History - of - Photography - Lecture 1

A HISTORY
OF
PHOTOGRAPHY
It could be said that photography was
not “invented”…
…but that it evolved over time.
THE WORD
“PHOTOGRAPHY”
CAME FROM TWO

GREEK WORDS: PHOTOS + GRAPHOS
THAT MEAN
"WRITING WITH LIGHT."
The first time the word
"photography"
was used was in
1839,
the year the invention
of the photographic
process was made
public,
by
Sir John Herschel.
The first camera EVER
=
the “camera obscura”
which means…
“dark room”
AKA the “pinhole” camera
SAY WHAT ABOUT THIS
“OBSCURA” THING?!
Fast Facts about the Camera Obscura
(and, thus, how basic photography works)
Who? First written about by the Chinese, first explained by Aristotle
When? Approx. 25,000 years ago, then the early 1800s
What? The first ever photo-capture device
How? An image is formed upside down on a wall from a pinhole located

opposite this wall. This pinhole is the only place light can enter within an,
otherwise, completely dark room. The light is refracted off the pinhole to
create an upside-down projection, that is then traced by the artist inside the
dark room.
In the 1500s many artists, including michelangelo and
leonardo da vinci, used the "camera obscura" to help
them draw pictures.
A person or object would be outside the dark room

and their image was reflected on a piece of paper and
the artist would trace it.
The camera obscura
was used in the painting of this picture.
It was painted about 1660 by
jan van der meer van delf…
His paintings are known for their
"camera-like"
detail and quality…
…but were painted 150 years

before the invention of the camera
"View of Delft"

The camera obscura was made portable in the 1700s by…
putting it in a box with a pinhole on one side and a glass screen on the
other.
Light coming through this pinhole projected an image onto the glass
screen, where the artist could easily trace it by hand.
EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO THE
INVENTION OF PHOTOGRAPHY WAS
KNOWLEDGE OF HOW SENSITIVE TO LIGHT
CERTAIN MATERIALS WERE.
In 1727
Johann Heinrich Schulze,

observed
that silver salts darkened
when exposed to light.
But the idea of making

pictures using this
information did not occur
to him….
Many years later…

In 1800
Thomas Wedgewood
was making "sun pictures”…
…by placing leaves on leather that he

had treated with silver salts, but he
couldn't find a way to stop the
darkening action of light and his leaf
images faded into blackness!
For the birth of photography to happen

two key discoveries were still needed:
a way to combine light-sensitive
material with the camera obscura
device and a way to make an image
permanent.

"VIEW FROM THE WINDOW AT LE GRAS, FRANCE"
THE BIRTH OF PHOTOGRAPHY HAPPENED IN 1826
WHEN A FRENCH SCIENTIST, JOSEPH NICEPHORE NIEPCE
…
PUT A PLATE COATED WITH BITUMEN (AN ASPHALT USED IN ANCIENT TIMES AS A
CEMENT OR MORTAR) IN A CAMERA OBSCURA. HE PUT
THE CAMERA OBSCURA FACING HIS HOUSE FOR EIGHT HOURS AND MADE A
PHOTOGRAPH.
IT IS THE EARLIEST CAMERA PHOTOGRAPH THAT WE STILL HAVE TODAY. HERE IS

THAT FIRST PHOTOGRAPH.
NIEPCE (LEFT) SHARED HIS FINDINGS WITH LOUIS
JACQUES MANDE DAGUERRE (RIGHT) WHO, THREE
YEARS LATER, INVENTED THE DAGUERROTYPE
THE DAGUERRO-WHAT?!
Fast Facts about the Daguerrotype
(and, thus, how the first true photography worked)
Who? First discovered by Niepce, explained by Daguerre
When? In the 1830s
What? The first ever camera “film”
How? Rather than project the Camera Obscura’s image against a wall, a
copper plate coated in silver iodide was placed behind the camera’s
projection. This chemical compound is light-sensitive and fades in sunlight!
If left for JUST the right amount of time, a clear image was formed… if left
too long, it faded to black.
THE DAGUERREOTYPE WAS THE
METHOD OF PHOTOGRAPHY THAT
FIRST
TOOK THE WORLD BY STORM.
WITH IMPROVEMENTS, THE

