History of Photography

Photography was one of the many inventions of the 19th century the electric light, the safety pin, dynamite and the automobile are just a few and of all of them, photography probably created the most astonishment and delight.Today, most people take photography for granted, but early viewers were shocked and amazed.Photography took over what had previously been one of the main functions of art to record factual visual information.

Timeline500 BC: Mo-Tsu may be the earliest to describe a camera obscura or dark room in ancient China.400 BC: Aristotle describes a camera obscura in ancient Greece. 1000 AD: Alhazen, an Islamic scholar, is credited with describing the principles of the camera obscura in detail.

Timeline1267: English scientist Roger Bacon is said to be the first to describe the camera obscura in scientific detail with the benefit of knowledge from previous Arabic scholars.1490: Italian Leonardo DaVinci describes the camera obscura in detail. He uses the technology extensively.

Timeline1558: Italian Giovanni Battista della Porta suggests that the camera obscura can be an aid to rendering an image on to paper.1550-1575: The use of lenses is introduced, and the camera obscura becomes smaller and portable.

Timeline1614: Italian Angelo Sala observed that silver nitrate turns black when exposed to sunlight.1676: The use of a reflex mirror with the camera obscura is introduced.1685: The use of a telephoto lens with the camera obscura is introduced.1725: German Johan Heinrich Schulze made stencil images on bottles containing silver nitrate

Timeline1777: Swede Carl Wilhelm Scheele discovered that ammonia removed unexposed silver nitrate, leaving darkened metallic silver residue.1795: Englishman Thomas Wedgwood (unaware of Scheeles work) experimented with transferring an image from a camera obscura on to paper and leather treated with silver nitrate. Insufficient exposures and inability to fix the image frustrated his success. Nonetheless, a scientific paper was published in 1802.

Timeline1819: German-born Englishman Sir John Frederick William Herschel introduced the negative and positive process along with the use of sodium thiosulfate (then called sodium hyposulfate = hypo) as a fixer.

TimelineFrenchman Joseph Nicephore Niepce experimented with light-sensitive varnishes on papers sensitized with silver chloride. Coins the term photographie.

1826Joseph Nicephore Niepce is said to be the first to create a permanent photographic image (using an 8 hour exposure!). This was called a heliograph.

1834: Daguerre and TalbotFrenchman Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre communicates with J. Niepce and they exchange information until Niepces death in 1833.Englishman William Henry Fox Talbot begins experiments with creating permanent photographic images on paper with marginal success, until hearing of Daguerres innovations in France. Appropriating Daguerres process along with Herschels breakthroughs, Talbot patented the calotype (later known as the talbotype) and aggressively asserted his patent rights in England, effectively stifling competition and experimentation along similar lines in Great Britain until 1855. Talbot also disputed Daguerres recognition by the Academie des Sciences in France, only to have the French government purchase the patent rights from Daguerre then release the patent without restriction to the world in 1839!

CompetitorsDaguerreTalbot

Daguerrotype ProcessThe Daguerreotype was the first successful photographic process, the discovery being announced on January 7, 1839. The process consisted of: exposing copper plates to iodine, the fumes forming light-sensitive silver iodide. The plate would have to be used within an hour. exposing to light - between 10 and 20 minutes, depending upon the light available. developing the plate over mercury heated to 75 degrees. This caused the mercury to amalgamate with the silver. fixing the image in a warm solution of common salt (later sodium sulphite was used.) rinsing the plate in hot distilled water. His first plates were 8 1/2" by 6 1/2"; The quality of the photographs was stunning. Daguerrotype Advantages: unique one of a kind images, fast overall exposure times, great image quality.Daguerrotype Disadvantages: the pictures could not be reproduced ,the surfaces were extremely delicate (which is why they are often found housed under glass in a case), the image was reversed laterally (mirror image), the chemicals used (bromine and chlorine fumes and hot mercury) were highly toxic, and the images were difficult to view from certain angles.

