained at from $2.50 to $3.50 per week, and furnished rooms from 50 cents to $1.50. Our endeavor is that students may enjoy the privileges of our school at the smallest expense, and that is, in fact, the tradition of the entire community, and our greatest interest is always given to a self-sup- porting person who has an ambition to get on in the world.
Some may find it convenient to make monthly payments in advance, and thus have their tuition paid for by the time they are ready to enroll. Quite a number follow this plan.
NOTE. — The Illinois College of Photography has received many flattering; offers from commercial clubs and other organizations to induce it to locate in some one of many larger cities, but, after looking the field carefully over, we decided to remain in Effingham, which is a college town, possessing all the advantages of water works, electric lights, tele- phones and other modern conveniences, and at the same time free from the allurements of life in a large city, a point that should not be overlooked by parents and others in sending young people away from home to learn a profession. The social, moral and religious influ- ences are the very best, and none need hesitate about spending a season in Effingham. We maintain that a student can accomplish far more in a given time in this city than in one where temptations and worldly excitement are greater, besides saving from $100 to $300 on personal expenses while in college.
Dark Rooms
A number of the boarding-houses in the city are equipped with convenient dark rooms, to which students have access mornings and evenings and at spare times, and for which there is no extra charge, thus insuring the students the privilege of putting in every moment of their stay while in the city.
Text Book on Photography
Often having calls for an all-around, up-to-date text-book on photography for professionals and amateurs, we have in use a complete work which is a photographic library in one volume, containing over five hundred pages, with definitions of every word used in photography and descriptions of all photographic processes, which, in handsome cloth binding, we sell for $5.00, prepaid to any address in the United States.
To anyone remitting $5.00 in advance for one of these works, and enrolling thereafter, we shall make a rebate of $5.00 on their scholarship.
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ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Graduation Diplomas
A regular standard for graduation has been adopted, and a handsomely engraved diploma is awarded each one passing a satisfactory examination, without extra charge. It is a statement over our hand and seal to the effect that the student has pursued the graduating course, and that he has done the work required to our satisfaction, and that we recommend him to be able to fill a position in a first class establishment, or engage in business for himself.
Club Discount
When a number register together, the following discount will be made: For a class of two or more, 10 per cent off regular prices.
We make a concession in fees to the sons and brothers of photographers and sons of clergymen — $5.00; otherwise the fees, except in clubs, are as above stated.
Photography cannot be taught by mail, any more than dentistry or medicine, notwithstanding what anyone may tell you to the contrary.
Railroad Fare
As this catalogue goes to press, railroad fare from different sections of the country to Effmgham is as follows:
Baltimore Chicago . Galveston Boston Cincinnati Cleveland New Orleans . New York *San Francisco . Des Moines Minneapolis Mexico City, Mexico Montreal Paris, France . London, England Berlin, Germany St. Petersburg, Russia
"According to route.
First class
$ 19.00
5.98
28.25
24.00
8.25
12.10
19.80
2050
$57.00 to 62.00
11.30
15.50
60.51
20.74
125.00
100.00
125.00
150.00
Second class
$ 16.75
21.20 21.04
$46.00 to
10.75 14.65 18.40 55.00
44.24
17.74
100.00
75.00
100.00
135.00
For accurate information in regard to route to take and car fare from your place to Effmgham, apply to your nearest station agent.
Our Territory
Our most productive territory is America, and we draw our students from all sections of the country — f rom Maine to California and from Canada to Texas. Yet we have quite a large foreign attendance from all over the globe.
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ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
To students coming from the East, would suggest that they take the Pennsylvania or Wabash Railways (Pennsylvania much the better route); from the North or South, the Illinois Central system, and from the West there are a number of first-class lines.
Income of Photographers, Operators and Retouchers
Good operators, printers and retouchers are never found seeking employment and, unlike bookkeepers, typewriters, stenographers, etc., are never obliged to work for a mere pittance for the sake of a position. Regularly employed operators in studios earn from $15 to $50 a week and upward. Incomes of owners of studios may be estimated from $900 to $20,000 a year — a few of them as high as $30,000 to $40,000 annually. This profession has a great advantage in enabling ladies to do work at home, and at the same time receive good remuneration therefor. The compensation for negatives done outside the studio ranges from 20 cents to $1.00 each for cabinets, and other plates in proportion, according to size. Eight to ten negatives is a fair day's work, although workmen can often turn out twenty-five negatives a day. A great many photographers have to pick up their knowledge of photography, hence the demand for up-to-date workmen.
What to Do Upon Arriving
Go to the college office, where someone will meet you at all reasonable hours. Upon stepping from the train, if you call for a cab at the station they will take you to the college free of charge. By advising the president of your route and time of your arrival a few days before leaving home, someone will meet you at the train at any hour of the day or night, and assist you in securing a nice homelike boarding-place near the college. Or, upon arrival, if parties will step into the Pacific House, a first class hotel at the station, and telephone the president, Mr. L. H. Bissell, someone will be sent to meet them in a few minutes.
Our long distance Bell telephone number is No. 49K. Those wishing to call up Mr. Bissell can secure half rates after 6 p. m.
Boarding Accommodations
Effmgham is a city of 5,000 inhabitants, and offers excellent boarding facilities. Students are received into the homes and families of the citizens,
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ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
and have all the protection and comfort possible. The dangers of the large boarding-hall plan are avoided, and yet the expenses not increased.
The institution offers its students choice of several kinds of board and guarantees satisfaction in every particular.
