photographic negative

A photographic negative is a reversed image of a photograph, where the light and dark areas are inverted. In traditional film photography, when a photo is taken, the film records an opposite tone—bright areas appear dark, and dark areas appear bright. This negative serves as a master from which positive prints are made by projecting light through it onto photographic paper. The negative contains all the color and detail information needed to produce a correctly toned image. Essentially, it captures the scene in inverse tones, which are then used to produce accurate, positive photographs.