The Development of Photography and Film

Art critic Robert Hughes once said, “People inscribe their histories, beliefs, attitudes, desires and dreams in the images they make.” When discussing the mediums of photography and cinema, this belief of Hughes is not very hard to process and understand. Images, whether they be still or moving, can transform their audiences to places they have either never been before or which they long to return to. Images have been transporting audiences for centuries thanks to both the mediums of photography and cinema and together they gone through many changes and developments. When careful consideration is given to these two mediums, it is acceptable to say that they will forever be intertwined, and that they have been interrelated forms of art, communication and entertainment ever since Thomas Edison successfully invented the first Kinetoscope in 1894. Photography itself, as well as the photographical aspects of cinema (cinematography), have influenced our society for decades and have literally shaped the pacing of our lives, changed what we think about and even what we think with.

Looking through a viewfinder and a lens to capture a single moment does not take a lot of expertise; it is really a simple thing to do. However, if a person truly appreciates the art of photography then they take their time and concentrate on the object, person or event they are trying to capture in order to find its true meaning and do the picture justice. “The professional photographer tries, when taking a photograph, to choose an instant which will persuade the public viewer to lend it an appropriate past and future. The photographer’s intelligence or his empathy with the subject defines for him what is appropriate. Yet unlike the story-tell...

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