History of Photography

What is Photography?
People have been keeping visual records of themselves and the things around them since
prehistoric times, recording images that range from carefully drawn hieroglyphics to pictures
taken on the surface of the moon. Each image is an attempt to communicate from one person to
another the things we see.

Photography, which means literally “Drawing with light”, gives us the means to record and
examine our day-to-day activities and experiences. Unlike the casual glance, which often “sees”
only the major elements of a scene, a photograph records the tiniest of details. It then allows us
time to study and understand each minute element. A photograph preserves what memory
cannot.

Phose + Graphe
Early Study of Light
THE ABILITY OF LIGHT TO TRANSMIT IMAGES WAS APPARENTLY
FIRST CASUALLY NOTED BY THE EGYPTIANS SOME TEN
THOUSAND YEARS AGO. HIDING FROM THE FIERCE SUN IN THEIR
TENTS AND HUTS, THESE ANCIENTS NOTED THAT WHEN LIGHT
REFLECTED FROM OBJECTS CAME BEAMING THROUGH TINY
HOLES IN THE TEN WALLS, THE COLORED IMAGE OF AN UPSIDE-
DOWN CAMEL OR PERSON WAS PROJECTED ONTO THE TENT
WALL. INSPIRED BY THIS EXPERIENCE, THEY BEGAN TO
EXPERIMENT WITH WAYS TO CAPTURE AND PRESERVE IMAGES
AND BECAME THE FIRST “PHOTOGRAPHERS”.
 Other Early Photographers
ARISTOTLE: THE FAMOUS GREEK PHILOSOPHER, FIRST DESCRIBED THE
FORMATION OF A CRUDE OPTICAL IMAGE IN ABOUT 350 B.C. HE OBSERVED THAT
WHEN A BEAM OF LIGHT WAS ALLOWED TO ENTER A DARKENED ROOM THROUGH
A SMALL HOLE AN IMAGE WAS FORMED. BY HOLDING A PIECE OF PAPER SIX
INCHES OR SO FROM THE OPENING HE WAS ABLE TO CAPTURE THE IMAGE.
THOUGH BLURRED AND UPSIDE DOWN THE IMAGE WAS RECOGNIZABLE.

LEONARDO DAVINCI: EARLY IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY, DIAGRAMMED IN HIS

FAMOUS NOTEBOOKS THE WORKINGS OF A CAMERA, COMPLETE WITH
INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO USE IT.
 The Camera Obscura
THE PHENOMENON THAT ARISTOTLE DESCRIBED AND DAVINCI ILLUSTRATED
BECAME KNOWN AS THE CAMERA OBSCURA. THIS TERM, MEANING “DARK
ROOM”, WAS INTRODUCED BY THE ITALIANS, WHOSE PAINTERS WERE AMONG THE
FIRST TO MAKE PRACTICAL USE OF ARISTOTLE’S DISCOVERY. IN THE EARLY 1500S
ITALIAN PAINTERS USED THE CAMERA OBSCURA TO IMPROVE PROPORTION AND
PERSPECTIVE IN THEIR PAINTINGS.

DURING THE NEXT TWO HUNDRED YEARS MANY IMPROVEMENTS WERE MADE IN
THE BASIC CAMERA OBSCURA. A GLASS LENS THAT GREATLY SHARPENED THE
IMAGE EVENTUALLY REPLACED THE SOMPLE OPENING, THE CAMERA WAS MADE
SMALLER AND MORE PORTABLE, AND MIRRORS WERE ADDED SO THAT THE
IMAGE WAS PROJECTED IN AN UPRIGHT POSITION.
 Camera Obscura Continued….
BY THE EARLY 1700S, THE BASIC OPTICAL EQUIPMENT NECESSARY FOR
MANUFACTURING A CAMERA WAS AVAILABLE, AND THE CAMERA OBSCURA
HAD COME TO LOOK MUCH LIKE THE BASIC CAMERA OF TODAY. BUT THE
SOLUTION TO THE BASIC PROBLEM OF PRESERVING THE CAMERA’S IMAGE
CONTINUED TO ELUDE SCIENTISTS AND INVENTORS. IT TOOK AND
ADDITIONAL 120 YEARS TO SOLVE THAT MYSTERY.
Making Images Permanent