FIRST. Private Board. Comfortable rooms, furnished with beds, bedding, carpets, stove, study tables, toilet ware, and all other necessary articles, are supplied students, with table board in private families. Fuel and light are also supplied. Price, $2.50, $2.75, $3.00, $4.00, $5.00 and $6.00 to $10 per week.
SECOND. Club Boarding. Persons desiring this kind of accommodation rent furnished rooms in private houses. These rooms are kept in order by their owners, and they are also supplied with all necessary furniture, toilet articles, etc. Two persons are expected to occupy one room. If a student should desire to room alone, he may do so by paying the rent demanded of two. Fuel and light are furnished by the persons occupying the rooms. The cost of a room for each person per week is 50 to 75 cents. Table board at the exceedingly low price of $2.50 per week is supplied at the students' clubs. This is indeed a most popular method of boarding, and many of our students prefer it.
THIRD. Self-boarding. Furnished or unfurnished rooms can be obtained for self-boarding. By this method the living expenses may be reduced to a minimum.
FOURTH. Hotel and Private Boarding Houses. The city is abundantly supplied with excellent hotels, at rates ranging from $3 to $10 per week, and boarding-houses, at which all may live at reasonable terms.
Cottages can be secured for from $3 to $12 per month, and rooms furnished complete for light-housekeeping at $3 per month per room.
In order for students to do good work they must have good food and pleasant surroundings. Brain work requires the best possible physical condition. Such a condition cannot be produced or sustained by inadequate food supply or uncomfortable rooms. The college advertises only first-class accommodations, for in every way this is the cheapest plan for the students. No other institution, offering equal facilities, has superior accommodations. We claim the best, at the lowest rates, in the country. Investigate and be satisfied.
Will it Pay to Borrow the Money ?
Our correspondents sometimes ask us this question : " Will it pay to borrow the money with which to take a course in photography?" For
34
ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
ordinary purposes we should discouraga anyona fro.n going into debt, but for the purpose of learning a profession we certainly believe there would be no risk. If one has ability, is energetic and trustworthy, he will, soon after graduating, make back the money spent in learning the business ; and the course thus obtained remains a permanent investment, increasing in value every year.
Our Guarantee
We want you to visit our city and the college ; talk with our students, converse with the pastor of your church or the members of your lodge in our city, or the bankers or postmaster, and if you do not find our school just as we have represented it, we will pay your expenses from your home to Effingham and return.
Conclusion
It has been our endeavor to present this business for your consideration, and in so doing we have avoided all exaggeration. It is not our desire to attract everyone who may be out of employment, but to select a few pupils from each state, and give them the benefit of our instruction. Our aim is to give the students such a training that they can command a situation on their own merits, or engage in business for themselves, and follow their own inclinations in regard to location. As it is part of our business to find positions for our students, we lend our assistance in securing the same, and students have the benefit of selecting any of the applications on file with us when they complete the course. To this end we are constantly in correspondence with photographers throughout the country. Believing that no permanent success will attend any undertaking not founded on honest principles, and with a firm conviction that we can be of material assistance to many people seeking permanent employment, we send this forth.
Questions Answered
Q. What education is required? A. We can teach anyone who will make an earnest effort, no matter what his previous education has been.
Q. At what age is it best to learn photography? A. From sixteen to sixty years of age, although older persons have succeeded, and the college is in session every month in the year.
Q. Can I join your school at any time during the year? A. Yes. New classes begin on the first and fifteenth of each month.
Q. What are the regular school hours? A. 8:00 to 12:00 a. m., and 1:30 to 4.00 p. m., every week day, except Saturday.
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ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Q. What is the average time required to complete your course of instruction? A. From three to nine months.
Q. Are your scholarships transferable? A. No
Q. Are there any other school expenses beside the tuition fees? A. Yes. A fee of $3 to $6 per month for material and the laboratory.
Q. What is the probable total cost of a three to nine months' course in your school, including tuition, material, board and room? A. From $150 to $350.
Q. What is the cost of board and room in your city? A. From $3.00 to $5.00 per week.
Q. Can one find employment while in your city to lessen expenses? A. It is not practical, as it prolongs the course and is no cheaper in the end.
Q. Can one acquire all the up-to-date processes necessary to be a first-class photographer in an ordinary gallery? A. No. A student will learn more and better in one month in our institution than he would in a gallery in one year.
Q. Is retouching a strain on the eyes? A. No, not as we are now teaching it.
Q. Do any of the students board or room at the college building? A. No. The city is abundantly supplied with excellent boarding-houses and hotels at which all may live at reasonable terms.
Q. Do you issue diplomas to students who do not take the advanced course? A. Yes. Diplomas are issued to students as soon as they receive a rating of 85 per cent.
Q. Will a nine months' course be sufficient time to qualify a person to take charge of an up-to-date studio? A. Yes, as a person will learn more high-grade photography in one month in our institution than they would in a studio in one year. For students wishing positions or to engage in business for themselves the six and nine months courses are very popular ones.
Q. Do you send out samples of work from the college? A. No; as we have so many requests of this nature, it would be impossible to comply with them.
36
ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Photo-engraving in a Nutshell
Photographer
Etcher
Finisher
The Bissell College of Photo-engraving
This is an institution conducted in conjunction with the Illinois College of Photography where instruction is given by a faculty of photo-engraving experts in all branches of that mechanical art. On the following pages we give the reader a few brief references to the aim and scope of this institution. Those who are especially interested in this work should write for our elaborate fifty-two page Prospectus No. HE, giving full information regarding the instruction and expense. Rates for tuition are the same as in the Illinois College of Photography.
