History of Photography grade eleven
There is no single correct answer to the question of how and when photography began. No one person can be credited with inventing it. Instead, it emerged through centuries of tinkering. Dorthea Lange, Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California, 1936, Gelatin Silver print. Library of Congress, Washington D.C.
The first printed photographs were made between 1816 and 1840. The first recorded discovery that certain chemicals turned black when exposed to light was made in 1725. The basic design of the cameras we use today has been in use since the 1500 s. The Chinese figured it out even longer ago - as early as the fourth century. So, photography is between 1500 and 150 years old. example of an albumin portrait photograph, Albumin photography was invented in 1850
The first stage of photography s evolution in Europe was the CAMERA OBSCURA (means dark chamber) The camera obscura was a room or a box with no windows. One tiny hole image of a camera obscura chamber being used by an artist. fitted with a lens, projected images from the outside of the room onto the far wall inside it.
The image was upside down and not very clear, but it was good enough to become an artists tool. The image could be traced providing an accurate sketch which could be developed into a painting. Portable versions were developed by the 1660s. The camera existed, but photography hadn t even been imagined yet. camera obscura
Daguerreotype (named from Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre) - one of the first forms of photography. Image was a fixed permanent on a silver plate. - A chemical reaction between the silver, iodine an a mercury vapour and then fixed with a salt solution. - clear image, but only one permanent image, could not produce multiples.
Talbotype or Calotype (William Henry Fox Talbot) - 1835 new process produced a negative on paper treated with silver - exposed paper was place over a second paper and exposed to bright light producing a positive image. - was able to produce multiple copies of a single image. - downfall was it was not as clear as Daguerrotype because of the photo transfer
Collodian wet-plate process (Frederick Scott Archer - 1851) - best of both techniques because it produced a clear image that could reproduce multiple times. - clean glass plate evenly coated with collodian - plate had to be dipped in a silver nitrate solution, inserted into the camera and exposed. It then had to be developed immediately and allowed to dry. - if the plate dried before the process was complete, the emulsion would harden and the photograph would be ruined. Not easy, but it worked.
Innovations through photography - Sociologist, Lewis Hine, created powerful images of children who worked long hours in textile mills and other industry. This work helped bring about new laws for child labour.
- Photographer Mathew Brady was granted permission to photograph images from the Civil War battlefields. Recorded a tragic period in American history
- Eadweard Muybridge invented the zoopraxiscope which produced a series of images of a moving subject. This contributed tremendously to understanding human kinetics and animal movements.
Schools of Thoughts Is photography art? If so, how should it be used? These questions were contemplated by the artists and photographers of that time. a) Pictorialist - believed a photograph should look as much like a painting as possible. - believed an artist should improve upon nature by using it to express noble ideas
b) Naturalists - believed that a photograph should capture nature s own truth. -they specialized in peaceful scenes of country life. - increasingly fond of using soft focus, (blurred edges) in their photographs
- late 1880s flexible film appears, replacing heavy glass plates -1890s George Eastman introduces the Kodak camera- easy to use, loaded with film for 100 photographs. - 1925 Leica introduces mini camera, first to use 35mm film and revolutionizes amateur photography - 1907 first colour photos -1935 Kodak improves colour prints for photography, making Kodak a household name
1937 - first SLR (single lens reflex) camera introduced in the U.S. 1938 - automatic exposure initiated by Kodak 1939 - electronic flash developed 1947 - first Poloroid camera 1954 - first high-speed film available on market 1959 - development of first zoom lens 1966 - Konica introduces first professional quality automatic exposure camera
1972 - Poloroid adds colour to its instant camera 1985 - Minolta introduces the first professional quality automatic focus camera 1987- Canon introduces its first Commercial Still Video system 1991 - Kodak launches photo cd system and digital camera