HISTORY of PHOTOGRAPHY from Camera Obscura to Digital

HISTORY of PHOTOGRAPHY from Camera Obscura to Digital 1

Photography is derived from Greek words photos (light) and graphien (to draw) meaning DRAWING WITH LIGHT The word was first used by the scientist Sir John F.W.Herschel in 1839. It is a method of recording images by the action of light on a sensitive material. 2

Photography offered a realistic representation of objects and events with an objectivity and detail never before possible. 3

Photography in Britain & France was initially heralded for its technical recording abilities. With few exceptions, the emphasis was upon picture-taking rather than picture-making. 4

The principle of concentrating light through a small hole in order to create reflection on the wall of a dark chamber was known to Aristotle (384-322BC) 5

Earlier, the painted portrait had been largely the privilege of aristocrats. By the mid-19 th century, in addition to the large, officially sanctioned* portraits of royalty and public figures that were still commissioned, the silhouette, the camera lucida drawing, and finally the photograph had arrived to accommodate the needs of new patrons for likeness** *sanctioned: onaylanmış, uygun görülmüş **likeness:suret, portre, resim, tasvir. 6

The silhouette, on the other hand, might be considered the poor man s miniature, though it was not always small. Traced from a cast shadow and inked in, or cut freehand from black paper, which was then mounted on a lighter ground, the silhouette showed only the profile. Johann Kaspar Lavater. Silhouette Machine, c.1870. 7

Before the invention of photography, the only visual record of distant places and events was the stylized hand renderings of the artists. 8

The photographic camera was based on CAMERA OBSCURA (or pinhole camera:darkroom) which was one of the first discoveries that made photography possible.

Camera Obscura: In its earliest form it was simply a darkened box with a tiny hole in one wall and a white screen on the opposite wall. An upside-down imaged of the objects outside the room was formed on the screen by light coming from the hole. The image was upside down due to the way in which light enters the box.

QuickTime and a decompressor are needed to see this picture. 12

Pinhole Photography is lensless photography. A tiny hole replaces the lens. Light passes through the hole; an image is formed in the camera. Pinhole cameras are small or large, improvised or designed with great care. Cameras have been made of sea shells, coke cans, cookie boxes, rooms in large buildings or a discarded refrigerator. Basically a pinhole camera is a box, with a tiny hole at one end and film or photographic paper at the other. 14

All you need to have a pinhole camera: A light-tight container A pinhole aperture (instead of lens) to let light in A light-sensitive material www.pineholeresource.com

Pinhole images -are softer -less sharpthan pictures made with a lens. - the image have nearly infinite depth-of-field. - pinhole images suffer from greater chromatic aberration than pictures made with a simple lens. - exposures are long, ranging from 30 sec. to several hours. - images are exposed on film or paper (negative or positive, B&W or color). 17

200 mm pinhole camera made from canon 1ds digital camera 18

The development of CAMERA OBSCURA took 2 tracks: 1. The portable box device was 1 st a DRAWING TOOL (in the 17 th. & 18 th. centuries). 2. By the 19 th century the camera obscura was ready to accept light sensitive material (plates coated w/ silver salts) & to become a photographic camera. In the 19 th century with improved lenses that could cast larger and sharper images but still requiring a focusing mechanism.

Lenses were added to the camera obscura. Producing brighter and sharper image but requiring a focusing mechanism. 25

Martin Gasser identifies 3 phases for between 1839 1939 The priority debate: who first fixed the photographic image? History of the development of photography methods + techniques Histories of photograph as image

In more than 170 years photographers and others (basically scientists, painters...) tried to fix images on different materials like; copper, tin, silver plates, glass,paper and celluloid. They have not only demonstrated that this is possible but have also invented numerous different processes for doing so. 27

No single formula exists for making a photograph, but nearly 27 photographic processes share 3 basic requirements: 1. Materials that behave predictably in response to light, 2. Chemicals that control and fix the action of light to produce an image, 3. A support upon which the image rests. 28