Subjects Taught
LINE OPERATING. Making the negative without the use of the screen, for a literally exact reproduction of pen and ink work, etc.
LINE PRINTING. Printing the line negative onto the coated metal.
LINE ETCHING. Corroding the metal with etching solutions after it has been printed upon, thereby producing a printing surface.
HALF-TONE OPERATING. The process of making screen negatives, ready in every respect for the printer.
HALF-TONE PRINTING. Printing of the stipple negative on the coated zinc or copper plate.
HALF-TONE ETCHING. Etching the metal plate with the different solutions to produce a relief printing surface that will take the ink in the proper relations.
FINISHING. Working with tools upon the etched metal plates to improve them in various ways, remove defects, etc.
ROUTING. Removing with the routing machines undesirable surface from the etched metal plates.
BLOCKING. Mounting the metal and making it ready for the hands of the printer.
PROOFING. Inking the finished cut and printing on paper duly prepared.
TRI-COLOR WORK. Making of color negatives, color plates, selection of inks, order of printing, etc.
LITHOGRAPHY. (In preparation.)
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ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
The college is well equipped with the necessary appliances for study and practical work. It contains photographic studios with complete
equipment of cameras and powerful electric light installation of modern pattern, also a number of laboratory and dark rooms, sensitizing, glass cleaning, intensifying, tri-color dark room, etching and printing rooms — complete with electric lights and modern appliances.
The school thus provides every advan- tage and facility
METAL AND WOOD SAW for thoSB who
wish to improve their knowledge of their business and their dexterity as workmen. In deciding upon a course of study it should be remembered by a student that, while it is very important to have a good general knowledge of the different branches of his business, it is of still greater importance that he should be able in actual everyday work to do one thing really well rather than a number of
A TYPE OF THE MOTORS
38
ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
things only fairly so, and, this being true, students are required to
concentrate their energies as much as possible and not to attempt too much. The institution has proven highly satisfactory and
has fully attained the end for which it was established. This institution affords a rich range of instruction
in the field of photo - engraving, and comprises quite a
number of departments, each of which is or- ganized with reference to its special objects and course of instruction, and are especially de- signed to qualify the student to engage either in elementary or ad- vanced work.
The photographic, mechanical and electrical equipment comprises a full com- plement of working tools and assortment of
wood-working and metal-working machinery,
such as routers, trimmers, bevelers, saws,
shoot board, printing presses, complete
assortment of Levy screens, gravers' and
etchers' tools, printing frames, dynamos,
individual motors for each machine, 5,000
PHOTO-ENGRAVING PROOF PRESS
PHOTO-ENGRAVERS' TRIMMER
BEVELING AND LINING MACHINE
candle-power arc lights, open as well as enclosed types, all being the best that money could pur- chase, and is especially arranged and adapted to give pupils a thorough insight into the different branches of the work.
THE END
ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
A Magnificent Endorsement
of the
Bissell College of Photo-engraving
By the National Association of Photo-engravers at their Eighth Annual Convention at St. Louis.
Headquarters, 1904, N. A. P. E. Convention Hall, ) Century Building, St. Louis, Mo., June 22, 1904. \
^\^ "The National Association of Photo-engravers in our eighth annual convention assembled, do find after a careful and thorough investigation that the Bissell College of Photo-engraving, located at Effingham, 111. , and conducted in connection with the Illinois College of Photography, is an institution worthy of the hearty encouragement of this association.
"We further find that the students attending this school are taught each and every department in photo-engraving in a thorough and practical manner, whereas, in an engraving plant where the usual manner af apprenticeship prevails, the apprentices are restricted to a single branch of the work.
"We further find that the school is well equipped and provided with competent instructors, and we do most heartily endorse the same, and recommend anyone desiring to learn the art of photo-engraving to take a course of instruction at this college.
"We further agree to accept a certificate of graduation as sufficient recommendation for a position in our workrooms."
The foregoing is a resolution unanimously adopted by the eighth annual convention of the National Association of Photo-engravers in session at St. Louis, endorsing the Bissell College of Photo-engraving.
We have at present urgent calls for workmen from many members of this association and could now place between two and three hundred engravers if we had that number ready for positions, and owing to the growing popularity of photo-engraving, the demand is constantly increasing and far exceeds the supply of first-class workmen, which we are prepared to make of all who complete the work with us.
Photo-engravers receive from $20 to $50 per week, and are always in demand without having to advertise for positions. They are sought for instead of having to seek employment, and a photo-engraver is never seen advertising in the papers for a position — something that can be said of no other trade or profession. Furthermore, the work is very pleasant.
As to our integrity and ability to teach, would refer you to any member of the above association, which is comprised of owners of the more prominent photo-engraving plants throughout the country.
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ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Press Notices
The Leading Institution of Its Kind in the World, and It Enjoys a Large Patronage
BISSELL COLLEGE OP PHOTO-ENGRAVING. — The growing demand for a higher scientific and technical knowledge and skill in the art of photo-engraving is emphasized by the organization of a club of practical engravers in New York City for the purposes of discussion and mutual improvement. This is evidence that shop practice is not sufficient to round out the worker's knowledge satisfactorily, and is additional proof that the skilled artisan of the future will be school trained and developed afterward by shop practice. In the photo-engraving field opportunity of exceptional value is offered by the Bissell College of Photo-engraving at Effingham, Illinois, which has been inspected by practical engravers and warmly commended. The school is finely equipped with all the paraphernalia necessary and has a first class f acu Ity. Its inception makes another stride forward in providing means to make the American artist the equal, if not the superior, of any in the world. With the development of the printing arts, the requirements of the worker are becoming of a more and more exacting nature, and a sound foundation on which to develop the native talent of the worker, as arranged for by the Bissell College of Photo-engraving will prove of incalculable benefit to the trade. — The Inland Printer, Chicago.
