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An Essay On The History Of Photography
history of photography and photojournalism
An Essay On The History Of Photography
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Photography wasn’t considered a form of art in the United States until the turn of the century when a man named Alfred Steiglitz fought throughout his lifetime to make sure we recognized it as an art form. It was only used as a form of science up until then. There is a lot of chemistry when it comes to photography; mixing different chemicals for film and paper as well as the four or five different “baths” for each the film and paper. And to know what film to use, which paper and what chemicals will form the best possible images. This is why most people pay to get their film developed. Photography is really complex due to the different kinds of sciences, art and imagination involved.
We’ve already mentioned the chemistry, and very briefly the art of photography; now we will explore some of the physics of photography. Light rays, lenses, mirrors and prisms are a few examples of physical forms of photography. On the next page are three images to help understand the significance of the cameras lens, and the complexity of controlling the light waves.
The first image is of a man smoking a tobacco pipe in front of an exposed sheet of film. Shown are two focal points of light rays bouncing in all directions. Instead of producing an image onto the film, the rays will just completely expose the film.
The second image is of the same man, but in the middle of him and the sheet of film is a convex lens. What the convex lens does differently is redirect the light path from one single point onto corresponding point on the film.
The third image is an example of why we use convex lenses instead of other lenses. The first lens in the picture hit the lens straightforward, not refracting. The second lens is similar but at an angle so some rays are refracted but the rays are not affected and continue to go straight.
The media object selected for analysis is the Daguerreotype. Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre (1787-1851), a Romantic painter and printmaker, had introduced the Daguerreotype on 7th January 1839 and would forever change the perspectives of the visual experience through photography (Daniel, 2004). Ever since the advent of the Daguerreotype, people were able to view a detailed imprinting of a certain visual frame on a treated sheet of copper (which today is called the film) (Daniel, 2004).
A process based on selection instead of synthesis-the invention of photography provided a radically new picture making process. As different materials we...
Question 2: Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre made the Louis Daguerre in 1838, which was made with a camera obscura but had no color in it. The Daguerreotype manuals went around the world a year later and begin studies on the process. Historical it was the first photograph and changed the art world view on images because it was just so perfectly designed.
A unique stage of progress in photography is the discovery of the pinhole technique. The history of the pinhole technique originated with observations made by Aristotle’s in the 4th century (Chernewski 2010). This philosopher was known for writing about his interpretations regarding pinhole photography. Following Aristotle’s observations, philosopher Mo Ti conducted experiments geared towards researching the properties of light. Mo was able to determine that light travels in straight lines (Grepstad 1996). Upon discovering that light travels in a straight line, Mo was able to record the formation of an inverted image with a pinhole camera (Grepstad 1996). Although Mo was able to understand the pinhole technique, it wasn’t until the 16th century when Leonardo Da Vinci was able to provide a clear description of a pinhole camera (Chernewski 2010). The end result of these philosophers’ experimentations was the development of the pinhole technique using a pinhole camera. They were able to create a new method in which people could capture images through photography.
Photography is a form of art, the ability to capture moments that we share and experience throughout our life. Moments that we can share and show others, moments that can show the expression, emotion, and history. Photography has literally shaped how we see the world and the people in it. It has given us the opportunity to keep records of historical moments that will forever remember and it has given us the chance to show other how life varied for everyone in this world. That is what photographer Jamie Johnson shows us through her work such as Vices and Irish Travelers.