HISTORIES of PHOTOGRAPHY 170 years Technical History Functional History Aesthetical History (photography as an art)

FUNCTIONAL HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY Portraiture Travel & Exploration Photography Architectural Photography Photojournalism Documentary Photography Snapshot Photography Personal Social Photography Advertising & Fashion Photography Industrial Photography Scientific Photography Nature Photography

AESTHETICAL HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY history of photography Early Portraits Pictorialism/ High-Art Photography (mid 1850s) The Photograph as a Document-Early Photojournalism Pictorial Photography (1900s) Photo-Secession (1900s) Straight Photography (1915-1933) New Objectivity - New Vision- in Europe (After 1920s) Surrealism and Man Ray (Early 1920s) Photography & Bauhaus Movement (1919-1933) Social Landscape Photography: Portraying Life-Europe (1930-1945) Portraying Life - America (Social Documentary-FSA) The Post-War Period (After 1945) Realism and Subjectivism ( After 1950, 1970s & 1980s) Subjective Photography (today)

From plates to film 1826 1891 (65 years) Pewter (mixture of lead + tin)...heliograph: Niépce/1826 Copper...Daguerreotype: Daguerre/1839 Paper...Calotype : W. H. Fox Talbot/1841 Glass....Collodion Wet-plate : F. S. Archer/1851 Gelatin...Gelatin Dry-plate: R. Maddox/1871 Celluloid film...george Eastman Kodak/1891

Technical History of Photography Year Name Method Method explained material 1826 Joseph Nicephore Niépce Heliograph Pewter plates coated with bitumen pewter 1 st photograph 8 hours exposure 1839 Jacques Louis Mande Daguerre Daguerreotype Copper plates coated with silver iodide copper 30 minutes exposure due to the mercury vapor 1839 Hippolyte Bayard Direct positive printing Paper coated with silver chloride paper 12 minutes exposure 1841 William Henry Fox Talbot Calotype Paper coated with silver nitrate +Gallic acid paper 1 st negative:10 sec.-1 min. 2 nd positive: 15 min. Exposure times decreases under 10 sec. due to research on accelerating substances 1851 Frederick Scott Archer Collodion Wet-plate Glass plate coated with collodion glass 1871 Richard Maddox Dry Gelatin-plate Gelatin plate coated with silver bromide* gelatin 1891 George Eastman KODAK Celluloid film Celluloid film coated with silver bromide gelatin layer celluloid 1907 Lumiére Brothers Auto chrome plate Positive color transparencies on glass plates glass

Joseph Nicephore Niépce (1765 1833) He had been working on obtaining a permanent image since late 1700s. 1816 1st. unsuccessful try. He succeeded in producing a paper negative of camera image. But he was unable to fix the image. 34

The 1 st. person permanently recorded the images of Camera Obscura was a Frenchman JOSEPH NICÉPHORE NIÉPCE in 1827 with 8 hours of exposure. 35

First photograph, View from the Study Window, 1827, Nicéphore Niépce.

Meanwhile another Frenchman Jacques Louis Mande Daguerre was using camera obscura for sketching aid and was also experimenting with the use of light-sensitive silver salts to capture camera image.

Niépce and Daguerre 1827. Niépce + Daguerre met and 2 years later 1829. They establish a partnership 1833.. Niépce dies (without receiving a public recognition)

Jacques Louis Mande Daguerre (1787-1851) In 1831, Daguerre also discovered the light sensitivity of silver iodide. He used copper plate sensitized it by silver iodide by exposing it to sunlight. The plate was then inserted in a camera obscura and exposed to light again. After exposure, the plate was treated with mercury vapor to produce a stronger, much visible image and fixed with salt water : DAGUERROTYPE. In 1835, 4 years late by accident he made a critical breakthrough.

STORY went like this: He put an exposed copper sheet plate in his chemical cupboard and some days later found to his surprise that the latent image had developed. He concluded that this was due to the presence of MERCURY VAPOR from the broken thermometer.