DAGUERREOTYPE QUICKLY
PROVED A GREAT WAY TO MAKE
PORTRAITS OF PEOPLE.
PEOPLE GAZED IN AMAZEMENT AT

THEIR OWN IMAGE IN THESE
"MIRRORS WITH A MEMORY."
THE FIRST COMMERCIALLY MADE
DAGUERREOTYPE CAMERA
PRODUCED IN 1839.
It was designed by mr. Daguerre, the inventor of the daguerreotype.
NOTICE IT IS QUITE LARGE!
A DAGUERREOTYPE PORTRAIT MADE THE YEAR
THE DAGUERREOTYPE WAS INVENTED.
MOST PICTURES OF THE CALIFORNIA
GOLD RUSH OF 1849 ARE
DAGUERREOTYPES.
Portraits of people were
the most popular type of
photographs taken in the
1800's.
Since photographic
portraits were much less
expensive than painted
ones, they took less time,
and were more accurate…
…people who painted

people’s portraits quickly
went out of business or
became daguerreotypists
themselves.
The civil war in america was the first war to be thoroughly recorded
by photography.
American photographer Mathew Brady saw the importance of documenting

the conflict at its beginning and organized a team of photographers to
cover different battlefronts.
They took 7,000 pictures!

Photograph of
George
Armstrong
Custer (on
right) and a
Confederate
prisoner
during the
Civil War.

PHOTOGRAPHERS
HAULED THEIR LARGE
CAMERAS, TRIPODS
AND PORTABLE
DARKROOMS
ALL OVER THE WORLD.
THEY PHOTOGRAPHED
INDIA, CHINA AND
JAPAN.
PEOPLE WERE EAGER

TO SEE WHAT THESE
FAR OFF COUNTRIES
LOOKED LIKE.
THE BIRTH OF “MOTION”
PICTURES
Leland Stanford
unwittingly started a chain
of events that contributed to
the development of motion
pictures.
To settle a bet regarding

the position of a galloping
horse's legs, he sent for an
acclaimed British
photographer to take
pictures of a horse in
motion.
THIS PHOTOGRAPHER (EADWEARD MUYBRIDGE) MADE HISTORY
WHEN…
HE ARRANGED 12 CAMERAS ALONGSIDE A RACE TRACK. EACH

WAS FITTED WITH A SHUTTER WORKING AT A SPEED HE CLAIMED
TO BE "LESS THAN THE TWO-THOUSANDTH PART OF A SECOND."
STRINGS ATTACHED TO ELECTRIC SWITCHES WERE STRETCHED

ACROSS THE TRACK; THE HORSE, RUSHING PAST, BREASTED THE
STRINGS AND BROKE THEM, ONE AFTER THE OTHER; THE
SHUTTERS WERE RELEASED BY AN ELECTROMAGNETIC
CONTROL, AND A SERIES OF NEGATIVES MADE.
THOUGH THE PHOTOGRAPHS WERE HARDLY MORE THAN

SILHOUETTES, THEY CLEARLY SHOWED THAT THE FEET OF THE
HORSE WERE ALL OFF THE GROUND AT ONE PHASE OF THE
GALLOP AND, ACTUALLY, NEVER POSITIONED “HOBBY-HORSE”
STYLE AT ALL.
THIS WAS THE FIRST SERIES OF PICTURES USED INSIDE A ZOETROPE, WHICH
IS…
A CLASSIC ANIMATION DEVICE
THAT PRODUCES MOTION BY PLACING

