HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY:
CONCEPTS
Who's who of photography: An introduction to the names that shaped the medium
| The history of photography
KEY
TAKE-AWAYS
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Al Hazen
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Camera Obscura
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Johann Heinrich Schulze
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Silver Compounds
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Henry Fox Talbot
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Calotype
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Louis Daguerre
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Daguerrotype
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Head holder
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George Eastman
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Wet/dry plate process
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Plastic roll film​
| Alhazen
1.2: The History of Photography / People & Concepts
CAMERA OBSCURA
and pinhole cameras
Before photography could exist as we know it, a number of important milestones had to be crossed. The challenge of storing an image, or writing with light, dates back to what we might consider the early days of science. There were two key details that had to be invented before a photograph could exist. An image had to be captured and confined within a defined frame, and that image then had to be stored in some permanent way. The Camera Obscura (which is Latin for dark room) provided the first half of the equation: projecting an image.
| Camera Obscura
| Camera Obscura
There is a significant amount of controversy surrounding the use of the camera obscura, which circles mainly around what would today be called plagiarism, or cheating. Artists of the day perceived this technology as a threat and considered its use unartistic, though it is generally believed the techniques were widely used by Renaissance artists like Leonardo, Michelangelo and others. In the mid 16th century, Giovanni Battista della Portacentury, an Italian scholar, wrote an essay on how to use camera obscura in aid of making the drawing process easier. He projected the image of people outside the camera obscura on the canvas inside of it (camera obscura was a rather big room in this case) and then drew over the image or tried to copy it.
Regardless of the controversy surrounding its use, today we can state that camera obscura was a prototype of the modern photo camera. Even though its relevance seems limited today, the principles of this ancient technology are still important. Some artists still use these basic principles for artistic reasons, or simply for fun.
| Video: Remembering Al Haytham
| Vans: Not just for driving any more
References:
http://photography.tutsplus.com/articles/a-history-of-photography-part-1-the-beginning–photo-1908
QUESTIONS 1.2a:
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How does the invention of the camera obscura pave the way for the development of photography? In other words which of the two key photographic concepts or problems does it address?
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Compare a Camera Obscura to a typical photographic camera by describing its physical properties and how light travels into it.
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What is the controversy surrounding the use of camera obscura during the Renaissance?
HW
It is believed that Camera Obscura was invented during the 13th and 14th centuries, however it may be more accurate to say that there were developments over time that led to the development of the final prototype by this point. An Arabic scholar named Alhazen is generally credited with its invention, but the Chinese philosopher Mo-Ti (5th century BC) and Aristotle (384-322 BC) used techniques that are very close to Alhazen’s Camera Obscura. The term “Camera Obscura” wasn’t applied to the apparatus until the early 17th century by the German astronomer Johannes Kepler.
A Camera Obscura is essentially a dark, closed space in the shape of a box with a hole on one side. The hole has to be small enough in proportion to the box to make the camera obscura work properly. Light travels in a straight line and when some of the rays reflected from a bright subject pass through a small hole in thin material they do not scatter but cross and re-form as an upside down image on a flat surface held parallel to the hole. Because of the laws of optics, however, the image is mirrored and upside down. This is, in essence, the way your eye works.
The field of photography wasn't a discovery. It was much more of a series of developments that lead to photography as we think of it today. Each contribution built on existing ideas and concepts. Looking back we can trace the path that this exploration took, but much of the evolution of this field was forged by kitchen chemists, working by themselves, building on the work of others.
PANTOGRAPHE
The
An early drawing tool used for making a smaller copy of an image, using a series of intersecting blades.
PHYSIONOTRACE
The
A development based on the Pantographe used to trace the subject's shadow, and thus their likeness.
DAGUERREOTYPE
The
| Daguerre
Projecting the image on the inside of a room was only part of the solution. The Camera Obscura evolved over time to include lenses and methods for drawing the projected image, but a reliable method of recording the projected image proved to be elusive. Though Johann Heinrich Schultz had demonstrated the photosensitive nature of silver compounds, the missing piece was figuring out how to fix the image permanently. Building on the work of his associate, Nicéphore Niépce, French artist Louis Daguerre would eventually develop a process that would solve this riddle and thus make photography possible. Niépce and Daguerre had experimented with a number of chemical processes including variations of silver and salt, which lead to exposures with remarkably clear images on a highly polished silver plate. The patent for the process, named the Daguerreotype, was purchased by the French government and promptly made freely available. This took both the art and science worlds by storm and photography was born. The Daguerreotype's only fault seems to be that photos could only be reproduced by taking a photo of the original, creating grainy, poor quality reproductions.
| The first photo ever taken:
The View from the Window at La Gras, by Niépce
| Daguerre worked with and built on the developments of Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, who had taken the world's first photograph using a heliograph, seen below.
References:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwV-HikQ63I
http://www.photo-museum.org/photography-history/
| Video: The Daguerreotype
CALOTYPE
Process
The
| Fox Talbot
In England, around the same time that Daguerre was working on a similar and related process, Henry Fox Talbot was finalizing years of work that would inform the standard for photography for decades. Based on a number of failed attempts to create a reasonable drawing using existing tools, Talbot gave up on drawing and decided to focus his attention on creating what we would now call photographic images using a Camera Obscura. The groundwork already existed: Alhazen had provided the method of projection and Johann Heinrich Schultz had demonstrated the photosensitive nature of silver compounds. The missing piece (which unknown to Fox Talbot, was also being worked on by Daguerre in France) was figuring out how to fix the image permanently. Talbot experimented with photogenic drawings and salted paper prints, which are the building blocks for his most successful development, the Calotype.
The Calotype used a similar technique to his earlier processes, but importantly, the Calotype produced a negative image that could be re-exposed to create additional, identical positive proofs. Although this significant technical advantage meant Talbot's process was superior to Daguerre's, events outside of his control meant that Talbot's work would gain neither the momentum nor the popularity achieved by the Daguerreotype.
References:
| Calotype negative and positive images
| A century earlier, in 1727, Johann Heinrich Schultz experimented with silver compounds and proved that light, not heat caused the darkening of chalk treated with silver nitrate.
| Video: Talbot's Processes
QUESTIONS 1.2b:
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Although the Daguerreotype created a very clear image and was more popular than the Calotype, the Daguerreotype had one major problem. What was it?
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Despite this problem, the Daguerreotype was still much more successful than the Calotype. What was one main reason for this?
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(BONUS) If Johann Heinrich Schultz is an important person in the development of photography why aren't there any photos of him on Google (or anywhere)?
HW
| Eastman
GEORGE EASTMAN
and the Kodak Company
If one person can be credited with bringing photography into the public forum, arguably this honour should go to George Eastman. Before Eastman, photography was cumbersome, and expensive, despite advancements by Wedgewood, Archer and others. Photography required a lot of specialized, heavy equipment, and the photographer had to prepare and work with chemical emulsions on site. All of this added up to photography as a specialty, practiced by professionals - a situation that was about to change dramatically, forever.
F.Scott Archer had already developed a wet plate process, where glass was coated with a gelatin emulsion, but the glass was heavy, and the photo had to be taken before the gel dried - which was only about a 20 minute window. In addition, a dark room was required on site to deal with the photosensitive plates and chemicals. Eastman worked with chemists and photographers to develop dry plates, a much more portable method of storing photographs.
Eastman started a small company, which he named Kodak. The name had no meaning, but Eastman had learned that most languages included the letter K, and he wanted his company to begin with this letter, which, oddly, he particularly liked. The company was immensely successful and held a global monopoly for decades. This success was based on successful patents, ingenious products, and clever marketing.
Most notably, the Kodak 1, and later the Brownie, changed everything. These small, hand-held cameras, paired with plastic roll film removed the need for any training at all, and in fact the cameras were marketed to children, based on their ease of use. A camera could be purchased for $25 and included 100 exposures. When the exposures were finished, the camera was sent to Kodak where the film was processed and sent back to the customer.
Photography flourished. Eastman's company, with its tagline 'You push the button, we do the rest' sold cameras by the hundreds of thousands and amateur photography was born.
References:
http://www.notablebiographies.com/Du-Fi/Eastman-George.html
QUESTIONS 1.2c:
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Think about the previous methods of taking a 'photograph' (heliograph, Daguerreotype, calotype). Explain how George Eastman’s Kodak camera made photography accessible to everyone. Consider complexity and cost in your answer.
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What was the name of Kodak’s groundbreaking, famous camera?
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The motto 'You push the button, we do the rest' was a major part of changing how people thought about photography. Thinking about the 5 reasons we take photograph, explain how the Brownie helped shift photography away from being a scientific endeavour.
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Answer all questions from this page (1.2a, 1.2b and 1.2c) in a Google Doc titled The History of Photography / People & Concepts.
Submit the link in Brightspace 1.2 assignment dropbox