- Bromide (photography)
Bromide, in photography, refers to a type of
photographic printing paper coated in anemulsion ofsilver bromide , or a photograph made thereof. Images are imprinted on the bromide paper via thegelatin-silver process .It was invented in the 19th Century by British inventor Joseph Swann.
In
Japan , "bromide" (ブロマイド), or "promide" (プロマイド) refers to a category of commercial photo portraits of celebrities—includinggeisha , singers, actors and actresses of both stage and film, and sports stars—regardless of whether bromide paper was used for the photo. While bromide photos have been a part of the Japanese popular consciousness for decades, the term seems to be falling out of use.History of the Japanese bromide
In 1921 the
Marubell Company (マルベル堂) started marketing their celebrity photographs under the name "Promide". Marubell sold the photo paper itself as "bromide", and its finished photo products as "Promide". The first Promide photo was a portrait of the film actressSumiko Kurishima . However, in such reference guides as theKōjien Dictionary andNHK 's Broadcasting Glossary, a photographic portrait of an actor or celebrity is termed as a bromide. Because of this, the terms are used interchangeably.From the
World War II post-war period until the latter years of theShowa period (ended 1989), bromide sales were used as a barometer to the popularity of idols. Sales records were released on a monthly basis for the following categories: "Male Singers", "Female Singers", "Actors", and "Actresses".Bromide photos in media
As a long-time household name, bromide photos are sometimes referred to in Japanese media such as
manga ,TV show s andvideo game s.*An item named "Naga-ette Bromide" appears in the
Super Nintendo game "Chrono Trigger ". A certainnon-player character is dying to get his hands on it.*Bromides are a popular feature of some titles in the
Lunar series of video games. The player can find bromides, which take the form of large images that are reminicient of pin-up photos, usually focusing on female characters.References
*Much of the content of this article comes from [http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%96%E3%83%AD%E3%83%9E%E3%82%A4%E3%83%89 the equivalent Japanese-language wikipedia article] .
External links
* [http://www.marubell.co.jp/ Marubell Website]
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