History of Photography

Introduction

It would be hard to imagine a technology that had more impact on 20th century life than photography. In day-to-day terms, photography was truly the most pervasive. The effect that photography has had on 20th century society includes amateur photography (making everyone a photographer), advertising photography (creating desire in the public), journalistic/editorial photography (informing and entertaining the public), and documentary photography (recording the lives of real groups of people).

Background

To imagine a social world before photography, we would have to think of a world without picture IDs; without portraits of ordinary people (or schoolchildren); one without pictures as souvenirs of travel; one without celebrity pictures; one without advertising photographs; one without X-rays or views of outer space; a world without views of foreign and exotic peoples; one without pictures of sports, wars, and disasters; and one in which the great masses of people had no way to visually document the important events of their lives. 

Such a world is unimaginable to us now, and we have photography to thank for all the ways we have been able to capture events and intimate moments of one's own life.

The true history of photography is often vague with some contradictions. Long before photos as we know them were created, images were "captures" and preserved through drawings and paintings.  Eventually, the camera obscura created a silhouette type image that was later traced onto paper and hand painted or coloured by local artists. The huge cost ensured that the only the wealthy and nobility could preserve their image for future generations.

In the early 1800s a Frenchman, Joseph Niepce was able to create the first images while using a form of asphalt and oil to harden the image onto a metal plate when it was exposed to light.  Unfortunately, this process required 8 hours of exposure, which means the plate needed to be "exposed" to the image for 8 hours without the subject moving.  Obviously, there were few portraits as people could not sit totally still for such a long period of time.  

A huge jump in the photographic world came with the invention of the Daguerreotype a few decades later. These productions only required 15-30 minutes of exposure time.  The result was one metal plate with the image recorded as a negative, completely reversed image.  Unfortunately, these pictures could never be reproduced. 1 shot = 1 reverse image. If you wanted a duplicate, you had to take a second picture.

In 1835, an Englishman, William Fox Talbot developed a process of making photographs from a paper negative, and these images COULD be reproduced.  Sadly, these photos were not clear and would eventually lose out to the Callodian process in the 1850s. 

The development of the modern camera began in the 1980s with George Eastman introducing the Kodak camera. This convenient all in one camera and film could take 100 photographs before it needed to be returned to the manufacturer for processing and printing in their dark rooms. Kodak was primarily responsible for the popularity of amateur photography because of development of simple cameras, processing techniques and clever marketing of the recording of family events by mothers. 

In 1924, the 35 mm camera the Leica, was introduced. This was the camera that brought photography to both the amateur professional photographers alike. Although detachable lenses, Single Lens Reflex, and various electronic features were added this camera  This basic camera remained in popularity well into the 1980s.  Throughout the 20th century refinements to cameras, film and processing make photography easier making it easier for amateurs to get involved with professional results.




Photography without film

Digital, or film-less, photography has now gained dominance over film photography, especially in the amateur market. In 1981 Sony pioneered the genre with its Mavica camera, but without the supporting environment of Photoshop (first marketed in 1989), computers in every home, and high-quality digital printers, it took many years for digital photography to really catch on. It wasn't until 1990 that the first truly digital camera made its way called the Dycam Model 1 onto the market.

 


Image Source: Fir0002 (composite version by Matt57) (GFDL 1.2 <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html>; or GFDL 1.2 <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html>;), via Wikimedia Commons

 



It wasn't until 2003, however, digital camera sales surpassed film cameras, according to the Photo Marketing Association. Many photo labs who did not accommodate the digital world have gone out of business. Kodak announced in 2005 that it would cease production of its black and white printing papers, further sealing the fate of darkroom photography. Meanwhile, the new giants in photographic printing, like Epson and Hewlett-Packard, are thriving.


This concludes the History of Photography section.  Please proceed to the next section, where you will learn about the Amateur Photographer.