EARLY HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY
The word photography originates from France and was first used by the scientist Sir John Herschel in 1939. The meaning of the word ‘photography’ is the Greek term ‘drawing with light’. Photography is the science and art of recording images by capturing light on a light sensitive medium, such as a film or electronic sensor. These images can be transferred from the camera both chemically and electronically. This is a brief history on photography that includes a historical timeline and information on Louis Daguerre, Joseph Niepce and Fox Talbot. it also contains facts about the Camera Obscurer, the first photograph and the quest to fix the image.
In the 9th century, Arab scientist Alhazen created the camera obscure which was a dark box or room which used a lens to project an outside image inside the building or box. In the Renaissance, artists such as Leonardo Da Vinci used a camera obscura to add an element of 3D to their work. In 1724 Johann Heinrich Schultz realised that if light was exposed to some sliver compounds, an image would appear, but soon after the image was created it would vanish. Later in 1839 people realised that there were certain surfaces that would retain the image. Whilst in Europe, two inventors fought over the best way to produce photos. English inventor, Henry Fox Talbot found a way to use a single negative to make many copies of a single image. Whilst french inventor, Louis Daguerre made a daguerreotype which used sliver plates to make a sharper image, but only made one positive. In the end the daguerreotype became the most popular, and was made available to the public. You would think that it would be easy to take a photo, but it wasn't, in fact it usually involved having to develop the image in a dark room on site, not only that, but the exposure time would take up to 2 minutes and if you moved the photo it would have to be retaken. This was how devices such as the head holder were invented, which was literally a metal frame holding your head in place. Then came along George Eastman who establish dry plates which enabled anyone to take photos. After creating a business which originally sold dry-plates Eastman soon discovered plastic roll film which would fit perfectly in handheld inexpensive cameras. These cameras sold in the millions with the slogan 'YOU PUSH THE BUTTON, WE DO THE REST' even Eastman couldn't have imagined how photography has shaped the world today. It is now estimated that each year over 380 billion photos are taken.
TIMELINE:
1814
Joseph Niepce achieves first photographic image with camera obscura - however, the image required eight hours of light exposure and later faded.
1837 After many years of experimenting, Louis Daguerre produced his first daguerreotype in which he named after himself. The image was fixed and did not fade, it also needed under thirty minutes of light exposure.
1841 William Henry Talbot produces the Calotype process, this was a negative-positive process which made it possible to print multiple copies.
1843 The first advertisement with a photograph made in Philadelphia.
1851 Frederick Scott Archer invented the Collodion process - images required only two or three seconds of light exposure.
1859 Panoramic camera created - the Sutton.
1861 Oliver Wendell Holmes invents stereoscope viewer.
1865 Photographs and photographic negatives are added to protected works under copyright.
1968 Photograph of the Earth from the moon.
1837 After many years of experimenting, Louis Daguerre produced his first daguerreotype in which he named after himself. The image was fixed and did not fade, it also needed under thirty minutes of light exposure.
1841 William Henry Talbot produces the Calotype process, this was a negative-positive process which made it possible to print multiple copies.
1843 The first advertisement with a photograph made in Philadelphia.
1851 Frederick Scott Archer invented the Collodion process - images required only two or three seconds of light exposure.
1859 Panoramic camera created - the Sutton.
1861 Oliver Wendell Holmes invents stereoscope viewer.
1865 Photographs and photographic negatives are added to protected works under copyright.
1968 Photograph of the Earth from the moon.
10 PHOTOS
For this task we were allocated to take 10 photos that best represent ourselves. Below are my six strongest photos. I have taken pictures of the types of architecture i am fond of, my friends and nature.
PHOTOGRAMS
The photogram uses photographic paper because it reacts with white light, turning the paper from white to black. The light in the dark room is red and is called a safety light because it doesn't react with the photographic paper. To get an image on the photographic paper you put an object over the paper and the white light will leave a black outline of the object. The first photogram was made by Henry Fox Talbots, he liked to photogram trees and flowers for their interesting patterns. When taking a photogram you need to use an enlarger which is a machine that flashes white light onto the photographic paper. To develop the photo once the white light has been flashed, you put the photo in developer to develop the image. Then you put it in the stop bath to stop the developer, next you but the photo in fixer, then water to stop the process and clean the photo of chemicals.
FIRST RESPONSE:
For my first response I experimented with different objects in the dark room, I exposed them to the light for five seconds. The photograph to the right is my strongest piece out of my first response because i aimed to use objects that related to each other, where as previously I did not.
SECOND RESPONSE:
I then experimented with using black card on my photograms. First i set my timer to one second with the card covering some of the photogram. Next i did this again but with the card in a different place.
THIRD RESPONSE:
The first piece below i experimented with painting the photogram. This created a more abstract composition that my other photograms as the objects are less obvious. To the right I created a photogram featuring double exposures, therefore the movement of the objects can be seen which creates a unique effect. In order to achieve this affect I set the timer to two seconds initially and then moved the objects and did it again.
FOURTH RESPONSE:
Below is the outcome of me trying to sandwich my photogram. This makes the colours change so they are polar opposites, as seen below. To do this you need to use a sheet of glass photographic paper and a photogram that has already been made.
PINHOLE CAMERA
For our second task we made our own pinhole cameras. We did this using recycled pots and by making holes in them. The holes enabled light exposure to hit the photographic paper situated in the camera. In order to capture a photograph I opened the hole of the camera that was covered in cardboard for a total of five seconds. Below is my outcome for this task
THE SLR CAMERA
SLR Cameras. The most popular type of general-purpose camera for enthusiasts and professionals is the single lens reflex (SLR). This type of camera has a moveable mirror behind the lens which reflects an image through a five-sided prism (pentaprism) or pair of mirrors, onto a glass screen (the viewfinder). |
APPERTURE
The aperture controls the amount of light that enters the camera, depending on what f-stop you set your camera on will have an effect on the focal range in your photograph this is also known as the depth of field. The smaller your f-stop the wider the opening will be, therefore this will allow more light to enter the camera. This is is useful when capturing images in dark spaces. This means the higher your f-stop the smaller your opening which means less light will enter your camera lens. This is more useful in very bright settings..
The aperture controls the amount of light that enters the camera, depending on what f-stop you set your camera on will have an effect on the focal range in your photograph this is also known as the depth of field. The smaller your f-stop the wider the opening will be, therefore this will allow more light to enter the camera. This is is useful when capturing images in dark spaces. This means the higher your f-stop the smaller your opening which means less light will enter your camera lens. This is more useful in very bright settings..
MY RESPONSE:
For my response to film photography I walked around Muswell Hill documenting the local people. I mainly focused on photographing the elderly as i like the expressions they bring to photographs. The film inside the camera was black and white, this created more texture within the photos. Once I had taken images I thought were effective, I took the film out of the camera in the dark so the images were not exposed to light, and i placed them into a black container and added the developer for 6 minutes the stopper chemical for 2 minutes and the fixer chemical for another 6 minutes. Once this was done I placed water into the container to rinse of any excess chemicals. Finally I placed the film into a drier overnight so the film was ready to be created into a larger photograph. After using a test strip to test the perfect exposure i decided that three seconds suited my photographs best.