Daguerrotypes

Calotype ProcessThe Calotype was a positive/negative process introduced in 1841 by Fox Talbot, and popular for the next ten years or so. In 1844 Fox Talbot opened a photography establishment in order to mass produce prints. Renamed the process TalbotypeA piece of paper was brushed with weak salt solution, dried, then brushed with a weak silver nitrate solution, dried, making silver chloride in the paper. This made it sensitive to light, and the paper was now ready for exposure (up to half an hour). To make a print, the negative was placed on top of more photo paper, laid flat in a glass frame, and allowed to develop in sunlight. The Calotype process was not as popular as its rival one, the Daguerreotype. Calotype Disadvantages: the materials were less sensitive to light, therefore requiring longer exposures, the imperfections of the paper reduced the quality of the final print, they did not have the sharp definition of daguerreotypes, the process itself took longer, as it required two stages (making the negative and then the positive), and the prints tended to fade. Calotype Advantages: unlimited number of prints from one negative, retouching could be done on either negative or print, prints on paper were easier to examine and far less delicate, and the calotype had warmer tones.

Calotypes (Talbotypes)

Collodion Process

In 1851 Frederick Scott Archer found collodion. The use of collodion caught on very quickly indeed, and within a few years fewer people used either the Daguerreotype or Calotype process. Collodion Prints were either Ambrotypes or Tintypes.Collodion was a viscous liquid - guncotton dissolved in ether and alcohol - which had only been invented in 1846, but which quickly found a use during the Crimean war; when it dried it formed a very thin clear film, which was ideal for dressing and protecting wounds.The plate had to be sensitised, exposed and developed while the plate was still wet; the sensitivity dropped once the collodion had dried. It is often known as the wet plate collodion process for this reason.Advantages: more sensitive to light than the calotype process, it reduced the exposure times drastically - to as little as two or three seconds, because a glass base was used, the images were sharper than with a calotype, the process was never patented so this type of photography became far more widely used and the price of a paper print was about a tenth of that of a daguerreotype. Disadvantages: the process was not easy -- first the collodion had to be spread carefully over the entire plate. One might also mention the safety factor. The collodion mixture was not only flammable but highly explosive. It is reported that several photographers demolished their darkrooms and homes, some even losing their lives, as a result of careless handling of the photographic chemicals.

The Ambrotype Process

Ambrotypes were made from the 1850s and up to the late 1880s, the process having been invented by Frederick Scott Archer. Ambrotypes were direct positives, made by under-exposing collodion on glass negative, bleaching it, and then placing a black background - usually black velvet - behind it. Though Ambrotypes slightly resemble Daguerreotypes, the method of production was very different, and Ambrotypes were much cheaper. It became popular for a number of reasons: less exposure time was needed, production was cheaper and quicker, as no printing was required, and unlike Daguerreotypes, they could be viewed from any angle

The Tintype Process1853: The tintype, also known as a ferrotype, was introduced by Adolphe Alexandre Martin and became instantly popular, particularly in the United States, though it was also widely used by street photographers in Great BritainThe process was simple enough to enable one to set up business without much capital. It was much faster than other processes of the time: first, the base did not need drying, and secondly, no negative was needed, so it was a one-stage process. Being more robust than ambrotypes it could be carried about, sent in the mail, or mounted in an album. The material could easily be cut up and therefore fitted into lockets, brooches, etc. Many astute tintypists made a lot of money in America during the Civil War, visiting the encampments and selling their wares. Later, some even had their shop on river-boats. Tintypes were eventually superseded by gelatin emulsion dry plates in the 1880s, though street photographers in various parts of the world continued with this process until the 1950s.Eventually, 35mm and Polaroid photography were to replace these entirely. Today Digital Photography emerges as the number one choice for businesses.