DURING THE 1700S, SEVERAL PEOPLE WERE EXPERIMENTING WITH

CHEMICALS THAT WERE SENSITIVE TO LIGHT. THE BIGGEST
CHALLENGE FACING PHOTOGRAPHERS WAS TO FIND A FIXING
AGENT THAT WOULD MAKE THE IMAGES PERMANENT.
 John H. Schultz 
A GERMAN PROFESSOR OF ANATOMY, SCHULZE WAS EXPERIMENTING
WITH THE MANUFACTURE OF PHOSPHORUS WHEN HE DISCOVERED THAT
A COMBINATION OF CHALK, AQUA REGIA (A COMBINATION OF NITRIC AND
HYDROCHLORIC ACIDS), AND SILVER NITRATE TURNED PURPLE WHEN
EXPOSED TO LIGHT. BY THE PROCESS OF ELIMINATION HE DISCOVERED
THAT SILVER SALTS WERE THE DARKENING AGENT. UNFORTUNATELY,
HOWEVER, HE FAILED TO MAKE USE OF THIS DISCOVERY. THE CREDIT
FOR APPLYING SHULZE’S RESULTS GOES TO THOMAS WEDGWOOD.
 Thomas Wedgwood
THE GREAT ENGLISH POTTER JOSIAN WEDGWOOD USED THE CAMERA OBSCURA TO
REPRODUCE ACCURATE DRAWINGS FOR HIS ORNAMENTAL CHINA AND POTTER.
HIS SON THOMAS WAS THE FIRST TO APPLY THE IDEA OF LIGHT-SENSITIVE
CHEMICALS TO THE CAMERA OBSCURA. FAMILIAR WITH THE CAMERA OBSCURA
BECAUSE OF HIS FATHER’S WORK, AND WITH SCHULZE’S DISCOVERIES ABOUT
SILVER SALTS BECAUSE OF HIS FASCINATION WITH CHEMISTRY, WEDGWOOD
PRODUCED SILHOUETTES OF INSECT WINGS AND LEAVES ON WHITE LEATHER
COATED WITH SILVER NITRATE. HOWEVER, THE PROCESS WAS TOO SLOW TO BE
USED IN THE CAMERA OBSCURA, AND THERE WAS NOT WAY TO FIX AND PRESERVE
THE IMAGE.
 Joseph Nicéphore Niépce
PARTIAL CREDIT FOR THE INVENTION OF PHOTOGRAPHY HAS ALSO
BEEN GIVEN TO FRENCHMAN JOSEPH NIEPCE, WHO, AFTER MANY
DISAPPOINTMENTS, SUCCESSFULLY PRODUCED THE WORLD’S FIRST
PHOTOGRAPH IN 1827. TO CREATE IT, HE COATED A PEWTER PLATE
WITH BITUMEN OF JUDEA, OR ASPHALTUM, PLACED THE PLATE IN
THE CAMERA, AND MADE AN EIGHT HOUR EXPOSURE. TO DEVELOP
THE PHOTOGRAPH, HE RINSED THE PLATE WITH LAVENDER OIL.
ALTHOUGH THE IMAGE WAS FAR FROM PERFECT, IT WAS A
MILESTONE IN THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE ART.
View from the Window at Le Gras
 William Henry Fox Talbot
TALBOT, AND ENGLISH CONTEMPORARY OF DAGUERRE, MADE THE NEXT MAJOR
CONTRIBUTION TO PHOTOGRAPHY – PRODUCTION OF THE FIRST NEGATIVE IMAGE. WORKING
WITH SILVER NITRATE AND SODIUM CHLORIDE (SALT), TALBOT PRODUCED SILVER CHLORIDE,
A COMPOUND MORE SENSITIVE TO LIGHT THAN DAGUERRE’S FOIL PLATES. TALBOT COATED
PAPER INSTEAD OF GLASS OR METAL PLATES, TO PRODUCE THE FIRST NEGATIVE IMAGE IN
1835. DESPITE HIS DISAPPOINTMENT AT PUBLIC INDIFFERENCE TO HIS DISCOVERY, TALBOT
MADE NUMEROUS EXPERIMENTS TO PERFECT THE PROCESS. WHILE WORKING TO IMPROVE
HIS TECHNIQUE, TALBOT DISCOVERED THE LATENT IMAGE, AN INVISIBLE IMAGE FORMED ON
FILM AFTER EXPOSURE BUT BEFORE DEVELOPMENT. HE REALIZED THAT THE RESULTING
NEGATIVE WOULD ENABLE HIM TO REPRODUCE AN IMAGE EASILY. IN 1841 HE OBTAINED A
PATENT FOR HIS PROCESS, WHICH HE CALLED THE CALOTYPE PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESS,
DERIVED FROM THE GREEK WORD CALOS MEANING “BEAUTIFUL”.
ALTHOUGH TALBOT DID NOT ENJOY THE INSTANT SUCCESS OF
DAGUERRE, HIS DISCOVERIES AND CONTRIBUTIONS TO
PHOTOGRAPHY WERE THE KEYS THAT UNLOCKED THE NEGATIVE-
POSITIVE IMAGE PROCESS, EARNING HIM RECOGNITION AS THE
FATHER OF MODERN PHOTOGRAPHY.