A SERIES OF SLIGHTLY DIFFERING IMAGES
IN FRONT OF ONE ANOTHER,
AND MOVING THEM RAPIDLY
TO PRODUCE THE ILLUSION OF MOTION!
THE ERA OF KODAK
GEORGE EASTMAN KODAK
WAS ONLY 24 YEARS OLD
WHEN HE SET UP HIS
EASTMAN DRY PLATE COMPANY
IN NEW YORK IN 1880
…
AND THE FIRST HALF-TONE
PHOTOGRAPH APPEARED IN A DAILY
NEWSPAPER.
In 1888
he introduced
the first Kodak camera
that cost
$25.00 (a great deal of money then).
It had a
20 foot roll of paper,
(enough for 100 pictures) already put in it.
To get the film developed you had to

return the camera to the Eastman Dry Plate Company
in Rochester, New York.
For $10.00
they would develop the photographs,
put more film in your camera
and mail everything back to you.
One year later an improved Kodak camera with a roll of film

instead of a 20 foot roll of paper appeared.
MR. EASTMAN WANTED EVERYBODY TO BE ABLE TO TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS.
HE WORKED HARD TO DEVELOP A CAMERA THAT EVERYBODY COULD AFFORD TO BUY.
HE DID IT IN 1900. IT WAS THE KODAK BROWNIE BOX ROLL-FILM CAMERA.
IT COST $1.00.
NOW EVERYONE COULD TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS, NOT JUST PROFESSIONAL
PHOTOGRAPHERS.
PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN WITH A BROWNIE CAMERA.
NOTICE HOW THE PHOTOGRAPH IS ROUND, JUST LIKE THE
OPENING
IN THE CAMERA.
COLOR PHOTOGRAPHS
PEOPLE HAD TRIED TO MAKE COLOR PHOTOGRAPHS SINCE 1860.
IT WASN'T UNTIL 1906…
THAT A FILM SENSITIVE TO ALL COLORS CALLED "PANCHROMATIC FILM"

WAS PRODUCED.
The first instant color film was developed in 1963…
BY POLAROID.
THE DISK CAMERA
(THE FIRST VARIATION OF THE DIGITAL CAMERA)
WAS INTRODUCED IN 1983 BY KODAK.
LINK FOR FURTHER STUDY:
• https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/special-topics-art-
history/creating-conserving/photographs/v/before-photography

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A HISTORY

CAME FROM TWO

Who? First written about by the Chinese, first explained by Aristotle

When? Approx. 25,000 years ago, then the early 1800s

What? The first ever photo-capture device

How? An image is formed upside down on a wall from a pinhole located

A person or object would be outside the dark room

…but were painted 150 years

Johann Heinrich Schulze,

But the idea of making

Many years later…

…by placing leaves on leather that he

For the birth of photography to happen

IT IS THE EARLIEST CAMERA PHOTOGRAPH THAT WE STILL HAVE TODAY. HERE IS

Who? First discovered by Niepce, explained by Daguerre

When? In the 1830s

What? The first ever camera “film”

WITH IMPROVEMENTS, THE

PEOPLE GAZED IN AMAZEMENT AT

…people who painted

American photographer Mathew Brady saw the importance of documenting

PEOPLE WERE EAGER

To settle a bet regarding

HE ARRANGED 12 CAMERAS ALONGSIDE A RACE TRACK. EACH

STRINGS ATTACHED TO ELECTRIC SWITCHES WERE STRETCHED

THOUGH THE PHOTOGRAPHS WERE HARDLY MORE THAN

A CLASSIC ANIMATION DEVICE

THAT PRODUCES MOTION BY PLACING

To get the film developed you had to

One year later an improved Kodak camera with a roll of film

HE WORKED HARD TO DEVELOP A CAMERA THAT EVERYBODY COULD AFFORD TO BUY.

HE DID IT IN 1900. IT WAS THE KODAK BROWNIE BOX ROLL-FILM CAMERA.

IT WASN'T UNTIL 1906…

THAT A FILM SENSITIVE TO ALL COLORS CALLED "PANCHROMATIC FILM"

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