A Lesson in Photography History

Photography is painting with light. The word ‘photography’ is Greek: ‘fos’ – meaning light and ‘grafo’ – to write. Surprisingly, the idea of photography also existed centuries ago. The great philosopher Aristotle was one of the many people in history who studied pinhole cameras and camera obscura. A lot of modern photographers take for granted the years of experiments, research and trial and error that gave us the photography we have today. Modern photography is simple in comparison; almost anyone can pick up a camera and capture something. Even amateurs now have the ability to do what the photography pioneers only dreamed of. Photography enables us to capture a moment and preserve it for years, just as artists have done with paint and canvas for centuries. Think if you will…your family is on vacation and you want to capture a lasting memory. You choose your location, change settings and click. You’ve instantly captured a memory that you’ll be able to share with your family for generations. Back in the 1800’, it wasn’t so simple. You not only endured long exposure times, but also expensive and often dangerous chemical processes.

Joseph Nicéphore Niépce is known as one of the inventors of photography and also for pioneering the technology to capture permanent photographs. He called his process Heliography, meaning “sun writing”, invented around 1822. His most known image was “Window at Le Gras” in 1826. It is commonly referred to as the first successful permanent photograph from nature. The image was captured using the camera obscura, a sheet of pewter, lavender oil and bitumen. The pewter was exposed to light for 8 hours, hardening the exposed bitumen, leaving behind only the exposed portion of the image.

In 1822 Niépce died and his former partner Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre based his work upon Niépce’s Heliography work. Daguerre became known as the inventor of daguerreotypes.  This was another form of chemical photography. Daguerreotypes were better quality and more expensive, but were also incapable of reproduction. This made them perfect for preserving a photographer’s copyright, but difficult for clients wanting two copies of the same scene. Around 1838-1839, Daguerre made the first known image of a person. “Boulevard Du Temple” was made during a 10 minute exposure from his apartment window in Paris, France. The long exposure resulted in moving people and objects being merely a ghostly blur. A man who stopped to have his shoe shined during this exposure was the first known human to be ‘photographed’.

The patent for his work was later acquired by the French Government.

After Daguerre’s death, many additional advances were made in chemical photography. His work enabled many to experiment with safer and new techniques to create unique photography. The first known action photography was in 1878 by Eadweard Muybridge. He used multiple cameras set to go off in sequence. The experiments were so accurate that when the images are played in order the object appeared to be moving. The first permanent color photo was taken around 1861 by James Clerk Maxwell. However, the most known color pioneer was Sergey Mikhaylovich Prokudin-Gorsky, who as seen in his 1915 self-portrait, had nearly perfected color techniques. He photographed three photos in monochrome using red, green and blue filters and then combined those images to create incredibly realistic color photographs. His work later resulted in patents in color film and motion photography.

Nothing about modern photography would be the same were it not for the dedication and research of the photography pioneers. They enabled the advances in photo-technology that we use today. Their inspiration has led to new tools for photography such as digital editing software and photo labs for the public. Without the history of photography, it is possible that we wouldn’t have the film and digital photography we know today. So much about photography has changed since the 1800’s, who knows what the future will bring? 

More about the history of photography:

More about the first photograph:  http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/permanent/wfp/

The Dag Lab-Modern day daguerreotypes:  http://www.thedaglab.com/

About the author: Amber Flowers is a photographer, digital artist and writer most known for her infrared photography and the ‘fine art’ feel to her work. She is a member of The League of Creative Infrared Photographers and Founder of Southern Kentucky Photographer’s Club. Amber resides in Glasgow KY with her husband, two children and several pets. You can learn more about her on her website: www.soulgazephotography.com