Welcome to the Grade 10 Photography History Webpage
Although 1839 is the usual date for the invention of photography, there were a number of different circumstances at different times in history which led to its creation and evolution.
1725: First recorded discovery that certain chemicals turned black when exposed to light.
1500s: the basic design of today's camera was introduced = camera obscura.
1. DAGUERRE: CAMERA/CHAMBRE NOIRE
Chambre noire = one of the earliest camera designs.
Between 1816 and 1840 appeared the first printed photographs.
2. CAMERA OBSCURA (17th century engraving), 16th-17th century.
Camera obscura = Latin for "dark chamber". It was a room or small building without windows, only a tiny hole fitted with a lens that projected images from the outside onto the opposite wall inside. The resulting image was inverted (upside down) and often unclear.
Camera obscura became familiar tool for artists and scientists from 16th century on, as the image could be traced to create an accurate sketch and be transformed into a painting.
3. EVOLUTION OF CAMERA OBSCURA
16th century (1500S): room or building = permanent
17th century (1600s): portable model to be moved from place to place
17th-19th centuries (1600s to 1800s) : table top version; image formed by lens and reflected by
mirror onto ground glass to be traced.
Artist's aim - illusion of reality.
4. NIEPCE: VIEW FROM HIS WINDOW AT GRAS, 1826
(Image/glass with bitumen; 8 hour exposure)
Not a true photograph but oldest known permanent photographic image; tonally reversed image
created by exposing materials with light-sensitized chemicals to light = chemical process combined with a printmaking process.
Early inventors of photography combined two previously known scientific principles:
1) optical: light passing through a small aperture (opening) in one wall of a camera
obscura (dark room) projects an inverted image on the opposite wall.
2) chemical: in 1725 German professor Johann Heinrich Schulze had proven that certain
chemicals, especially silver halides, turned dark when exposed to light.
The process required a long exposure (hours).
Jacques Louis Mandé DAGUERRE, 1787-1851
French painter and showman. He designed stage sets for opera and theatre; created diorama, thus also interested in illusion of reality.
1829-33: Daguerre worked in partnership with Niepce.
1835-39: Daguerre introduced daguerreotype - copper place coated with silver of iodide which
was exposed to light and the resulting image was developed by mercury and made permanent
by salt or hypo-sulfite-of-solution.
Daguerreotype had no negative; the original plate became the sole-unique print.
This process was publicly announced in summer 1939.
5. DAGUERRE: BOULEVARD DU TEMPLE, PARIS, 1838
Daguerreotype; exposure time of 15-30 minutes.
Early view of central Paris praised for its great detail.
First human ever recorded in a photograph (having his shoes shined at bottom left).
William Henry Fox TALBOT, 1800-77
Meanwhile, in England, Talbot experimented with photogenic drawings = leaves placed on paper coated with light-sensitive chemicals and exposed them to light.
6. TALBOT: BOTANICAL SPECIMEN, 1839
Photogenic drawing.
Also called photogram: laying objects on light-sensitized paper and exposing them to light.
7. TALBOT: OPEN DOOR, 1843
Plate VI from "The Pencil of Nature". Published in London, 1844.
One of the earliest and most famous examples of still life photographic arrangement, composed of a broom, horse harness and lantern set against a threshold.
1833-39: Talbot created his own photographic process (calotype) using a paper negative to create multiple copies of the same image.
First exposure produced a negative image on paper treated with silver compounds; exposed paper was then placed over a second sheet of treated paper and exposed to strong light to create a positive image.
1851: Englishman Frederick Scott ARCHER invents the collodion process in which coated glass plates are immersed in light-sensitive chemicals and while wet are exposed in the camera. The plate had to be developed immediately ecause as chemicals dryed, they lost their light-sensitive properties.
8. ARCHER: COLLODION/WET PLATE PROCESS, 1851
(4 of 7 steps): a. polishing the plate
b. coating the plate
c. sensitizing the plate
d. developing the plate
Collodion = wet-plate process which produced high quality, multiple copies and introduced the age of instantaneous photography.
But, like the daguerreotype, the collodion process was difficult to use.
1871: dry plate, using silver bromide process was introduced by Richard Leach Maddox; it was not perfected until 1878.
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It combines two images to creage three-dimensional effect; this twi-view provided the illusion of relief (3-D). It first appeared c. 1849 and became very popular by 1860.
9. SW CORNER OF RUE CASTIGLIONE AND RUE DE RIVOLI, PARIS, 1860
Photograph taken with stereoscopic camera as means of capturing greater illusion of reality: subject looks more thee-dimensional.
10. HOLMES-BATES: STEREOSCOPE WITH STEREOGRAPH
Method: two pictures were taken of same subject to reproduce binocular vision. One exposure was made, then the camera was moved laterally 2-1/2 inches and a second exposure was made.
11. DISDERI: STEREOSCOPIC CAMERA, 1864
It has two lenses and two separate light-tight compartments.
12. FENTON: FRUIT & FLOWERS, 1862
Example of stereographs.
13. STEREOFILMS BRUGUIERE: THE STÉREOCLIC, c. 1960
plastic and metal, 8.5 x 12 x 7 cm
Popular 20th century version of stereoscope/stereographs.
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Portrait photography became popular in mid-19th century because it was cheaper than having one's portrait painted by an artist and thus became more affordable to middle classes.
14. D. F. MILLET: COUPLE AND CHILD, 1854-59
Hand-tinted daguerreotype.
15. DAUMIER: PHOTOGRAPHY, A NEW PROCESS, 1856
Lithograph.
This caricature is one of more than 35 lithographs and drawings satirizing photography.
