Newspaper Photographs

A wire photo is a type of photograph used in the creation of newspapers. To create a wire photo, a photograph is taken on location and developed after which, it is then taken to a machine that transmits the photograph to a printing station. The photo is wrapped around a cylindrical part of the transmitter known as a drum. Above the drum is a small lens that scans the photo. The drum slowly rotates and as it rotates, it moves from right to left allowing the entire photo to be scanned. The scanning lens takes the light from the lighter and darker parts of the image and sends it to a photoelectric cell which translates the amounts of light into a current.

The current is then transmitted over a telephone line to another machine that prints the photograph. Inside the machine is a neon light bulb that shines onto a piece of photographic paper. The paper is rolled onto a similar drum like the one on the transmitter and just like the transmitter, it slowly moves from left to right. As the current grows stronger, more light is created by the bulb, and as it grows weaker, less light is emitted and it is this light that creates the light and dark parts of the photo. As the drum spins, the image is created. It is this image that will be used in the process of creating photographic printing plates to reproduce the image in newspapers and periodicals.