1839 Jacques Louis Mande Daguerre: Copper plates +silver iodide + mercury vapor By using mercury vapor, Daguerre was able to develop the latent image on a silver iodide plate. Better quality in detail compared to Niepce s 1 st. photo with a 30 minutes of exposure. this new process called DAGUERREOTYPE

First photography with a human being. Louis JACQUES MANDE DAGUERRE. Boulevard du Temple, Paris, c. 1838. Daguerreotype. Bayerisches National museum, Munich.

Daguerrotype - original version and as restored history of photography

Landscape photography evolved as a commercial enterprise with the taking of views of well-known or extra-ordinary natural formations for the benefit of travelers. A favorite site in the USA, Niagara Falls was daguerreotyped by different photographers. Niagara Falls ca. 1855 daguerreotype 13.2 x 18.3 cm., full plate

The Niagara Suspension Bridge ca. 1856 Niagara River above the falls ca. 1850 daguerreotype 21.5 X 16.5 cm., full plate

The urban scene also was considered appropriate for daguerreotypist. Bridge and Boats on the Thames, 1851 by Baron Jean Baptiste L.Gros typifies the incredible amount of detail made visible by this process.

Daguerre s invention had some drawbacks: Copper plate has to be developed immediately after the exposure. Plate could only be prepared just before use. 30 min. exposure is too long. Each image is unique. To photograph landscapes, early photographers had to carry their darkrooms with them. Because chemical preparation had to be made at the site. It was a popular process between 1840-1860.

D. F. MILLET. Couple and Child, 1854-59. Daguerreotype. Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris.

UNKNOWN PHOTOGRAPHER (American). Dead Child, c. 1850. Daguerreotype. Collection Richard Rudisill, Santa Fe, N.M.

GUSTAV OEHME. Three Young Girls, c. 1840s. Daguerreotype. Collection Bokelberg, Hamburg.

In 19 August 1839 invention of photography publicly announced. The fact that photographic process was invented at the same time by 3 different individuals: Jacques Louis Mande DAGUERRE (with Niepce) Hippolyte BAYARD William Henry Fox TALBOT

William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877) He is the inventor of the negative-positive process of photography in 1841 that we use today. CALOTYPE (from the Greek word: Kalos: Beautiful) with his new method he was able to decrease the exposure time to minutes.

Calotype process: 1 st stage: Negative The base of calotype negative was a high quality writing paper. Paper first sensitized with silver chloride and then with Gallic Acid (which shortens the exposure time to seconds). Place the exposed image in a camera obscura to get a negative image. A visible image develops within a few seconds and was fixed with salt water

Calotype Process: 2 nd. stage: positive The negative image was converted to a positive image by placing it in contact with a second sheet of sensitized paper & exposing it to light in a process we now call contact printing.

Advantages of Calotype process: Unlimited number of prints could be made from a single negative. Retouching either on negative or positive is possible. More warmer tones. Negative paper: easy to carry and is traveler's favorite after 1850s.

Disadvantages of Calotype process: Calotype prints lack the detail of a daguerreotype print. Materials were less sensitive to light meaning that requires long exposure times. The imperfections of paper reduces the quality of final print (not sharp as a daguerreotype) The process itself took longer. Prints tended to fade.

Latticed Window W.H.F. Talbot, 1835. Earliest known existing photographic negative

William Henry Fox Talbot, The Open Door, 1844, published in The Pencil of Nature. history of photography

Frankfurt, 1846 by Talbot history of photography

1826: 1 st. photograph by J. N. Niépce. Method:Heliography. He used pewter plates coated w/bitumen. 8 hours exposure!!! pewter plate 1839: Invention of photography by J. L. M. Daguerre. Method: Daguerrotype. He used copper plate coated w/silver iodide + mercury vapor. 30 minutes exposure!!!

1841: William Henry Fox Talbot Method: Calotype: Negative-Positive process. He used paper coated w/silver nitrate + gallic acid (as an accelerating substance) first in 2-3 minutes!!! but then to seconds...

