Wilson Alwyn Bentley (click here) was born February 9th, 1865, on a farm in Jericho, Vermont. His mother was a former teacher, and home schooled his brother and him. His father taught him how to farm. A farm boy's life is close to nature, which well-suited Bentley because he loved nature and the weather. He was very curious, especially about snow. For his 15th birthday, his mother gave him a microscope. Looking at snow crystals through his microscope, Bentley was amazed at their beauty, complexity, and variety. He tried to make detailed drawings of magnified snow crystals, but the snow melted before he could finish. Frustrated but determined to capture the exquisite geometrical intricacies of snow crystals, he decided to try photography.
His primary collection were more or less components of the whole (Classified in Mangono and Lee classification scheme). (click here) His secondary collection were composites of the parts (click here)
Bentley
produced both positive and negative snow crystal images. This slide,
which holds 3 images of the same snow crystal, illustrate
the aesthetic differences between a positive and a negative snow
crystal image.