Tintypes and Ambrotypes

Civil War1850: American photographer Matthew Brady (a student of Samuel Morse) publishes The Gallery of Illustrious Americans. Later, the cost of producing his prolific Civil War series of photographs drove him to bankruptcy. Timothy OSullivan known for his images of the western United States and the Civil War

OSullivans WestFrom 1867 to 1869, he was official photographer on the United States Geological Exploration of the 40th Parallel under Clarence King, which began at Virginia City, Nevada, where he photographed the mines, and worked eastward. His job was to photograph the West to attract settlers. O'Sullivan's pictures were among the first to record the prehistoric ruins, Navajo weavers, and pueblo villages of the Southwest

Julia Margaret CameronBritish photographer who is considered one of the greatest portrait photographers of the 19th century.

Eadweard MuybridgeIn 1878, Eadweard Muybridge's serial photographs of trotting and galloping horses stunned artists, scientists, and critics in the United States and Europe. Muybridge's camera revealed equine bodies frozen mid-leap in positions never before detected by the human eye or captured on film. When viewed in quick succession, the serial photographs reanimated motion. Animal Locomotion: An Electro-photographic Investigation of Consecutive Phases of Animal Movements, 18721885, comprised 781 nineteen-by-twenty-four-inch plates, each of which contained between twelve and thirty-six frames, resulting in a total of approximately twenty thousand images. His idea to study animals stemmed from a bet he made with Leland Stanford.

The Gelatin Silver PrintThe Gelatin-silver process is the photographic process used with currently available black and white films and printing papers. A suspension of silver salts in gelatin is coated onto acetate film or fiber-based or resin coated paper and allowed to dry. These materials remain stable for months and years unlike the 'wet plate' materials that preceded them.The Gelatin-Silver process was introduced by R. L. Maddox in 1871 with subsequent considerable improvements in sensitivity obtained by Charles Harper Bennet in 1878. When small crystals (called grains) of silver salts such as silver bromide and silver chloride are exposed to light, a few atoms of free metallic silver are liberated. These free silver atoms form the latent image. This latent image is relatively stable and will persist for some months without degradation provided the film is kept dark and cool.Films are developed using solutions that reduce the free silver atoms. An 'amplification' of the latent image occurs as the silver salts near the free silver atom are also reduced to metallic silver. The development is then stopped by neutralizing the developer in a second bath.Once development is complete, the undeveloped silver salts must be removed by fixing in sodium thiosulphate or ammonium thiosulphate, and then the film or paper must be washed in clean water. The final image consists of metallic silver embedded in the gelatin coating.

George Eastman (Kodak)1879 - Eastman invented an emulsion-coating machine which enabled him to mass-produce photographic dry plates.1880 - Eastman began commercial production of dry plates in a rented loft of a building in Rochester, N.Y.1886 - George Eastman became one of the first American industrialists to employ a fulltime research scientist to aid in the commercialization of a flexible, transparent film base.1888 - The name "Kodak" was born and the KODAK camera was placed on the market, with the slogan, "You press the button - we do the rest." This was the birth of snapshot photography, as millions of amateur picturetakers know it today.1889 - The first commercial transparent roll film, perfected by Eastman and his research chemist, was put on the market. The availability of this flexible film made possible the development of Thomas Edison's motion picture camera in 1891.

Kodak1891 - The company marketed its first daylight-loading camera, which meant that the photographer could now reload the camera without using a darkroom. 1898 - Kodak marketed the Folding Pocket KODAK Camera, now considered the ancestor of all modern roll-film cameras. It produced a 2 1/4-inch by 3 1/4-inch negative, which remained the standard size for decades.

Kodak1900 - The first of the famous BROWNIE Cameras was introduced. It sold for $1 and used film that sold for 15 cents a roll. For the first time, the hobby of photography was within the financial reach of virtually everyone.

Kodaks Roll Film Box Camera Patent Diagram

Leica1924: Leica Camera introduced. The first mass produced roll film camera. Surpassed the Kodak Box Camera.

Exacta 35mm SLRThe Exacta surpassed the functionality of the Leica.