A short time ago the handsome and marvelously appointed studio of the Illinois College of Photography was completed, and the college is now exquisitely and completely domiciled in the new quarters. The buildings, grounds and appointments of the Illinois College of Photography are as handsome, commodious and complete as some of the most richly endowed educational institutions in the world. Its results comprise a miraculous achievement. It is the joy of the students and its proprietor as well as the pride of Effingham and the profession. It is worthy of a better tribute in the way of a descriptive article than we can give it, but we shall attempt to pay it at least a passing courtesy.
The corner stone of the building was laid on May 30 by the Grand Lodge of Masons of Illinois, and since that time until final completion the grounds around the building have been a veritable bee hive of industry, many workmen being engaged in putting together a little here and there until the magnificent edifice was completed.
The Illinois College of Photography is an Effingham institution and is the only one of its kind in the world. It constitutes a compliment to its president, owner and founder, Mr. L. H. Bissell, one of the very rarest character. To the development of the art-science of photography Mr. Bissell is what Mergenthaler is to the type machine and Edison to electricity. No institution anywhere has more elaborate appointments or more picturesque surroundings. The buildings are located in the center of a beau- tiful tract studded with natural forest trees. The imposing buildings, with the beautifully kept lawn, tennis courts, swings, etc. , make a picture of surpassing beauty.
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ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Spacious halls and long covered verandas abound where students have recreation and enjoyment when the weather is inclement for out-door sports. When the weather is favorable for out-door recreation, the campus affords abundant pleasure. Nothing is lacking to give the pupils all the comforts of a well-ordered and elegant home. In addition to the other conveniences, the buildings are fitted with long distance, city and private telephones. If need be, Mr. Bissell can set in his office and talk to prospective students in any part of the country. Everything about the college and ground is systematized. Rules and regulations for decorum, class hours and special work have been adopted and are scrupulously enforced. No institution presents a more picturesque view. With its magnificent buildings and grounds flanked by Austin College on one hand and the city park on the other, it presents a scene that thrills and enraptures. It lifts one up to an appreciation of the art-science of photography.
The main building, Garnet Hall, is of Virginia brownstone, pressed brick and New York red slate, and represents, with Rembrandt Hall and grounds and equipments, an outlay of $100,000. The new studio building, of dimensions almost as great as the main building, is of stone, pressed brick and frame, and, with its four floors, is a model studio. The buildings are heated by steam and lighted by both gas and electricity. The glazing is of the finest plate glass, the transom lights being leaded prismatics, and the elegant chandeliers cut glass. The building is provided with hot and cold water, four kinds of water being used— city, well, soft and distilled. Entering the building the vestibule has a tile floor, also the spacious veranda. The reception hall is furnished in quartered red oak, and the parlor is cherry, with elaborate mantel and mirror. The library is also done in quartered red oak, while the faculty room looks exquisite in red birch. The other rooms are in hardwood finish. One of the promi- nent features of beauty is the frescoing, done by L. A. Thiel, a Chicago artist. The process department occupies the entire first floor, including the carbon and platinotype rooms. Here instructions are given in opals, plain and colored transparencies, lantern slides, bromide papers, and all process work.
The third and fourth floors are occupied in their spacious entirety by the retouch- ing, etching and modeling departments. These departments require more room than most other departments, and the two floors are capable of accommodating two hundred students. All of the floors are elegantly furnished, the polished hardwood floors and expensive carpets vieing to produce exquisite effects. The whole building, in its appointments and furnishings, gives one the impression of being ushered into a million- aire's palace. Mr. Bissell has spared no expense to make his interiors specimens of the highest art.
Rembrandt Hall, just completed, has every sanitary and photographic accessory and effect. It has wing doors for all dark rooms, cold air ducts for perfect ventilation, Wilson's roller partitions, and in fact every up-to-date appliance and convenience that money could buy. The cold air ducts change the air in the necessarily close dark rooms every five minutes. The wing doors shut out every particle of light from the dark rooms, while the roller partitions enable the lecturers and operators to throw two or more rooms into one in an instant.
The first floor is occupied by the laboratory, dark rooms and wash rooms. This floor is imbedded in the earth to a depth of four feet, for the purpose of giving that even temperature so essential to good results in photography. The temperature is always about seventy degrees. The floors are concrete.
The second floor is occupied by the printing department and the assembly room. Light, the great essential for a printing room, is abundantly provided, a fine supply of
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ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
ground-glass printing slants being set in the south side. Hot and cold water and sinks are in great abundance and conveniently arranged. The assembly room is also on this floor and will seat several hundred students. On the third floor we find the operating room, and it is as fine a one as can be found on the continent. Here every day students are given practical demonstrations, lighting, posing, composition, supplemented with appropriate lectures, and every accessory known to the photographic art is supplied to give the students the best results. Single and double ground-glass skylights, the latest cameras and lenses, changing and dressing rooms, wing doors, etc., and other studio appurtenances are a part of the superb and artistic equipments of the operating department.
The fourth floor contains the copying, enlarging and bromide departments, and is furnished with a balcony overlooking the operating rooms for use during demonstrations.
