HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY(PART 1)
PHOTO/GRAPHY: LIGHT/DRAWINGor Drawing with Light
•Derived from Greek:
•‘photos’ for Light
•‘graphos’ for Drawing
3 Basic Elements of Photography
•Camera Obscura (meaning: DarkenedChamber or room)
•Aperture (Opening that light goes through)
•Light Sensitive Material (upon which theimage is recorded)
The Dark Box Concept
•Dating back to ancient China and Greece
•Dark room with small hole
•Light comes in through small opening
•Inverted image transferred onto wall insidedark box
•No one thought to record these images-
at the time there was no demand
CAMERA OBSCURA(the original dark box art tool)
•Optical device thatprojects an image of itssurroundings on a screen
•Artists modified theconcept to fit their needs-traced realistic imagequickly
•Added lens to box (focusimage)
•Sped up artistic process
•Sharpened reality
LIGHT-SENSITIVE MATERIAL
•Johann Schultz-discovered light-sensitivenature of SILVER NITRATE (early 17thcentury)
•Silver Nitrate turns black when exposed tosunlight
•Problem-How do you stop it from turningall black (how do you‘fix’the image)?
Thomas Wedgwood
•Experimented withsilver nitrate prints
•Put object on papercoated with silvernitrate
•Exposed prints to sun
•Created Silhouttes-Photograms
Photogram
Cyanotype
Joseph Niépce(1765-1833)
•Frenchman who invented the first “PHOTO”
•PROCESS: Coated a metal plate w/ BITUMEN (asphalt-like substance that hardens in proportion to its exposureto light) then washed in lavender oil (only hardenedareas remained)
–Put plate into camera
–Exposed to sun (8 hours)
–Wash plate w/ oil (removed unused areas)
–Result - First “picture” called the HELIOGRAPH(SUN/DRAWING)
NIÉPCE’S FIRST HELIOGRAPH
View from the Window at Le Gras (1826 or 1827)
the earliest surviving photograph of a real-world scene, made using a camera obscura.
Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre(1787-1851)
•French artist and physicist
•Known as one of the fathersof photography
•Looking for a way toreproduce realistic scenesfor his dioramas
•Produced his version ofphotography
•Worked with Niépce. WhenNiépce died, Daguerrecontinued experimenting,evolving the process intowhat would be called the‘Daguerreotype’
•Introduces photography atworld science exhibition inFrance.
Social Conditions(that made invention of photography possible)
•INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION - Increase inproduction, goods, and services
•Rising Middle Class - More people withexpendable income
•New demand for portrait images(previously only for the rich – ie. paintings)
•Emphasis on REALISM
The Daguerreotype Process
•Light-tight plate holderdesigned to hold a copperplate faced with a thin layerof silver
•Plate was made light-sensitive by fumes fromiodine crystals in a woodenbox
•Plate is exposed to Image
•Exposed to Mercury fumesin protected area whichdeveloped the image
•Fixed in a solution ofcommon salt
•Plate would be toned in goldchloride
The Daguerreotype
•ADVANTAGES:
–Sharp, crisp, highquality image
–Reduced exposuretime (7-10 minutes)
–QUALITY
–Process becomesFRANCHISED (makesDaguerre rich)
–Easily accessible
Fine,detailedquality
Mirror likereflective look
The Daguerreotype
•DISADVANTAGES
–Small Size
–Easily damaged
–One of a kind-NOTREPRODUCIBLE
–Poisonous process
–Exposure time -??(questionable)
1st Photographed person- Street scene in Paris(exposure time - 10 minutes)
Henry Fox Talbot(1835)
•British inventor,mathematician
•Invented photographysimultaneously (inEngland)
•Establishes modernphotographic system -the CALOTYPE
The CALOTYPE System
•Developed positiveimage from negative
•PrintedREPRODUCIBLEPhotos on paper
Negative
Positive
CALOTYPES
•ADVANTAGES
–Reproducible (canmake many copiesfrom originalnegatives)
–Quicker exposuretimes (1-3 minutes)
CALOTYPES
•DISADVANTAGES:
–Hazy, artisticquality (peoplewanted razor-sharp quality)
–Process wasnever Mass-marketed orpopularized
