Snowflake Bentley: Snow Up Close

Last week in New York, photographs by Wilson A. Bentley (aka the Snowflake Bentley and The Snowflake Man), the first person to capture the image of a single snowflake with a camera, went up for sale at the American Antiques Show. The vintage images are breathtaking…

“Every crystal was a masterpiece of design, and no one design was ever repeated. When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost” said Bentley back in 1925.

According to an article in The Guardian, Bentley’s interest with snow crystals began when he received a microscope for his 15th birthday: “He became spellbound by their beauty, complexity and endless variety”.

“Bentley started trying to draw the flakes but the snow melted before he could finish. His parents eventually bought him a camera and he spent two years trying to capture images of the tiny, fleeting crystals. He caught falling snowflakes by standing in the doorway with a wooden tray as snowstorms passed over. The tray was painted black so he could see the crystals and transfer them delicately onto a glass slide. To study the snow crystals, Bentley rigged his bellows camera up to the microscope but found he could not reach the controls to bring them into focus. He overcame the problem through the imaginative use of wheels and cord.” (via The Guardian, Thursday January 21, 2010)

“The year was 1885.  By jury-rigging a microscope with a bellows camera, Bentley was able to capture for the first time the exquisite delicacy of a snowflake.” … “Under the microscope, I found that snowflakes were miracles of beauty; and it seemed a shame that this beauty should not be seen and appreciated by others,” Bentley said in 1925. (via The Telegraph)

The technology Bentley used came to be known as photomicrography.  The method of singling out a snowflake to photograph apparently hasn’t changed in all that time. “You basically let the crystal fall on something, black or dark-coloured, and then you have to pick it up with a toothpick or brush and put it on a glass slide,” says Kenneth Libbrecht, professor of physics and snowflake enthusiast.

Bentley later went on to publish a book in 1931, “Snow Crystals”, which featured images of nearly 2,500 snowflakes, and was dedicated to their lacy, fragile, delicate beauty, stating, “Every crystal was a masterpiece of design, and no one design was ever repeated. When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost.”

Weeks after the book’s publication, Bentley, walking through a blizzard, caught pneumonia and died. Despite his groundbreaking work, which led to significant contributions to photography and science, Bentley’s name remains largely unknown to the public. (via The Telegraph)

Bentley was a farmer in Vermont, and there is a museum dedicated to his work at an old mill in his hometown. It houses about 2,000 of his vintage images.  I’d really like to see them.