While the new home of the college was being completed Mr. Bissell relaxed his efforts toward keeping up the attendance to what it was six months ago, but now that the new quarters are ready the fact has been announced and students are beginning to come in great numbers. Hardly a day passes but what one or more new students arrive. The college enjoys a big attendance from all over the United States, and, in fact, from all over the world. England, Italy, Japan, Russia, France, Central and South America and Canada have contributed their quota of students, several from Japan being in attendance now.
Effingham can well feel proud of Mr. Bissell and his institution. He will not stop with his present work and his present achievement. He is progressive and determined in all his undertakings. His college will be up-to-date in all its features. If any new discovery or invention makes its appearance in the world, Mr. Bissell will incorporate it in his institution. The world is his territory and to graduate high-class photog- raphers his mission. He deserves and will be rewarded with fame and success and Effingham will share with him in both these achievements. — Effingham Daily Democrat, Aug. jo, igoo.
The Bissell College of Photo-engraving is an institution that has a great future in store for it. This college has a complete equipment of the finest machinery and apparatus. Up to the opening of this institution the photo-engraving business has been a closed craft, as exclusive as the ancient trade guilds of the dark ages. A very good thing for those who are in it, of course. Many of them demand and get more money than they know what to do with very often. Mr. Bissell has opened his college none to soon. All who wish to learn this enchanting craft may now avail themselves of a first-class opportunity to become proficient in all the branches of the whole process of photo-engraving.— The Engraver and Electrotyper, Chicago.
The Illinois College of Photography at Effingham, Illinois, outgrew its quarters some time ago. And so plans were made for a new and much more commodious building. The new building was recently completed and the college staff and students are now installed in quarters that realize every desirable feature that the most ambitious of amateurs or professionals can hope for as an aid in the study of up-to-date photography.
It is a handsome building, exceptionally complete in its appointments and most picturesquely located. The students have all the comforts and luxuries of a well- ordered home, as well as admirably devised facilities for studying every phase of photographic work under the most competent instructors. — Paine 's Photographic Magazine.
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ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Last month the Illinois College of Photography moved into its new buildings, which constitute the finest photographic quarters in the world, with student? *n attend- ance from all parts of the globe. We congratulate Mr. Bissell on the success which has attended his venture, and wish him still greater prosperity. We believe in such institutions, and deplore the fact that so excellent a school is not to be found in the East. — Photo-American, New York.
Effingham can well feel proud of Mr. Bissell and his institution. He will not stop with his present work or his present achievement. He is progressive and determined in all his undertakings. His college will be kept up-to-date in all its features. If any new discovery or invention makes its appearance in the world, Mr. Bissell will incorporate it in his institution. The world is his territory, and to graduate high-class photog- raphers his mission. He deserves and will be rewarded with fame and success, and Effingham will share with him in both these achievements. — Snap Shots, New York.
The Illinois College of Photography is now in its new home, and from all descrip- tions a very handsome one, which speaks well for the enterprise of Mr. L. H. Bissell, its founder and present owner. The very closest detail has been looked after, and the appointments in each department are such as to meet the requirements of the most exacting student. The attendance at the college is very large, and, with improved facilities and enlarged faculty, should be materially increased. Mr. Bissell's enterprise is meeting with the success to which it is entitled. —Photopivot, Chicago.
At the Bissell College of Photo-engraving
We are always glad to get the latest news from the Illinois College of Photography, as there is always "something doing" on the part of President Bissell and his able corps of instructors. The latest development is a complete photo-engraving plant and department for instruction in that art.
The art is an important one, demanding a high degree of skill if one masters all its various branches. Good salaries are the rule in photo-engraving establishments, and graduates from the Bissell College of Photo-engraving course should be in a position to secure good positions, or conduct plants of their own. — Western Camera Notes, Minneapolis, Minn.
Rapid Growth
The Illinois College of Photography is making rapid growth, and, finding their facilities inadequate, the management has lately acquired a large estate in Effingham, not far from their old quarters, we understand, and will at once begin operations on a new building, which it is intended shall be equipped throughout in the most perfect manner possible. This school of photography is, we believe, unique in this country at least, and its president, Mr. L. H. Bissell, is to be congratulated on the success that has attended his efforts .—A nthony's Bulletin, New York.
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ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Is the Teaching of the College Practical ?
The Illinois College of Photography has enrolled many new students for the ensuing session. Many former students are now conducting galleries of their own in New York City and elsewhere with considerable success, which seems to satisfactorily answer the question often asked us, "Is the teaching of the college practical ?" The new catalogue just issued by the college may be had on application to President L. H. Bissell, Effingham, 111. — Wilson's Photographic Magazine, New York.
Fees Are Very Moderate
The course of instruction as given in this school is thorough in all branches. There is no theory without practice. Each department is in charge of operators who are not only experts, but possess the faculty of imparting their knowledge to others. Collective and individual instruction is given, and the student, when graduated, is thoroughly proficient, and has no trouble in securing a paying position. The employers are beginning to look to the college for help, realizing that men who have picked up their knowledge in the ordinary way as apprentices are but poorly equipped to take charge of any department, as they have not learned the latest and best methods- — The Trade News, Louisville, Ky.
Largest of Its Kind
On another page will be found the address of the "Illinois College of Photog- raphy." This institution has grown to be one of the largest and best equipped schools where the art-science of photography is taught. We learn that they have about all the applications they can entertain from students and are constantly increasing their space. We understand that those who graduate enter upon the serious work of professional photography with every evidence of success, as a result of having shared the experience of up-to-date manipulators, who have devoted their lives to the beautiful art of photography. Those who contemplate making a business of photography can get full information from Prof. L. H. Bissell, president. Effingham is a very pretty city, undisturbed by the noise often surrounding educational institutions. — Photographic Light.
