On
January
15th,
1885,
Wilson
Alwyn
Bentley
became
the
first
known
person
to
photograph
a
snowflake.
A
farmer
by
trade,
the
Jericho,
Vermont
resident
was
no
stranger
to
the
snow.
Dead
set
on
documenting
the
remarkable
beauty
of
snow
crystals,
Bentley
tinkered
tirelessly
until
he
found
a
way
to
catch
them
on
a
black
velvet
background
and
quickly
transfer
them
to
a
microscope
slide—just
long
enough
to
photograph
individual
flakes
in
isolation
for
the
fleeting
moment
before
they
melted
into
oblivion.Bentley
would
go
on
to
capture
more
than
5,000
icy
crystals
over
the
course
of
his
life,
setting
the
precedent... Read More
for
snowflake
photography
and
informing
scientific
opinion
on
the
subject.
In
fact,
it
was
Bentley
(in
collaboration
with
professor
George
Henry
Perkins)
who
first
made
the
case
that
no
two
snowflakes
are
alike,
solidifying
that
arctic
adage.
It’s
no
wonder
the
farmer-turned-groundbreaking
photographer
became
known
as
“Snowflake”
Bentley.