Charles Harper Bennett

Charles Bennett was an English photographic pioneer. He improved the gelatine silver process developed by Richard Leach Maddox. In 1873 he created a method of hardening the emulsion, making it more resistant to friction, and larger. In 1878 he discovered that by prolonged heating the sensitivity of the emulsion could be greatly increased. This increased sensitivity enabling shooting at 1/25 second, paving the way for the snapshot. He presented his discovery to the South London Photographic Society. He later outlined conditions for eliminating fog in fast gelatine dry plates. Bennett did not patent his discovery. In 1894 he settled in Australia.