Positive Proof that Good Work Is Done
We have before us the elegant catalogue of the Illinois College of Photography, Effingham, 111. It introduces itself to your notice by the question: "Have you ever known or heard of a first-class photographer who learned the business in a thorough manner, and had a well equipped studio, who was not making a success of it, or who had failed in business?" After an experience of some forty years, we must answer: No! In measuring the "breadth of brain" of the faculty, from Professor Bissell down, by the photo-etchings of their faces, we should say the college is fully prepared to practically answer the above question, and is turning out none but successful photog- raphers and that the Illinois College of Photography is a positive necessity. — The Southwestern Photographer, Dallas, Texas, November, i8gg.
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ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
From the Professional Photographer's Notice Board
Having added to the curriculum and teaching several new processes in the past year, the management of the Illinois College of Photography of Effingham, 111., advise us that they shall advance the tuition soon. Students are already in attendance from over thirty different states, and new ones coming in every week, and the attendance for the fall term promises to exceed the most sanguine expectations. The new cata- logues of the college are now ready for mailing, and anyone needing instruction in special lines, or who intends taking up photography as a profession, should write for one. We can highly recommend this college to our readers as the best of its kind in the United States. — Professional Photographer, Buffalo, N. Y.
Under Competent Management
We want to call attention to the advertisement on another page of the Illinois College of Photography at Effingham, 111. We have already taken occasion to refer to this institution. We take pleasure in referring students in photography to the Illinois college. The president, Mr. L. H. Bissell, is known to us personally, and we are sure he is a competent person to undertake the personal direction of the college. Corre- spondence relating to the college should be addressed to Mr. Bissell. It will be given prompt attention. — Photographic Review, Chicago, III.
Successful in Management
The Illinois College of Photography, Effingham, 111., has been so successful in management that students are registered from all over the country, and the fall term promises to exceed any previous course. The new catalogue is now ready, containing a full "description of the various studies and methods of instruction of this institution. All who are desirous of making photography a profession should correspond with the secretary. — The American Journal of Photography.
More Room Necessary
Professor Bissell, as the head and moving spirit of the Illinois College of Photog- raphy, is doing a great work in making it the most splendid institution of the kind in existence, and is fast giving it a national reputation. The Democrat is pleased to note the constant evidences of the growth of the college, and takes pleasure in noting that the number of students in attendance has necessitated the enlargement of the capacity of the college. The past year has been a prosperous one, fifty new retouching desks having been added to the retouching department within the year. Only high-grade photography is taught, and this has become so well known to the best photographers that graduates of the college are given good positions at once, the demand for them increasing faster than the supply. Among the branches most called for are retouching, posing, lighting, printing, toning, finishing, developing, etching, carbon, platinum, copying enlarging, although they teach all the branches followed in an up-to-date studio. Students attend from all parts of the United States, and all of them are enthusiastic over the work and the thoroughness of the course of instruction. — Effing- ham (III.} Democrat.
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ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Extraordinary Success
The Illinois College of Photography at Effingham, Illinois, is teaching a high grade of art. We are pleased to learn that this institution has enjoyed extraordinary success, and that it proposes adding to the curriculum and faculty from time to time. — The St. Louis and Canadian Photographer, St. Louis, Mo.
A Photo-American Notice
From the Illinois College of Photography we have received a copy of their new catalogue, embracing a description of the curriculum, portraits of the president and faculty and other interesting information. Students are in attendance from thirty-odd states, and new arrivals are fast availing themselves of this practical course, in which one learns more and better in one month than in six months' gallery practice. We are glad to record the pronounced success Mr. Bissell has made of this institution, and hope that any who contemplate acquiring a thorough education in photography, or a partial course in the higher specialties, will write to the president, Mr. L. H. Bissell, at Effingham, Illinois, for full particulars. It is the very thing we need in the United States, this College of Photography ; we wish it constant and overflowing attendance. — Photo- American, New York.
Finest in the Land
The Illinois College of Photography, at Effingham, has just moved into its new magnificent building, which we believe to be the finest photographically equipped institution in the country. Students from all parts of the globe are in attendance, and those interested would do well to get one of the new catalogues which they will have ready next month. Half-tone reproductions of the buildings will appear in their new catalogue, and will give some idea of the institution, as well as the justice of their claim to "the finest in the land."— Photographic Light.
The Only One that Prospers
The growth of the Illinois College of Photography at Effingham is phenomenal, yet, when we come to consider, is nothing but what might be expected from an institu- tion so much needed in the country for thorough and systematic training in the art and science of photography, for photography has become so many sided, not only as the handmaid of the arts, but also a very important factor in general education. Attempts have been made to form schools for the teaching of photography, but the Illinois institution has been the only one to survive and prosper, simply because it is under efficient management and systematically conducted. The increasing popularity of the college has enabled the management during the past year to thoroughly supply the different departments with all modern equipments and to enlarge the curriculum of studies; to secure the best instructors and lecturers, so that the students who enter will find that they are making most rapid progress either in any special course they may desire to take up or in the thorough study of the art. The president, L. H. Bissell. will be pleased to send to any one desiring it a copy of the new catalogue containing that course of study and cost of tuition.— American Journal of Photography.
47
ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Are to Be Envied
The new catalogue of the Illinois College of Photography is at hand and is embel- lished with illustrations of the new home secured by the college by a recent deal involving the sum of $100,000. In seeing the beautiful interiors and fine external appearance of the new college building, one cannot but feel a little envious of the students who are learning photography under such auspicious conditions and the able management which we know to be in charge. Anyone sending for the catalogue will be gladly supplied, and will find it a revelation as to modern methods of photographic instruction. — Western Camera Notes, Minneapolis, Minn.