Till now 2 processes were used: Daguerreotype Calotype The search began to combine the best parts of both processes; Fine detail and sharpness from daguerreotype Multiple prints from calotype The ideal would have been to coat light sensitive material on to a GLASS plate with a suitable binder: COLLODION

The Collodion Wet-Plate Process by Frederick Scott Archer in 1851 with exposure time of 10 seconds. In 1851 Daguerre died, symbolically end of an era. The very same year a new technique was invented and Calotype became obsolete.

Wet-plate process still had some major disadvantages: since Coating, Exposure & Development had to be done while plates are still damp & wet-plate photographers had to carry a complete darkroom with them. Glass plates were heavy + fragile & print + plate sizes were 11 x 14 inch A very heavy + bulky system as a whole

studios history of photography

Juliet Margaret Cameron, 'Paul and Virginia', albumen print from wet collodion-on-glass negative, 1864. history of photography

Real revolution in exposure times came with Richard Maddox s GELATIN DRY PLATE PROCESS in 1871 1878: Dry plates manufactured commercially. And from 1879 and on dry-plate process become widespread A new era in photography: Instantaneous photography* It was now possible to quickly produce negatives with an exposure time of only a fraction of a second (1/25 sec.) *şipşak fotoğraf

GELATIN DRY PLATE PROCESS The search for a dry plate was finally ended with the discovery of GELATIN as a carrier for the silver salts. Gelatin dry plates allowed the manufacture of plates that could be stored, carried to a site, exposed and then developed at the photographer s leisure. (within 8 months after the exposure were made) No longer did a photographer have to carry a darkroom on location. Gelatin plates could be made in factory: standardization of materials was introduces to photography. NEXT STEP???? coming soon

After 1840-41, ongoing experiments on accelerating substances decreased exposure times fractions of a second. Portrait photography becomes a commercial use and studios starts to open. In France around Louvre: 1840.. 10 studios 1850. 50 studios Studios start to open after 1842 at Salzburg, Marseille, Lyon. In the beginnings of 1850 s in Europe and in USA there is a big boom in photography. Number of photography studios increased in Paris: 1840. 50 studios 1860.. 400 studios in London: 1856... 55 studios 1861. 200 studios 1865 284 studios

In England 1851... 51 registered photographers 1861... 2800 registered photographers A tradition in photography is to be formed (which was never the case for photography in Turkey and is one of the reason that explains the rootlessness of photography in Turkey from its invention till today)

UNKNOWN. European-style Portable Darkroom Tent, 1877. Wood engravings from A History and Handbook of Photography, edited by J. Thompson, 1877. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; gift of Spencer Bickerton, 1938.

The next step was to replace the heavy, fragile glass plates with a lightweight, flexible material.

Kodak introduced his first roll film in 1884. The first roll film, was made out of paper and sensitized with a gelatin emulsion. Kodak's transparent film that was introduced with the kodak camera in 1888 which provided 100 exposures.

The camera came loaded with film containing 100 exposures. When all the pictures had been taken, the entire camera was sent back to the company in Rochester, where the prints were reloaded. In other words, Kodak invented a customer-friendly photo-finishing business, as well as an uncomplicated camera. The company slogan; you press the button, we do the rest and popular photography was born

Photography for Everyone was the intention history of photography First Kodak camera -Nr.1- with a single speed of 1/125 sec. + fixed lens (It came loaded with enough film for 100 pictures)

Color Film 1 st. truly method was the autochrome plate introduced by Lumière Brothers in 1907 and discontinued in 1932. Autochrome plates started to be produced in France in 1907 and later by a German firm Agfa.

Photographers immediately started experimenting with this plates but It took 30 years before color photography really come into its own with the development of 3-layer film by Kodak and Agfa in 1935-1936.

1839-2009 170 years from its invention till today Social (stories) Techniques Outside... Personal (stories)... Images... Inside Look through windows... Look introspectively (fundamental dichotomy in contemporary photography) Objective world... Subjective world Those who think as a Those who think as a method of exploration... method of self-discovery