Pioneering photographs of jewel-like snowflakes taken by the 19th-century Vermont farmer known as Snowflake Bentley are being sold in New York City.
Starting today, 26 of Wilson Bentley’s images are for sale at the four-day American Antiques Show. They are being offered by Chicago’s Carl Hammer Gallery.
Ten of the images are of snowflakes and are priced at $4,800 each. The others show winter scenes.
Bentley was obsessed with snowflakes, which he called snow crystals. In 1885, he became the first person to capture a single snowflake with a camera. The technology is known as photomicrography, and involves attaching a microscope to a camera.
Bentley’s 1931 book, "Snow Crystals," features the lacy designs of 2,500 of his snowflakes.