Negative (photography) - Definition and Overview

In photography, a negative is a rectangle of material (nowadays usually photographic film) coated with chemicals that, upon photographic exposure, cause the material to record the colors or monochromatic shades of the scene in inverse, negative form. This process occurs inside a camera. The resulting "negative" needs to undergo film developing in order to be made insensitive to light. Then, it can be used to produce a print, in which the colors or shades are reverted to their original form.

The opposite of a negative is a positive, which does not inverse the colors or monochromatic shades of a scene.

Negative	Positive

Negative	Positive

See also:

• Photography
• Enlarger