History Of Photography

History of Photography Objective: The student will be able to understand the evolution of the photographic process from its beginning to its present day form. Slide 1
There have been 4 catalysts or major shifts in the development of photography.
Discuss Note Taking Tips

Catalysts come in many forms
What is a catalyst for you doing well in school?
What was the catalyst for the cell phone?
Slide 1a

300 B.C.
Aristotle
observed the effect
of the camera obscura.
camera obscura Slide 2
Saw the aspect of how light forms an image when constricted to a very small opening

camera - obscura chamber - dark Slide 2a

Leonardo Da Vinci
experimented
with the camera obscura in 1490.
Slide 3
He used it to help with his drawings

Camera Obscura in a tent Slide 3a

Early Obscuras Slide 3b

Girl with a Pearl Earring
A young peasant maid working in the house of painter Johannes Vermeer (Colin Firth) becomes his talented assistant (Scarlett Johansson) and the model for one of his most famous works.
Slide 3b1

Making a Camera Obscura… and turning it into a camera by putting a piece of photo paper in it.
http://users.rcn.com/stewoody/makecam.htm
http://www.flickr.com/photos/archers_eye/230775611/
Slide 3b2

Fortunately, your camera is ready to go
As you come into the classroom, get two (2) pinhole cameras. Take note if any comments have been written on the bottom of the camera regarding the exposure (i.e. exposure compensation).
After you get your camera, head straight to the darkroom with your paper safe , your camera , and your supply coupon . Keep your photo paper safes at your station so when you finish your first set of picture, you can reload.
Buy your photo paper. (We buy in small amounts so we don't have to worry about waste...or damage...or theft.)
To conserve paper, you may choose to cut down your paper to 5x8 for your first round of pictures.
Put your name only, very small, along the very edge of your paper (on the back). Do NOT put your name in the center. Also TRY to put the camera number you used for that sheet of paper.
Load your pinhole camera(s) with a sheet of paper, either 5x8 or 8x10. The 8x10 sheet paper will be horizontal in the box. Or, if you are doing a 5x8, it will be vertical. In the case of the vertical, you will want to put a small piece of masking tape behind the paper to keep it pressed against the back of the container. The emulsion should be facing the lens of the camera. IOW, the armadillo is doing a back bend inside the Oatmeal can. Be careful to notice that the shutter is closed and that you have placed the black sheet over the end secured with a rubber band.
Go outside and find a picture you want to capture. You will only be getting one or two shots...maybe three, tops. So, make them count. If you got two cameras, you can shoot both at the same time. You might want to try a self portrait with one of your pictures. Try staying very still during the entire exposure. Or, staying very still during half of the exposure and then getting out of the picture during the exposure.
Position the pinhole camera so that it will be very steady. Try to find an evenly lit scene. Avoid pointing the camera directly at the sun. It could starburst, but more than likely it will just blow out the paper (solid black).
Carefully open the shutter. Be very careful that the camera does not move during the exposure. I will give the exposure time during class, but generally, if it is sunny, your exposure will be 30-60 seconds. If it is completely overcast, the exposure could be as long as 5-7 minutes.
Carefully close the shutter.
Return to the darkroom and remove the photo paper and process.
Repeat process, increasing and decreasing time for your camera and/or specific scene. Remember, you are shooting a NEGATIVE…so light areas will appear dark. So, it is normal to have a dark negative. However, there should be some light parts of the pictures. If your print is TOO dark, there might be something wrong with your camera.
Slide 3b3

Pinhole Camera – Modern Day Camera Obscuras Slide 3b4

Obscura in YOUR room… Slide 3c

Pinhole Camera – V61 Porch – by Julie Canant Slide 3g

b Slide 3h

Camera Obscura Analogy
Camera Obscura was to the Early Artist
like the
Digital Camera is to the New Photography Explosion
Slide 3i

Silver salts turn dark
Johan Schulze discovered that
silver salts darken
when exposed to light
in 1727.
Slide 4

Silver Salts Turn to Metal
1777
Carl William Scheele
discovered
silver salts darken
because they have been
converted to metallic silver.
Slide 5

Image Made Permanent
1819
Sir John Herschel
used
Sodium thiosulfate
to make
the image permanent
(FIXER)
Slide 6

The word “Photography” given by Hershel Greek Origin: Photo - graph light - writing Slide 6a

Writing with Light Slide 6b

Show Sprint Commercial (time permitting)
Writing with Light
Light Warfare (from YouTube)

First Recorded Exposure, 1826
Joseph N. Niepce exposed first image for 8 hours
entered into partnership with Daguerre; he died before process was perfected.
Slide 7 Niepce called this process "heliography" or sun drawing

1839…a busy year for photography
A Daguerreotype and Calotype were being developed simultaneously.
Slide 8 Daguerreotype on the left…tilt the tray at an angle when it comes around to you…it’s the shiny one

Daguerreotype, 1839
1839
Louis Daguerre
made the
Daguerreotype,
a silver image
on a copper plate.
Slide 8a

Daguerreotype, silver image It took from 5 to 40 minutes to expose, although by 1841 the process was improved to less than one minute. Slide 8a

5 Min Exposure
I stood in each place for 1.5 minutes.
5 Minutes made for a proper exposure of the building…but not for me in any one of the places I stood.