A Reliable Institution
The following extract is taken from the American Postmaster, published in Eflingham, III, and edited by Hon. R. P. Lawson, postmaster of the city, who recommends our school to anyone inquiring of its merits:
"The New Illinois College of Photography, Effingham, 111., stands as an imperish- able monument to energy and advertising. This institution was established about eleven years ago in connection with the splendid studio which its founder, Mr. L. H. Bissell, was then conducting. It was and is the only college of its kind in the world, and from the suite of rooms soon grew to occupy the entire twenty-two rooms in the original building. Soon another was secured, and finally a third building was added and filled with students in a very short time. When we took charge of the postoffice, just two years ago, we found upon the desk a number of letters to the postmaster from different parts of the country, asking as to the character of the college. These were promptly answered in as favorable a light as we could give, and it is a source of great satisfaction to know that a number of young men and women who came upon our recommendation of it are now engaged in business for themselves or holding desirable positions in many of the leading studios of the United States, while quite a number from foreign countries have availed themselves of its advantages. We receive more letters concerning this college than upon all other subjects, except the Ameri- can Postmaster, and it is a pleasure to answer them as favorably as we know how, believing that it may be the means of giving some young man or woman a pleasant and remunerative occupation for life. Mr. Bissell advertises extensively, and strives to fully maintain every promise set forth in his announcements. He has lately pur- chased the finest building in the city, to which extensive additions are being built, and especially equipped with all accessories for teaching every branch of the business to perfection. It is now the principal patron of the postoffice in this city, using more postage and receiving more mail than any other institution, as a result of energy and judicious advertising coupled with an enterprise of highest merit.''
Not an Experiment
The Illinois College of Photography is no longer the experiment that it once was. Of the great number of students that take a course in their college every year, all express thorough satisfaction at the benefit they have derived from the tuition. We would recommend to those interested to write to the college. — The Camera and Dark Room, New York City.
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ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Extraordinary Success
The Illinois College of Photography is now established in its new location at Effingham, 111., and, judging from the illustrated pamphlet which has been forwarded to us, this institution is very richly and thoroughly equipped, not only with all the modern improvements in art, but possesses a complete faculty of trained instructors, making it a most efficient school for the thorough study of photography. . The college enjoys a large attendance from all over the United States, and students from various parts of the world are among its attendants. The college is still growing, and will be kept quite up-to-date in all its features — Camera, Philadelphia, Pa.
A Thorough Institution
The Illinois College of Photography sends a prospectus that should be interesting reading to those desirous of acquiring a business and practical knowledge of photog- raphy, as they will learn that it can be obtained in shorter time and for less money than could be by any other trade or profession. The college, as we have frequently noticed, is situated in Effingham, 111. , is thoroughly equipped for the teaching of retouching, modeling, etching, posing, lighting and composition, developing, printing toning and fixing, including carbon and platinotype, either separately or as a whole, and by a staff of ten competent teachers. — American Amateur Photographer, New York City.
The Illinois College of Photography
The past year has been an exceedingly prosperous one for the Illinois College of Photography at Effingham, 111. Students are in attendance from over thirty different states, and new ones are rapidly coming in. Reports from graduates show that situations at good salaries are readily obtained, showing the thoroughness of the course of instruction. Additions having been made to the curriculum, several new processes will be taught, and the price of tuition will be advanced soon. All branches are taught, including the different mechanical processes. A new catalogue, in course of preparation, containing all necessary information, will be ready in a short time, and a postal card request addressed to the college at Effingham, 111. , will bring you a copy. — The Trade News, Louisville, Ky.
Photo-engravers Are Like Diamonds
The Bissell College of Photo-engraving, of Effingham, 111., have issued their cata- logue and prospectus for years 1904 and 1905, and no higher tribute can be paid to this institution of learning than to inform our readers that it is under the management of the Illinois College of Photography. No branches of photography has shown greater improvements, and none offer more golden opportunities to the thoroughly accomplished worker, than photo-engraving. He need not seek work, as, like a diamond, he is diligently sought after, and we would advise our readers to write for a catalogue and to peruse it very carefully with the idea of ultimately adopting this branch of the profession. — Photo Critic, New York.
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ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
School of Practical Training
The growth of the Illinois College of Photography is again demonstrated in the recent establishment of the Bissell College of Photo-engraving on the college grounds at Effingham, 111. The Bissell College of Photo-engraving is intended as a school of practical training under the direction of photo-engravers of skill and ability. Excel- lent facilities are afforded the student for a thorough course in the work. The catalogue of the college, just issued, contains a list of the officers and faculty of the college and a very comprehensive outline of the course of study to be followed. Full information maybe had by applying to L. H. Bissell, president, Effingham, 111. — Wil- son's Photo Magazine, New York.
An Essential Factor in the Photographic World
The Illinois College of Photography has by its age and the character of its students proved itself to be an undoubted success. Every year it has taken a stronger position in its influence upon the profession, and the outlook is that in but few more years to come it will be an essential factor in the photographic world. Emboldened by its success, Mr. Bissell, the founder of the institution, has made another foward movement by establishing the Bissell School of Photo-engraving. The prospectus of this latest institution has just come to hand, and a careful reading of it shows conclusively tha t it is fully equipped with all the latest appliances, while the teachers are capable of giving instruction in both the theoretical principles and the application thereof. The Bissell School of Photo-engraving is located at Effingham, Illinois. — Photo- Beacon, Chicago.
