This document provides a history of photojournalism from 1839 to the present. It describes the major technological advancements that have enabled photojournalists to improve their efficiency and impact over time. These include the development of the camera obscura and wet plate process in the 1800s, box cameras and roll film in the late 1800s, the Leica camera in the 1920s, and digital cameras, smartphones, drones and wireless technology in more recent decades. Each new technology allowed photojournalists to capture and share images more easily, quickly and from new perspectives.

1. HISTORY OF
PHOTOJOURNALISM

2. 2
1839: CAMERA OBSCURA
▪ Camera obscura works on the Daguerreotype process.
It is a sophisticated process requiring knowledge of
physical and chemical phenomenon. It uses chemicals
such as silver plated sheets of copper, hypo and
mercury fumes. Although this was a complex process,
it was a huge advancement at that time.
Image : Camera Obscura

3. 3
1848: WET COLLOIDAL PROCESS
▪ The wet plate process was used by Roger Fenton to cover the Crimea War. It required preparing
glass plates before taking the photos and using chemicals after taking a photo. Photojournalists
had to carry large equipment with them to take photos. However, it allowed photojournalists a
portable way to take images anywhere.
Image : Wet Colloidal Process

4. 4
1871 : DRY PLATE COLLOIDAL PROCESS
▪ Unlike the wet plate process, this process consisted of already prepared plates using gelatin.
Exposure took 5-7 minutes and was slower than the wet plate process. However, by 1880, dry plates
became as fast as wet plates, and the cumbersome wet plate died out. This enabled photographers to
create already prepared plates to take photographs and improve photojournalism efficiency.
Image : Dry Plate Colloidal Process

5. 5
1888: BLACK AND WHITE ROLL FILM
▪ Eastman introduced the first roll film
known as the box camera. He marketed
the film in his own camera, called a
Kodak. It was a very small camera, with
the slogan, "You push the button and we
do the rest!" The camera came with 100
exposures, and after you'd shoot them,
you returned the entire thing to Eastman
for processing. It was also affordable for
the masses and did not involve the use
of chemicals.
Image : Box Camera

6. 6
1925:LEICA CAMERA
The invention of the Leica 35 mm camera collided with modern printing techniques, and ledto the birth
of Time magazine. Leica was in the shape of a rectangular box with the supply of surplus film in 35 mm
format. This invention truly revolutionized the field of photojournalism. Its size made it easy to carry,
and provided photojournalists with the freedom to take many shots. Later versions of this camera
introduced the interchangeable lens.
Image : Leica Camera

7. 7
1930: SPEED GRAPHIC CAMERA
▪ This was the dominant, portable, professional
camera from the 1930's through the end of the
1950's. It came with interchangeable lenses and
a double extension bellows adaptable to lenses
from 90mm to over 300mm. This camera was
used by Weegee. By this time, flashpowders
were used to take images during the night time.
Image : Weegee with his camera

8. 8
1948: SINGLE LENS REFLEX CAMERA
▪ Single Lens cameras used a prism and mirror mechanism, in which the image you saw was
the image you take. It does not have a viewfinder; therefore, it was also considered a step
backward in technology. In previous cameras, there were two different lens for viewing and
image taking.
Image : Single Lens Camera

9. 9
1970: ELECTRONIC NEWSPAPER
▪ Although newspapers in electronic format first
appeared in the 1970s, online delivery of news
emerged in the 1990s. In these early versions,
the content was text-based, and was delivered
from online services such as America Online .
In 1994, less than 10 newspapers were available
to the public through the World Wide Web.
However, online newspapers demonstrated
rapid growth by the end of the 1990s and by
mid 2001, more than 3,400 newspapers were
online.
Image: Electronic newspaper

10. 10
1975: DIGITAL SINGLE REFLEX CAMERA
▪ Digital single lens cameras use the mechanism of a single lens and a digital
screen; photographers see the image through the same lens. In addition,
photojournalists did not have to wait for the image to be processed as they could
see it directly in the screen. The use of memory cards increased the number of
images photojournalists could take.
Image : Digital single reflex camera

11. 11
2005: WI-FI ENABLED DSLR
▪ Wi-fi enabled DSLRs were a
huge advancement in terms of
transferring images.
Photojournalist used to depend
upon runners and pigeons for
transfering images to be
published. They no longer had to
wait for transmission of their
rolling films and printing, as
during the Secon World War.
Image : Wi-Fi enabled DSLR

12. 12
2007: IPHONES
In 2007, Steve Jobs introduced an Iphone with a camera capable
of taking powerful photographs. Initially,the Iphone camera was
2 mega pixels, but modern versions of thecamera are more
powerful. Some are even concerned that one day the Iphone
may totally replace modern cameras and be a part of people’s
phone.
Image : Iphone

13. 13
2000 : DRONE CAMERAS
▪ There are debates going on about the use of drones in photojournalism. I believe the
use of drones can be used to cover news in war areas and save the lives of many
photojournalists. It is capable of becoming the next innovation in the field of
Photojournalism.
Image : Drone Camera

14. 14
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