Long Exposures are fun…especially with digital
6 – 10 minute exposures stacked (60’ mins total)…taken in Breckenridge, CO , 11/2009. It was so cold (10 ◦ ), I set the camera up, then ran back to the car across 50 yards of snow and rocks 6 times.

Daguerre’s process involved treating a thin sheet of silver-plate with fumes from heated crystals of iodine to make it light sensitive. It was developed by vapors of heated mercury. Slide 8b

Disadvantages of the Daguerrotype:
reversed image
one per exposure
shiny surface
Slide 9

Calotype by Talbot, 1839
1839
William Henry Fox Talbot
developed the
Calotype, the first
negative-positive system.
Slide 10 Daguerreotypes were better than calotypes in terms of detail and quality, but could not be reproduced; calotypes were reproducible, but suffered from the fact that any print would also show the imperfections of the paper. Calotypes also required longer exposures. Very similar to what you are doing with your Photogram & Pinhole cameras

First American Photographer
1839
Samuel Morse
was the first
American
photographer.
Slide 11 Morse's first portraits were made using exposures of between 10 and 20 minutes, which must have been an unbelievable ordeal to the sitters!

Albumin from eggs
1848
M. Niepce de
Saint-Victor
introduced
albumin process
from hen eggs.
Slide 12 Calotypes passed the imperfections of the paper negative. The answer was to use glass. Albumin allowed for the chemicals to adhere to glass…providing very fine detail and much higher quality.

Collodion by Archer, 1851
1851
Frederick Archer
introduced the
collodion
process.
Slide 13

Wet Collodion on Glass
1854
Wet Collodion process
on glass
(Ambrotype)
requires less
exposure.
Slide 14 Collodion was a viscous liquid that dried as a very thin film…ideal for dressing and protecting wounds (still available today). It used to make the exposure time even quicker, 2-3 sec seconds. It was used on a glass base making for even sharper images.

Wet Collodion, 7/4/1890 Slide 14a

Early cameras
Although pretty old looking, you can still buy a camera like the above.
Slide 14c

Large Cameras are still very much used today.
Only recently have digital backs for these camera become available…for a cool $30k.
Slide 14d

Tintype, 1856
1856
Hamilton Smith
introduced the
Ferrograph
or Tintype.
Slide 15 This type of print was on a metallic plate and was very popular with the soldiers because it held up to the elements (rain).

Photography Tax Stamp
1854-56
The United States
Federal Government
imposed a stamp
tax on photography.
Slide 16

Mathew Brady – Civil War
1860’s
Mathew Brady,
a portrait photographer,
is noted for
the coverage of
the Civil War.
Slide 17 Brady was a student of Samuel Morse. Because of Brady, War Photography took on a new LIFE, bringing the images of war to the home for the first time. His refinements to make photography more practical in the field were key to the technological development of photography.

Mathew Brady photo Slide 17a

Alexander Gardner photo Slide 17b

Dead Confederate Soldier with rifle Slide 17c

Former slaves collecting bones of soldiers killed in the Battle of Cold Harbor over a year after the battle was fought. Slide 17d

A photograph of the crowd during the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery. Notice the blurred people. Slide 17e

Dry Plate
1871
Dr. R. L. Maddox
in Britain
produced the first
commercial
dry plate.
Slide 18 Prior to this, people still had to pour on the chemicals on the medium. This would be like getting up each morning and having to make your pop-tarts from scratch.

First Motion Pictures
1872
Eadweard Muybridge
used 24 cameras in
sequence to record horses
running. (first study in
animal locomotion)
Slide 19 This technique is used still today in movies like Matrix to show stop action.

First Motion Pictures Slide 19a The 24 cameras were lined up down a track…and then fired as the race horse passed by.

First Motion Pictures Slide 19b The 24 cameras were lined up down a track…and then fired as the race horse passed by.

George Eastman
1880
George Eastman
marketed dry plates &
later introduced the first
flexible roll film on a
paper base . This made photography popular for the average person.
Slide 20

The Kodak Camera $25 is still a lot today…but back then…this was the equivalent of $2,140. Even still…this was VERY appealing to many more people than previously possible. Slide 20c Cost $25.00. It made 100 2.5” round photos. After taking the pictures, you sent the camera to Kodak to process the film.

