Objective 2: History of Photography Photography is evolving at an incredibly fast rate right now in history. While the actual technology and practice of taking photographs is fairly recent in the history of man, the roots of the photographic image date back 1000’s of years.

A Brief Look Back: The origins of photography began centuries ago: Centuries BCE: Astronomers from countries such as China, Greece and Arabia created camera obscuras which were used to see the outside world indoors. When light enters a darkened room through a pinhole in one of the walls, it projects an upside-down image of the world outside onto the opposite wall. In the photo on the right (from 1643) the pinhole projects onto transparent paper sheets so that artists can draw off of them. Camera Obscura Example – Youtube Pinhole Camera Creation - Youtube

The Birth of Photography: Daguerreotype Photography: France- 1820’s - Joseph Niepce and Louis Daguerre were given credit with creating the first “photograph”. The image was created through a box photo obscura instead of a room photo obscura and imprinted upon a pewter or copper plate that was treated with iodine and bromine vapors. The new image was known As a “daguerreotype.”

Calotype Photography: England – 1840’s - Henry Fox Talbot creates a “calotype” negative. Now a photograph could be made into many positives. Talbot produced a negative on paper soaked in light sensitive silver iodide. From these he developed a way to create a positive image on another piece of paper.

Collodion Photography: England – 1850’s - A few years later, Frederick Scott Archer creates “Collodion photography” which uses plates of light sensitive glass instead of awkward metal plates or flimsy paper negatives. This was an advantage because the plates were far more light sensitive than the daguerreotype or calotype photos. This allowed photo- taking to be more portable and convenient. Type of photographyExposure time Daguerreotype Photo – 1-8 hours Calotype Photo-20 minutes Collodion Photo- 1-5 minutes Portraits and group photos still required people to stand/sit motionless for a long time!

The Collodion process became the process of choice from the mid 1800’s to the late 1800’s. Many Photography studios popped up all over Europe and the United States. The rich and famous wanted their photographs as this was a status symbol. Photography started to branch out from just portraiture at this point: –Historical Photography - The American civil war (1860’s) was documented through the lens of a camera. (Dawn of Photojournalism / tragedy of war) –Landscape Photography dawned for exploration of “the West”. This was used by explorers and land speculators. (People could see photos of potential settlement areas.) –Documentary Photography – The camera was used to communicate ideas and persuade people. The photograph could create evidence. Eg. - Images of poverty and the struggles of immigrants to America was documented and used to convince governments to create more equality for their citizens.

Technology and The Industrial Revolution Advances Photography (Late 1800’s / Early 1900’s) YouTube - The Industrial Revolution - The Golden Age of SteamYouTube - The Industrial Revolution - The Golden Age of Steam -Mass production of cameras (Not just used by wealthy, professionals and scientists anymore) -Late 1800’s – Hand held cameras were available. -The moveable shutter and rapid succession photography allowed for continuous motion (Dawn of Movie making!) -Invention of film and Photographic paper in 1884 by George Eastman (1 st camera that was developed by a company and not by the photographer (He named it the Kodak – the sound the camera shutter made…) -

Photographs Becomes a Means of Expression: -Early 1900’s Cameras were lighter and the shutter speeds so fast that movement could be “frozen in time”. The results were tremendous: –Documentary photography expands and photographers started to capture the emotions of life. –History was becoming more and more visual. (Words could be distorted but a photo was real.) Advancements in printing allowed for historical events to be seen by millions. –Life Magazine shows up with the 1 st true photojournalism publication. –Vogue magazine begins fashion influences through photography.

Mid / Late 1900’s – Current Day : Photographers Ansel Adams and Edward Weston help to develop exposure, shutter speed and depth of field control, allowing photographers to pre-visualize certain effects. Photographs begin a stronger role in adding depth to the expression of feelings and emotions for news, politicians, and anyone with an opinion they wish to portray. Now, photography is used to express information and ideas more than ever. How has Digital Photography changed the communication tool of a Photograph?