The Birth of Photography goes way back to the very early stages of it’s development, in 1565 it was found that certain silver salts turned black when open to an element, which at this time they believed to be air. It wasn’t until mid 1720’s when they discovered it was in fact light that reacted with the salts to turn them black; this led to numerous amounts of unsuccessful trials at capturing images in a lasting, photochemical form. Many scientists, amateur inventors and artists passionately pursued developing this form throughout the 29th century. A French scientist, Joseph Niepce was the man who made this process a success. He took an eight-hour exposure of what is believed to be his courtyard outside his house and created the first paper negative in 1816. It took another three years before a fixing agent was discovered for this process and the term ‘photography’ was born. It was hundreds of years till photography had reached this stage but over the next 80 years progression in photography was dramatic. Different techniques were tried and tested but most common was the black-and-white method, which dates back to the birth of photography. “In this ‘gelatin silver’ technique, a sheet of paper is coated with a mixture of white pigment and gelatin, then with a gelatin / silver-salts solution. It is exposed to light through a negative and developed in a chemical solution.” (Wheeler, 2002, p.9)
Light shines through a revolving semi-translucent reel, projecting 24 different pictures a second. “In a projection booth, Tyler did changeovers if the theater was old enough. With changeovers, you have two projectors in the booth, and one projector is running. I know this because Tyler knows this. The second projector is set up with the next reel of film.”(Palahniuk, 13) Light, rapidly changing, reflects off the screen forming the illusion of movement in the spectators’ eyes. “As most of the movie rolls onto the take-up reel, the take-up reel turns slower and the feed reel has to turn faster.” (Palahniuk, 15) Light, absorbed into rod cells, is flipped in the brain where, combined with the audio, forms a scene. Add taste, smell, touch, and
in the background are created with a certain radiance of brightness. You see the man in
Photography as a profession has developed along with the advancements of camera technology. Photographers can be seen everywhere, whether they are highly advanced or a just a mere amatuer. Many people find a living in this business by taking professional photographs for families, sports events, and even the traditional senior pictures.
Have you ever seen a painting or picture that captivates you and directly stirs up emotion within you? More than likely, you have. Usually, viewers merely observe the picture and enjoy the way it looks and how it makes them feel. But, have you ever asked yourself, “why?” What about the picture makes it pleasing to the viewer? With each strategy the photographer uses creates their own touch and passion that floods all over the picture. The emotional connection nearly goes unnoticed for when the picture is well photographed, the viewers experience the sensation in their subconscious. This is one of the most powerful tools that a photographer holds in their hands. If one can become a master of manipulating how the photo affects its viewers, the said photographer can potentially maneuver people’s minds and thoughts with one click of a button. The time spent with my mentor has opened up the door for me to tap into that power though the use of background, focus, shutter speed, angles, and most importantly, lighting. Even with all these techniques, the person behind the camera must remember that creativity must be at the forefront of all operations. Caleno (2014), when writing about the basics of capturing a beautiful moment in a picture commented, “If we want to be creative we must drop these pre-conceptions and start looking at things from a small child’s innocence.”
So next time you see a film, notice the small tints of color, the abundance of it, or maybe the lack of it entirely. You’ll see that the film becomes much more clearer.
When going for a walk, a person takes in the beauty around them. On this particular day, the refulgent sun is extra bright, making the sky a perfect blue. White, puffy clouds fill the sky, slowing moving at their own pace. The wind is peacefully calm, making the trees stand tall and proud. There is no humidity in the air. As this person walks down the road, they see a deer with her two fawns. The moment is absolutely beautiful. Moments like this happen only once in a great while, making us wanting to stay in the particular moment forever. Unfortunately, time moves on, but only if there were some way to capture the day’s magnificence. Thanks to Joseph Niépce, we can now capture these moments and others that take our breath away. The invention of the camera and its many makeovers has changed the art of photography.
Photogrammetry has been defined by the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing as the art, science, and technology of obtaining reliable information about physical objects and the environment through process of recording, measuring, and interpreting photographic images and patterns of recorded radiant electromagnetic energy and other phenomena. Even though photogrammetry has expanded to include analysis of the other records, photographs are still the principal source of information.
If we go back beyond Lumière Brothers’ projection of their cinematography in Paris over Christmas 1895, which is too straightforward birth narration of cinema; ancient visual forms like Egyptian hieroglyphics or pre-cinematic technologies of image capture and projection, known as magic lanterns, employing a series of lenses and light sources, were early proof of humanity mesmerised by the play and tricks of light and shades.
Thesis: It's essential to know your camera’s features and settings if you want to take the best possible photos!