In 1853, a Liverpool photographer achieved what seemed impossible at the time. He shrunk a 680-letter memorial plaque to the size of a pencil tip while keeping every character crystal clear under magnification.
John Benjamin Dancer was an optical instrument maker in his mid-twenties who pioneered the revolutionary technique called microphotography. Using microscope lenses and the wet collodion process, he reduced standard photographs to microscopic sizes ( just millimeters across). Dancer's tiny images became part of Victorian households, purchased by people who loved viewing landmarks, portraits, and religious texts through their microscopes.
The technology took an intriguing turn when a Parisian merchant named René Dagron began embedding these microscopic photos into everyday objects in 1859. His "Stanhopes" concealed tiny images inside rings, pipes, pocket knives, and other personal items. While many contained innocent scenes, some Stanhopes also held erotic content.
The fabulous image from the collection shown here depicts a woman dancing on the head of a pin. These erotic images sometimes lead to customs seizures. In 1924, US postal authorities intercepted 2,000 erotic Stanhope lenses that were on their way for distribution.
The technique ended up having purposes beyond entertainment. During the 1870 Siege of Paris, Dagron used microphotography to compress thousands of messages into tiny films transported by carrier pigeons. As scientist David Brewster noted in 1864: "secrets might be placed in spaces not larger than a full stop or a small blot of ink."
See also: 'Happenstantial Art' captures the beauty and artistry in everyday life