Flexible film on transparent film
1887
Hannibal Goodwin
patented the first
flexible roll film on a
transparent base .
Slide 21 Although George Eastman developed the first flexible film for the Kodak, it was on paper. The transparent base by Goodwin was superior for it’s clarity and ability to render sharp pictures.

Edison – introduced movies
1889
Thomas Alva Edison
introduced
motion pictures.
Slide 22 The first cameras were hand cranked. A person would pull the film through a camera that was taking pictures through a rotating shutter, providing about 12 frames per second. This is why the early pictures were so jumpy…especially compared to today cameras that capture ___ frames per second.
Have you seen one of the earliest video clips ever discovered?

Gieco Commercial
No of course not…movies did NOT exist prior to April 15, 1865.
Slide 22a

First 35mm Camera
1924
Oscar Barnack
developed the first
35mm still camera,
the
Leica .
Slide 23 The first 35mm miniature camera available commercially. It’s small size and large opening lenses allowed for candids and portraits to be taken where previously not possible or allowed. Even today, the brand name Leica is considered to be one of the finest cameras you can buy. It is to photography like the Rolls Royce is to the automobile.

Flash Photography
1930’s
Dr. Harold Edgerton (1903-1990)
invented the high speed
stroboscope.
Slide 24 Edgerton is considered to be one of the 15 most influential inventors of the 20 th Century and is most known for his flash photography work with pictures such as a bullet through an apple…or the famous milk drop. The stroboscope made rapid motion stop in time.

Flash Photography Slide 24c Older methods to light a scene with a flash were quite dangerous as they literally ignited flammable material that flared up very brightly in a flash of light. People standing in front of a flash were sometimes burned by flying debris. Flash bulbs were made that contained a flammable filament to quickly ignite a gas inside of the bulb providing a burst of light. Before the electronic flash, bulbs could only be used once.

d Flash powder is a pyrotechnic composition, a mixture of oxidizer and metallic fuel which burns quickly and if confined will produce a loud report. It is widely used in theatrical pyrotechnics and fireworks (firecrackers), and was once used for flashes in photography.

Flash Bar
You could get 4-5 flashes…then flip the bar over for another 4-5.
Slide 24f

Rear Curtain Sync Flash
Flash goes off at the END of a long exposure.
Slide 24h

Rear Curtain Sync Flash
Flash goes off at the END of a long exposure.
Slide 24i

Slide Film
1935
Eastman Kodak Company
introduced
Kodachrome,
the first color transparency
(positive) film.
Slide 25 This is known as SLIDE film…and more many years was the only way to have your work published in a magazine. Until VERY recently, some publishers still required slides…although most are now accepting digital files…as long as they are VERY high resolution.

Slide Film Slide 25a

Slides were the Premier way
To show you work to an audience
And to have your work printed in magazines
But it was difficult to get a print from
Slide 25b

Example of 35mm scanner
Minolta DualScan IV
Scans slides or film
Slide 25c

Negative film
1942
Eastman Kodak Company
introduced
Kodacolor,
the first color reversal
(negative) film.
Slide 26 This film is very similar to the film used in modern film cameras. The image is recorded as a negative image…that is then converted to a positive when the picture is printed.

Negative film Slide 26 a

Color Pictures Slide 26 b

Polaroid Cameras
1947
Dr. Edward Land
developed the first
camera for
instant pictures.
(Polaroid Land camera)
Slide 27 Polaroid cameras provided a way to see how a picture might turn out and were very important in certain situations where it would be useful to see a picture right away. Pictures are still very expensive. Polaroid (the company) has struggled to stay in business in recent years. Polaroid is now making digital cameras…right along with Kodak.

Polaroid Cameras Slide 27b

Polaroid Cameras
This was VERY novel…in that you could take a picture…and WHAMO…there it is!
The picture contains a chemical pack that is burst open and spread out over the print emulsion to begin the processing.
Slide 27c

Polaroid Cameras
This one came with a an electronic flash.
Slide 27d

Videography
And now we have
instant movies
through the magic
of
videography.
Slide 28 Yes, videography is a word. It is what video technicians at Ch 6, 12, and 4 call themselves. ☺

Resources
http://www.neatorama.com/2006/08/29/the-wonderful-world-of-early-photography/
http://www.archives.gov/research/civil-war/photos/
http://www.mikelynaugh.com/VirtualCivilWar/New/Originals2/index.html
Slide 29

History Of Photography

by Drew Loker on Oct 21, 2008

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History Of Photography — Presentation Transcript