1890 - Photomicrograph of Stellar Snowflake No. 10

Bentley, W. A. (Wilson Alwyn)

Revealing the Infinite Variety of Nature’s Designs. Bentley’s Photomicrographs of Snowflakes.

Wilson A. Bentley's 1890 photomicrograph of Stellar Snowflake No. 10 captures the delicate beauty of a single snowflake's crystalline structure. Fascinated by snowflakes since childhood, Bentley dedicated his life to revealing their unique and intricate forms. Using a microscope paired with a bellows camera, he became the first person to successfully photograph individual snowflakes, documenting their ephemeral and symmetrical designs.

His setup was a remarkable feat of ingenuity. He carefully coupled a compound microscope to a large-format camera with an extended bellows, allowing him to achieve magnifications of up to 60x. Light-tight connections ensured clarity, while his use of natural daylight illuminated the ice crystals with remarkable precision.

Over the course of his lifetime, Bentley captured more than 5,000 snowflakes, each one a testament to nature's infinite variety. This remarkable image is part of that collection and exemplifies his groundbreaking work in the study of snowflakes, contributing to the widely accepted idea that no two snowflakes are alike.

Captured as an albumen print, this image was part of Bentley's larger effort to share his discoveries with the scientific community. In 1903, Bentley sent his prints to the Smithsonian Institution, where they garnered interest from scientists and were published in scientific journals. The photograph not only contributed to the field of meteorology but also became an iconic representation of nature's precision and beauty.

Bentley’s photographic process, involving a highly magnified view of the snowflake's structure, opened up new ways of studying natural phenomena. His work bridged art and science, demonstrating the aesthetic splendor of nature through the lens of scientific inquiry.

TECHNICAL: Compound microscope + bellows camera・60x magnification・natural daylight illumination・albumen print・3.5×3 inches

INFLUENCE: First successful snowflake photography (1885)・5,000+ documented specimens・established "no two alike" principle・published scientific journals 1903

ANALYTICAL: Revealed crystalline symmetry・documented ephemeral natural phenomena・pioneered photomicrography technique・enabled meteorological study of ice crystal formation

CULTURAL IMPACT: Merged art and science・iconic representation of natural precision・demonstrated nature's infinite variety・elevated snowflakes to cultural symbol of uniqueness

CREDIT: Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 31, Image No. SIA2013-09167

AUTHOR: Bentley, W. A. (Wilson Alwyn)

TITLE: Photomicrograph of Stellar Snowflake No. 10

DATE: 1890

ARCHIVE: Smithsonian

SOURCE: Smithsonian Institution Archives

ORIGINAL: Albumen prints; 3.5 x 3

AVAILABLE INFORMATION: Wilson A. Bentley first became fascinated with snow during his childhood on a Vermont farm, and he experimented for years with ways to view individual snowflakes in order to study their crystalline structure. He eventually attached a camera to his microscope, and in 1885 he successfully photographed the flakes.