WILSON A. "SNOWFLAKE" BENTLEY (1865-1931)A group of 4 vintage snow crystals. Silver microphotographs from glass plate negatives, each measuring approximately 4x3 inches (10.2x7.6 cm.) overall. Circa 1903-10

Working at the prismatic intersection of art and science, Wilson Bentley became the first person to photograph a single snow crystal in 1885 by adapting a microscope to a bellows camera. Capturing over 5,000 images of delicately-rendered "ice flowers" in his lifetime, Bentley discovered the now commonly-known fact that no two snowflakes are the same. (He was also the first American to measure raindrops.)Deeply committed to his work, Bentley wrote, "Under the microscope I found that snowflakes were miracles of beauty; and it seemed a shame that this beauty should not be seen and appreciated by others. Each crystal was a masterpiece of design; and no one design was ever repeated [...] I became possessed with a great desire to show people something of this wonderful loveliness, and ambition to become, in some measure, its preserver."