Lesson 1: Introduction and History of Photography PDF

What is Photography? PHOTOGRAPHY IS THE PROCESS OF MAKING PICTURES BY MEANS OF CAPTURING LIGHT ON A LIGHT- SENSITIVE MEDIUM, SUCH AS A SENSOR OR FILM  The camera is the image-forming device, and photographic film is the recording medium. A What is a camera works somewhat l...

What is Photography? PHOTOGRAPHY IS THE PROCESS OF MAKING PICTURES BY MEANS OF CAPTURING LIGHT ON A LIGHT- SENSITIVE MEDIUM, SUCH AS A SENSOR OR FILM  The camera is the image-forming device, and photographic film is the recording medium. A What is a camera works somewhat like the human eye, capturing reflected light from objects and through a camera lens and focusing those light rays into an Camera? image. Traditionally cameras recorded the image onto film. More recently through the development of computer chips, many cameras capture their images on a computer chip.  Types of Camera Single Lens Reflex The viewfinder sees the same image as the main lens, i.e. what you see is what you get. SLRs also allow you to change lenses for different purposes. This is a hugely popular type of camera, pretty much the standard for enthusiasts and professionals.  Types of Camera Viewfinder In this type of camera, the viewfinder is separate to the lens. This is common in cheap cameras, although some professional cameras also use this configuration. The main problem with a separate viewfinder is that the image you see may not be quite the same as the image that gets recorded.  Types of Camera Twin reflex The camera has two lenses — one for the photograph and one for the viewfinder. This type of camera has certain advantages in some professional situations  Types of Camera Pinhole Camera A camera without a lens.  Types of Camera View Camera A flexible bellows joins two standards — one with the lens and the other with the viewfinder or film. This allows for unusual types of composition; for example, distorting the shape of the image by skewing the film plane.  History of Photography  Camera Obscura A camera obscura is a darkened room with a small hole or lens at one side through which an image is projected onto a wall or table opposite the hole. The earliest known written record of the camera obscura is found in the Chinese text called Mozi, dated to the 4th century.  The Daguerreotype The Daguerreotype was the first publicly available photographic process; it was widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. Louis Daguerre a French artist invented the Daguerreotype. To make the image, a daguerreotypist polished a sheet of silver-plated copper to a mirror finish; treated it with fumes that made its surface light sensitive; exposed it in a camera for as long as was judged to be necessary, which could be as little as a few seconds for brightly sunlit subjects or much longer with less intense lighting; made the resulting latent image on it visible by fuming it with mercury vapor; removed its sensitivity to light by liquid chemical treatment; rinsed and dried it; and then sealed the easily marred result behind glass in a protective enclosure.  Boulevard Du Temple Boulevard Du Temple was taken in late 1838 by Louis Daguerre to demonstrate the daguerreotype process. The photo shows a man having his shoes polished which is the earliest known photograph of a person. Mousetrap Camera William Henry Fox Talbot who invented the Mousetrap Camera is an English mathematician. Talbot's early "salted paper" or "photogenic drawing" process used writing paper bathed in a weak solution of ordinary table salt, dried, then brushed on one side with a strong solution of silver nitrate, which created a tenacious coating of very light-sensitive silver chloride that darkened where it was exposed to light. Whether used to create shadow image photograms by placing objects on it and setting it out in the sunlight, or to capture the dim images formed by a lens in a camera, it was a "printing out" process, meaning that the exposure had to continue until the desired degree of darkening had been produced.  Stereoscopic Camera (1858) The principle behind stereoscopy was that two slightly different images of the same subject would , when combined in a viewer, produce an illusion of three dimensions. In the 1850s, stereoscopy was popular among people. John Harrison Powell, an optician working in London registered his design for a portable stereoscopic camera on November 1858. The Sutton Panoramic (1859) The first panoramic camera with a wide angle lens was made by Thomas Sutton. During this time, outdoor photography became really popular thus they saw the need for a panoramic camera. Kodak (1888) The introduction of Kodak is frequently seen as the start of popular photography. It also introduced celluloid roll films into the market. George Eastman George Eastman was a bank clerk by profession, he practiced photography as a hobby. He introduced the Kodak camera and celluloid roll films in 1888 which started the growth of his own company. Enjalbert Revolver de Poche (1890) The popularity of cameras disguised as other objects began its popularity in the late 1870s. Albert Posso who invented Revolver de Poche was a French gunsmith who later joined the military for Germany. After retiring from the military, Posso opened his own camera shop. Sanderson Hand Camera (1899) The Sanderson Hand Camera was one of the most long lasting and popular hand camera which was mostly used by amateur photographers. Its inventor Frederick Sanderson is a cabinet maker and wood and stone carver. Sanderson was interested in architectural photography and felt like there was no camera that suits his needs. Kodak Brownie (1900) The Brownie camera was the most successful camera in the 20th century and was sold all over the world. Frank Bownell the inventor of the Brownie worked