Wonderful Success
From Bissell's College of Photo-engraving we have received a handsome catalog fully describing this new departure under the charge of Mr. L. H. Bissell, whose wonderful success is well known to the photographic profession through the Illinois College of Photography. Like the last named, this institution is also located in Effing- ham, 111. The catalog and prospectus is a beautiful work and we would advise sending for one at once. Photo-engraving rightly belongs to photography, for its mechanical perfection would be impossible without photography's aid, and every photographer should take an interest in this universally used process. — Photo Mirror, St. Louis.
Practical School of Photo-engraving
The Bissell College of Photo-engraving sends a copy of an elaborate catalog. If the illustrations are samples of the half-tone work executed in the school they speak well for the instruction and the faculty back of it. This is again a "pioneer" effort on the part of Mr. Bissell, who is at the head of the now well known Illinois College of Photography, which he started as the original institution of its kind. Mr. Bissell is awake to the need of a practical school of photo-engraving, and with the complete equipment described in his catalog has certainly met the demand most adequately and can "make good" to all who take a course of instruction under his management. A beautiful booklet describing the college and its method of instruction will be sent upon the receipt of a postal card requesting same. — Camera Craft, San Francisco.
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ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Step in the Right Direction
Only a few years ago the city of Effingham, 111., was comparatively unknown, but we doubt if a city of 5,000 inhabitants is better known to-day than Effingham. This publicity has been reached through the liberal advertising and popularity of the Illinois College of Photography and its hustling president, Mr. L. H. Bissell. Mr. Bissell, appreciating the fact that photo-engraving, owing to its rapid strides and improvements, was not receiving proper recognition and that the skilled labor obtainable was not equal to the demand, has founded the Bissell College of Photo- engraving at Effingham. This is, indeed, a step in the right direction, and Mr. Bissell deserves praise for his enterprise. In our thirty years experience in the printing business we have followed the advancements, and as the printing of half-tones and chromatic work has become so exacting, we can appreciate Mr. Bissell's efforts towards making successful workers in the engraving field. A beautiful booklet, describing the college and its method of instruction will be sent upon the receipt of a postal card requesting same. — The Camera, Philadelphia;
Grand Success
The Illinois College of Photography has established a school for instruction in the art of photo-engraving, under President Bissell's competent instruction. There is no doubt that this will be a great success. — Photo-Amencan, Stamford, Ct.
Success Predicted
We are in receipt of a catalog for 1904 from the Bissell College of Photo- engraving at Effingham, 111. This institution has recently been started by the managers of the Illinois College of Photography. From the information gained from the catalog and other sources we predict a success for this new institution equalled only by that of the College of Photography itself. — Photographic Review, Chicago.
School of Inestimable Value
We have received a catalog of the new photo-engraving school established by the Illinois College of Photography at Effingham, and it sets forth the aims and purposes of this school in a most attractive manner. The Illinois College of Photography is doing a great work, and this new school will prove of inestimable value to the maker and user of half-tones all through the country. It is practically an undeveloped field and the school should be successful from the very beginning. The Trade News wishes them great success. — Trade News, Louisville, Ky.
Unprecedented Success
Mr. L. H. Bissell, who gained a national reputation in the photographic world due to the unprecedented success of the Illinois College of Photography, recently founded the Bissell College of Photo-engraving. We admire Mr. Bissell for his enterprise. We anticipate rapid progress for the new college. The Bissell College of Photo-engraving is located at Effingham, 111. A liberally illustrated and very interesting catalog can be had without charge by writing for it. — Photopivot, Chicago.
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ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Thorough Course
We have just received the catalog of the Bissell College of Photo-engraving, Effingham, 111. The catalog itself is a work of art, and the course in photo-engraving is so thorough that anyone taking the same would be sure of a position as soon as they had completed it. We have always found the demand for Al photo-engravers was far in excess of the supply. They expect the attendance at the college will be very large, as no such opportunities are offered anywhere else. — Ohio Photo Nevus, Cleveland, Ohio.
Can "Make Good" to All
Bissell College of Photo-engraving sends a copy of a beautifully gotten up catalog. If the illustrations are samples of the half-tone work executed in the school, they speak well for the institution and the faculty back of it. This is again a pioneer effort on the part of Mr. L. H. Bissell, who is at the head of the now well known Illinois College of Photography, which he started as the original institution of its kind. Mr. Bissell is awake to the need of a practical school of engraving and with the complete equipment described in his catalog, has certainly met the demand most adequately and can "make good" to all who take a course of instruction under his management — Western Camera Notes, Minneapolis.
An Institution of Importance
A new catalog of the Bissell College of Photo-engraving has just been received. This college is located at Effingham, 111., and from the numerous half-tones of photographs shown in the catalog it has become an institution of importance. The catalog is handsomely printed, and those interested will do well to send for a copy. — American Printer, New York.
Lew Bissell, Mayor of Effingham
The election of Mr. Bissell as mayor at this time is for him and his profession a very unique and appropriate compliment, in view of the fact that the Illinois State Association of Photographers, of which he has long been a member, meets here next month, and his first official duty will be to welcome the association to the city that has thus honored one of their number, the distinction being won as a recognition of his worth to the community as a photographer and President of the Illinois College of Photography and the Bissell College of Photo-engraving, twin institutions that have made our city and its new mayor famous throughout the world, and that are doing more than all else to make the art-science of photography the peer of any profession in which a young man or woman can engage. — The McKinleyan, Effingham.
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