Photography as Fine ArtPhotography emerged as an art form in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Especially significant in this development was the work of Alfred Stieglitz. Many early art photographers focused their lens on creating a photographic counterpart of painting, including impressionist painting, Stieglitz moved toward a gritty, hard realism in his work. From 1903 to 1917, he published Camera Work, a journal for the new photographers.

Stieglitz

SteichenEdward Steichen is known as the first real American fine art photographer. He was a contemporary of Stieglitz.

Edward WestonWeston was an influential pictorialist and abstract photographer whose images stand the test of time. Known for his elegant nudes and still-life images. His art spanned 1906-1948.

Ansel AdamsPhotographer, conservationist; born in San Francisco. A commercial photographer for 30 years, he made visionary photos of western landscapes that were inspired by a boyhood trip to Yosemite. He won three Guggenheim grants to photograph the national parks (1944--58). In 1932, he developed zone exposure to get maximum tonal range from black-and-white film.

Man RayKnown for his abstract, surreal portraits. Man Ray championed the photogram, which he called rayograms or rayographies.

Photography and Social ReformDuring the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era (1877-1917), photography was increasingly used as a method of documentation. The photographer's audience became the mass readership of newspapers, magazines, and books. The media became a buffer between the wealthy and the working class, framing events so that middle-class and upper-class audiences could maintain their distance and choose their level of involvement in the issues at hand.Photographers of the documentary stylea genre not so-named until the early twentieth centuryattempted to capture the realities of life in nineteenth-century America. Social reformers such as Jacob Riis and Lewis Hine used the medium of photography to bring evidence of their claims to these viewers. Their style of photography may best be called "social reform," for each photographer used the medium to effect social change.

Lewis HineLewis Hine: Known for his images of child labor.

Jacob Riis:

Photographed the slums of New York city and the tenement dwellers during the Early 1900s.

Dorothea LangeAn influential documentary photographer. Lange is best known for her Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA). Lange's photographs humanized the tragic consequences of the Great Depression and profoundly influenced the development of documentary photography. From 1935 to 1940, Lange's work for the FSA brought the plight of the poor and forgotten, particularly displaced farm families and migrant workers, to public attention. Distributed free of charge to newspapers across the country, her poignant images quickly became icons of the era.

Margaret Bourke-WhitePhotojournalist and influential female photographer born in the Bronx, New York, 1904. Worked for Fortune and Life magazines. During the mid-1930s, Bourke-White, like Dorothea Lange, photographed drought victims of the Dust Bowl. During World War II and after Bourke-White was the first female war correspondent and the first woman to be allowed to work in combat zones during the war.

Modern Photography (1930- present)Paul Strand: Straight forward compositions are the best.Lisette Model: Her candid and avant garde portraits of people on the fringes of society was inspirational to many others. Brassai: Photographed people and the streets of Paris, France.Tina Modotti: Communist, actress, film maker, modelaggressive and sympathetic photographer.Irving Penn: Premiere fashion and editorial photographer

Modern PhotographersDiane Arbus: a student of Lisette model, photographed the fringes of societyRichard Avedon: Celebrated art and fashion photographer with a prolific career.Herb Ritts: Photojournalist and portrait photographer.Larry Clark: Controversial photographer-film maker curious about adolescence.

Current TrendsettersAnnie Leibovitz: Documentarian and celebrity/musician photographer. Worked for Rolling Stone magazine.Mario Testino: Fashion, dignitaries, world leaders are high subjects.David La Chapelle: Known for his avant garde, high color hop-hop style. Very popular with musicians and celebrities.Martin Parr: Similar to Paul Strand, prefers straight forward compositions.

Other Important Facts1880s: Magnesium powder flash1890: Twin Lens Reflex camera1907: Color film, Kodaks Kodachrome1927: Electric flashbulb for artificial lighting1929-1932: Polaroid cameras1943: First SLR with prism viewfinder