under George Eastman. George Eastman created a camera factory for Bownell called Camera Works. When Bownell retired in 1902, he was able to create 60 camera designs. Eastman described Bownell as the greatest camera designer the world has known. Vest Pocket Kodak (1912) The Vest Pocket Kodak started selling around World War 1 and was advertised as “The Soldier’s Camera”. This was the cheapest camera available during that time. With the outbreak of the first world war, the business of photography began to boom. Portrait studios experienced growth in demand as soldiers took portraits to leave for their family. Sales of cameras grew as well as soldiers bought cameras to bring with them. Ermanox (1924) The Ermanox was advertised as the camera for night photography without the flash light. This camera specializes in indoor photos and low light photos. Leica 1 (1925) The Leica 1 is the first camera to have a 35mm lens. It captures many different types of camera shots and angles. It's wide enough to capture background elements, but close enough to shoot more intimate shots like coverage and portraits. Henri Cartier- Bresson Henri Cartier-Bresson became one the most famous Leica 1 photographer. The Leica 1 proved to be the perfect partner for Cartier-Bresson. Leica 1’s quick and unobtrusive nature gave Cartier- Bresson the chance to take the perfect candid photos. Coronet Midget (1934) The Coronet Camera Company established in England by Frederick Pettifer to produce a range of cheap cameras for the mass market. Although its low cost, the Coronet Midget gives good results and is long lasting. Minox (1937) The Minox is a small and compact archetypal spy camera. The camera found fame as it is featured in several films such as the James Bond series.. The inventor of the Minox is Walter Zapp. He is obsessed with the idea of constructing a a miniature camera, one so small as it can vanish in a clenched fist. They advertised the Minox as small enough to seem a toy, nevertheless an apparatus of finest precision. This camera also attracted the attention of intelligence agencies in the United States, Britain, and Germany. The Minox was ideally suited for covert use. Kodak Super Six-20 (1938) The Kodak Super Six-20 is the first camera featuring an automatic exposure control. During this time, camera designers gave consideration to automating the technical side of photography. Kodak Matchbox (1944) The Kodak Matchbox is a spy camera developed for the American Office Strategic Services and made for covert use during the 2nd World War. The Pacemaker Speed Graphic (1947) The Pacemaker Speed Graphic Camera was made by Folmer & Schwing Manufacturing Company. The company manufactured gas lamps and bicycles before moving to cameras. The Pacemaker Speed Graphic was closely associated with Press Photography in the 1950s because the camera can give a fast shutter speed. Arthur Fellig The most famous user of the Pacemaker Speed Graphic was the New York news photographer Arthur Fellig, better known as Weegee. Polaroid Land Model 95 (1948) Polaroid Land Model 95 is the first instant picture camera. The camera can produce the printed photo in just one minute. View-Master Personal Stereo Camera (1952) The View-Master Personal Stereo Camera was the first camera to be able to produce colored photographs. Konica C35 AF (1977) The Konica C35 AF is the first camera with autofocus feature. This was made by the Konishiroku Photo Industry Company which started as a Pharmaceutical Company. Fuji DS-1P (1988) It is commonly believed that the first ever commercially manufactured portable digital camera was the Fuji DS-1P but it was never released for sale to the public. It was produced in 1988 and stored it’s images on a 2MB SRAM memory card. Kodak Nikon DCS 100 (1991) The Kodak Nikon DCS 100 was the first ever commercially available DSLR camera. The camera could store 600 jpeg images. Kodak DCS sported a “massive” 1.3 megapixel image sensor and sold for a cool $13,000 USD. Kyocera VP-210 (1997) By the mid 90s, mobile phones were becoming a normal item to carry around, much like a point and shoot camera so it was no surprise that in 1997, the first prototype cellular phone with a camera debuted. An inventor named Phillipe Kahn shared the first image taken by a camera phone: a photo of his newborn child, which he sent to 2000 people via cellular radio. The first camera phone to then hit the market was Kyocera’s VP-210 in Japan. The phone could record 20 still photos and video at a 2fps rate. Conclusion The path that photography has taken from inception is a fascinating story – conceptualised first by philosophers, birthed by scientists, raised by artists and adopted by journalists – these days, almost every human on Earth has a hand in taking photographs. It is estimated that over one trillion photos are taken every year. Today, you can’t go anywhere in public without seeing people taking photographs with either smartphones or cameras. Photography has transformed the way that information is spread throughout the world. It has revealed the ugly horrors of war, unearthed the raw beauty of nature and captured pieces of history to be forever memorialised for future generations to come. Reminders We will have a quiz next meeting For our Basic Photography class, we will be utilizing Flickr and Wordpress. Kindly create a Flickr and Wordpress account using your knightmail. Please use your real name on the accounts. After the creation of accounts, place the link of your accounts in the Google Sheet that will be posted. You may also customize the layout of your Wordpress blog as you please. Next meeting: Parts of a DSLR camera Assessment Task #1 Submit a favorite photo you have taken before and explain the story behind it. (Minimum of 5 sentences) Deadline: September 15 via Wordpress