History Of Photography Essay, Research Paper

Photography is a technological invention that has become the most universal means of communication and artistic expression that the world has known. It overcomes the differences of language. It can be specific and realistic, where music and related media can only be

abstracted or general. In the form of motion pictures it can be used for television and the movies. As a form of visual art, it has as wide a range of unique expressive capabilities as painting, sketching and any other hand art. As a scientific tool, the precision in making visual records is beyond the capability of the human senses. The history of photography is a matter of technological growth and of simultaneous communicative growth (Encyclopedia of Practical

Photography 1339-1340).The world first at large learned how to make photographs in 1839. In that year the Daguerreotype and the Collotype, general ways to make pictures were introduced to

the public. Both were able to make pictures quickly, easily and with no skill or training. The inventor of the Daguerreotype was a French man named Louis Jacques Mande Dqguerre. The Daguerreotypes were literally mirror images. A silvered copper plate was buffed to bring a polish an then put over the tope of a box containing a few participles of iodine. The fumes from the iodine reacted with the silver on the plate to form silver iodine, a light-sensitive chemical. The plate was exposed in a camera for about twenty minutes. Then the plate was put over mercury and heated to 167 F. an image slowly appeared as a whitish amalgen formed on the surface of the plate in proportion to the amount of light it was exposed to. Those who saw the process for the first time thought it to be magic.An English scientist and scholar, William Henry

Fox Talbot, invented the Collotype. The process was similar to Daguerre s and in 1840 Talbot improved it. Instead of leaving the paper in the camera until it darkened, he brought out the

latent image by development. This reduced exposer time to a matter of seconds compared to minutes. He named this new process talbotype (Newhall 173401737).In 1888 the first automatic camera was introduced to the public. It was produced by Kodak. It contained enough film or

one hundred exposures. It had a fixed shutter speed set at 1/25 of a second. It also had a fixed focus lenses that assured a clear picture up to eight feet.The Kodak camera became an American

icon. For $24 anyone could purchase the camera with a leather strap and a protective carrying case. This cost also paid for the first roll of film and development. When you were finished you sent the camera to Kodak where the film was developed. With $10 you could get a new roll of film which also included the cost of the new roll.Not until the 1920’s were photographers able to use a handy compacted instrument that could take pictures in dim light. The first of these candid cameras was the Ermanox marketed under the slogan of What you can see, you can photograph (Time-life 154. 164).The new technologies and affordable prices created a gateway to photography as an art. There were many great photographers but among them there were only a few exceptional ones. Among them were Frederick Henry Evans, Heinrich Kuhn of the Linked Ring. Alfred Stiegiltz the leader of the Photo-Secessionists, with the other members of Photo-

Secessionists: Gertrude Kasibier, Edward Steichen, Alvin Langdon Coburn, and Clarence H. White (Grolier 399).This style prizes the use of an unmanipulated use of the medium. It concentrates on letting the subject speak for its own terms. The emphasis is on those methods

and techniques are add of sense of reality and implication, the literal truth of the image(Practical Photograph 1346).During the first decades of the twentieth century, Stieglitz reversed

his position and claimed an expressive role of straightforward photography. At the same time the French photographer, Eugene Atget, acquired a similar point of view. His point of view was

the same as Stieglitz but was from an opposite direction. It represented that a picture was not identical to the subject but a way to look at the subject, an interpretation (Groiler 398).Filtration,

burning in which is extending the time on exposing the paper, and similar techniques are acceptable when used to clarify the actual appearance and qualities of the subject. Filters can change the color and the texture. Soft focus, the purpose slight blurring of the focus, and optical distortion, the use of different types of lenses such as fisheye or wide-angle lenses (Practical Photography 1346).Photography is not only for art it can also be a job. In the field of photography there are many chances to carve out a satisfying career. Some people make a living just by taking pictures. They are known as professional photographers. The pictures they take are used in the news, magazines and newspapers.The military also uses men and women as photographers. Their duties are from taking pictures to doing aerial shots. Aerial shots are used for reconnaissance. Reconnaissance is when experts study photographs to obtain information for defense reasons. The armed forces also create training and documentary films to present facts about the military services.There are many occupation in the photographical field. For example: wedding and portrait photographers, architectural, fashion photographers and the countless jobs there are in creating and maintaining cameras, and film and developing (exploring photography

15-20).The artistic part of photography quickly developed into motion pictures. A motion picture was a film with many frames on it. The first films were about industry and paid for by big companies in industry. The films were usually abut the company that produced it.The names of such movies were the Story of Coal. The Story of Wheat. The Tea Industry, and Pottery Making. The films were used as a source of entertainment. The public was amused and informed by the films.It did not take long for independent film makers to realize that companies would pay them to make films. By 1915 the nontheatrical film business was in full operation. New technologies contributed to the progress of the cinema. Inventions such as portable 35 mm projector that had its own retractable base. During the 1915 World Fair, held in San Fransico, films were showed that were sponsored by industry and businesses. Another important

advancement was the development of 16 mm sound film.During World War II the film business saw improvement of the quality of these films. Various techniques were used such as long,medium and closeup shots, the use of various angles for subject and camera movement, and cuts

to scenes helped to keep the attention of the viewer. When a film is well constructed andproduced the viewer is unaware of the techniques involved. If a film is not made well, if the camera movements are not steady and the cuts are not precise, or if the visual time and space continuity are illogical, the viewers concentration lapses and he becomes bored and easily distracted. The overall effect of the film is substantially reduced.Most of the makers who made

war time training films came from the Hollywood entertainment industry or newsreel companies. Another important influence was a British group of documentary film makers,leaded by John Grierson and Paul Rotha.It would be difficult to list all the types of industrial

films. The field is constantly expanding, particularly in the area of scientific investigation, space experimentation, atomic energy, missiles and aeronautics (Encyclopedia of Photography 1807).

In its first short century and a quarter, photography s scope has been enormously expanded. Pictures which only a few decades ago seemed beyond the camera s capability are now within

the reach of all. But as the scope expands the tradition stays the same. Yesterday s photographer would be amazed that picture can be taken in 1/1000,000 of a second, but put a camera in his hand and he would know exactly know how to use it. Behind our present techniques, and behind our ways of seeing the world, lie the experiments of thousands of photographers who took up the camera because they believed that with it they could best say

what was in their minds, and, in a few instances, in their hearts (quoted from The Encyclopedia

of Photography 1754).

Works Cited

Editors of Time-life Books. The Camera. New York: Time-Life Books. 11970ed.

History of Photography. Encyclopedia of Practical Photography. 1978ed.

Newhall, Beaumont. History of Photography. The Encyclopedia of Photography. 1963 ed.

Photography. The Volume Library. 1992 ed.

Photography, History and art of. Grolier Encyclopedia of Knowledge. 1994 ed.

Sussman, Aaron. The Amateur Photographers Handbook. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell

Company Inc. 1973.

The Camera. Grolier Encyclopedia of Knowledge. 1994 ed.

Walker, Richard J. and Walker, Robert E. Exploring Photography. South Holland, Illinios: The

Goodheard–Willcox Company, Inc. 1991.

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