Johann Augustin Pucher

Place: Kranj

Born: 1814

Death: 1864

Biography:

Janez Avguštin Puhar, also known as Johann Augustin Pucher, was a Slovene priest, scientist, photographer, artist, and poet. He invented an unusual process for making photographs on glass. Although his were not the first glass photographs, Pucher's process was unique. It was the only 19th-century photography technique that was not based on expensive silver halide chemistry but was still sensitive enough to use in a camera, with exposure times comparable to those of the daguerreotype and calotype. Modern testing of Pucher's photographs has confirmed their chemically unusual nature. However, his process was never commercialized, and attempts to recreate it based on published information have been unsuccessful.