Talbot Continued…
 Louis Daguerre
ANOTHER FRENCHMAN, DAGUERRE, STARTED HIS OWN SEARCH FOR THE IDEAL FIXING AGENT
WHEN HIS BRIEF PARTNERSHIP WITH NIEPCE BROKE UP. IN 1837, AFTER EIGHT YEARS OF
SEARCHING, HE FOUND WHAT HE WAS LOOKING FOR, MERCURY VAPOR. DAGUERRE PATENTED
HIS PROCESS AS THE DAGUERREOTYPE PROCESS. THE PROCEDURE INVOLVED MAKING AN
EXPOSURE ON SILVER FOIL THAT HAD BEEN SENSITIZED WITH IODINE. FOLLOWING EXPOSURE,
THE FOIL WAS BROUGHT INTO CONTACT WITH MERCURY VAPOR FOR DEVELOPMENT. THE
IMAGE WAS MADE PERMANENT WITH A SOLUTION OF COMMON SALT. DAGUERREOTYPE PRINTS
WERE AN INSTANT SUCCESS. STUDIOS WERE OPENED, AND PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS
BEGAN GIVING PORTRAIT PAINTERS STIFF COMPETITION FOR BUSINESS. GRADUALLY, OVER THE
YEARS, REFINEMENTS WERE MADE IN THE LENS AND IN THE LIGHT SENSITIVITY OF THE PLATES
THAT WERE USE. THE POPULARITY OF DAGUERREOTYPE PORTRAITS LEAPED WHEN A METHOD
WAS DEVISED TO SOFTEN THE TONES AND ENRICH THE IMAGE.
 Eadweard Muybridge

He’s known as the 'father of the motion picture', Eadweard Muybridge's early
photographic experiments laid the foundation for modern cinema, with his study, 
The Horse In Motion (1882), regarded by many as the first ever moving picture.
Developing his keen interest in photography whilst recuperating from a stage coach
crash in 1860, Eadweard Muybridge moved to America upon his recovery, joining a
San Franciscan photo business. Quickly establishing a reputation for landscape work,
he was appointed director of photographic surveys for the U.S. Government in 1868,
conducting studies of numerous remote areas, including the newly purchased Alaska. 
Eadweard Muybridge's time-lapse photographs of a man riding a galloping horse
 George Eastman
THOUGH THERE ARE SEVERAL OTHERS WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THE
PROGRESS OF MODERN PHOTOGRAPHY ALONG OUR HISTORY OF
PHOTOGRAPHY TIMELINE, THE NEXT BIG CONTRIBUTION WAS
MADE BY GEORGE EASTMAN. HE BEGAN AS AN AMATEUR
PHOTOGRAPHER IN 1877. WITHIN TWENTY YEARS HE CONTROLLED
THE LARGEST PHOTOGRAPHIC MANUFACTURING COMPANY IN THE
WORLD.
 Eastman Continued….
INTRODUCED IN 1888, THE KODAK NO.1, EASTMAN’S SIMPLE BOX CAMERA
WAS THE FIRST CAMERA TO USE ROLL FILM INSTEAD OF PLATES OR
SHEETS. THE CAMERA APPEALED TO THE MASSES OF AMATEUR
PHOTOGRAPHERS BECAUSE IT WAS SMALL (6 ½ INCHES X 3 ½ INCHES X 3 ½
INCHES) AND SIMPLE TO OPERATE. THE ADVERTISING SLOGAN “YOU
PRESS THE BUTTON, WE DO THE REST” INDICATED THAT ANYONE WHO
COULD PRESS THE BUTTON COULD GET A GOOD PICTURE. EASTMAN
CHOSE THE NAME KODAK BECAUSE THE WORD MIMICKED THE SOUND
THE SHUTTER MADE AND WAS EASILY PRONOUNCED THROUGHOUT THE
WORLD.
 The camera came loaded with enough film for
one hundred pictures and cost twenty-five
dollars. When the one hundred pictures had
been taken, the photographer mailed the camera
to the Eastman plant in Rochester , NY. The
film was then processed, prints were made, the
camera was reloaded with film, and the pictures
and camera were returned to the owner. Total
cost for the prints and new film was ten dollars.

Kodak Camera
THANK YOU