16. ENGLISH CARTE-DE-VISITE, 1860
Carte-de-visite: inexpensive paper prints mounted on 2-1/4 x 4" cards, usually depicting portraits, but also included local attractions collected by tourists. The photographer's name was also printed on the card.
Félix Tournachon, knows as NADAR, 1820/4-1910
Started off as a journalist and satirical caricaturist for political publications (i.e. Le Charivari).
1854: he began his photographic career as portraitist of rich and famous; his albums record a virtual Who's Who ofo mid-19th century Parisian life.
17. NADAR: NADAR'S STUDIO, PARIS
His photo studio was located in the heart of Paris' commercial district. It was later the site of the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874.
18. NADAR: PORTRAIT OF EDOUARD MANET, 1856
Typical of his portraits of famous Parisians, here the leading avant-garde painter.
Studio-based portrait with plain background and natural lighting.
19. Compare MANET: LUNCHEON ON THE GRASS, 1863
Manet was a controversial contemporary artist who had created a scandal (subject and style) with this Paris Salon entry of 1865.
20. NADAR: SELF-PORTRAIT IN PARIS CATACOMBS, 1861
1861: Nadar took the first photograph with artificial light in Paris catacombs and sewers using electrical lights. These photos were published in Le Paris Souterrain de Félix Nadar, 1861.
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In mid-19th century as exposure times decreased, photographers began recording outdoor scenes of nature and modeled their pictures after currentlandscape paintings.
Thus, art influenced photography; however, photography also influenced art.
21. CUVELIER: OUTSKIRTS OF ARRAS (FRANCE), 1852
Halation: strong sunlight affects the structure of solid objects by eating out shadows and in foliage, creating feathery appearance.
22. compare COROT: SOUVENIR OF MORTEFONTAINE, 1864
o/c, 26x35"
Painting executed by leading French landscape artist which was great success at 1865 Paris Salon (important annual art exhibition sponsored by the French government).
Halation accounts for change in Corot's painting style after 1850, at the time landscape photography was becoming popular.
23. compare COROT: HAGAR IN THE WILDERNESS, 1835
o/c 71 x 106-1/2"
Corot's earlier style was characterized by high contrast and solid form.
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The question arose as to whether photography could be considered art or was just a simple mechanical process involving no artistic talent.
24. NADAR: CARICATURE (addressing this question)
Left: Ingratitude of Painting refusing the smallest place in its exhibition to Photography to whom it owes so much, 1857
Right: Painting Offers Photography a Place in Paris Fine Arts Exhibit, 1959
25. DAUMIER: NADAR ELEVATING PHOTOGRAPHY TO THE LEVEL OF ART, 1862
Caricature with double meaning: First aerial photograph from hot-air balloon, 1858, and first recognition of photography as art.
26. NADAR: ARC DE TRIOMPHE & GRANDS BOULEVARDS, PARIS, 1868
Stereographs shot from a hot-air balloon over Paris.
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Documentary is a type of photography that records actual events, people and places. It can be divided into three major categories: war, social reform and photojournalism.
WAR DOCUMENTARY
Roger FENTON, 1819-69
He explored all subject categories with his photographs: portraiture, still life, landscape, cityscape and war documentary.
27. FENTON & MOBILE DARKROOM, 1854-55
Shows how photographers had to cary all of their equipment and darkroom with them.
Fenton documented the Crimean War (South of the Ukraine) de-emphasizing violence and gore. He focused on quiet moments removed from was action, partly due to slow process of picture-taking and awkwardness of equipment (too risky on the battlefield).
28. FENTON: BALAKLAVA, 1855
Documents a ship at port being unloaded with supplies for British soldiers.
Matthew BRADY, 1823-96
Famous American portrait photorapher who recorded American Civil War, 1861-65.
1862: Brady organized a group of ten photographers to cover various battle fronts.
29. BRADY: GENERAL POTTER AND STAFF, 1865
Group portrait that documents main characters/heroes of war: officers, their associates and camp life.
Like Fenton's, Brady's camera was too slow and cumbersome to record actual combat.
30. Timothy O'SULLIVAN: A HARVEST OF DEATH, GETTYSBURG, July 1863
Brady's photographers recorded the reality of war after the battle was over.
31. Alexander GARDNER: HOME OF A REBEL SHARPSHOOTER, July1863
This photograph is a fake; the soldier had died somewhere else and was moved here to create a moe dramatic scene.
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SOCIAL REFORM
Documentary photography was used to educate the public and bring about social change to improve quality of life.
Jacobs RIIS, 1849-1914
American journalist turned photographer; he was a former police reporter.
1887: German invention of gunpowder flash allowed for element of surprise.
Riis knew crime-infested slums and by documenting them i n photos, he affected social change in form of housing codes and labour laws.
32. RIIS: BANDITS' ROOST, 1888
See smoke from gunpowder flash.
Lewis HINE, 1874-1940
American sociologist turned photographer.
1906-14: Hine produced group of photos of child labourers for National Child Labor Committee. He used various excuses to gain entry into factories in order to document exploited children.
33. HINE: DOFFER GIRL IN NEW ENGLAND MILL, 1910
"Doffers" remove fibers from roller in textile factory.
Hine often chose low viewpoint from beneath eye-level of child so that his physical weakness contrasted unending repetition of machinery. His photographs succeeded in promoting governmental reform through sympathetic but not sentimental view of his young subjects.
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Eadweard MUYBRIDGE, 1830-1904
American photographer who explored stop action & sequential photography in order to study motion.
34. MUYBRIDGE: HORSE IN MOTION, 1878
(wet plate photo)
He recorded for the first time actual motion of a galloping horse to settle a bet as to
whether running horses lift all four hooves off the ground at once.
He discovered that all four feet are off the ground only when they are directly underneath the horse (2nd & 3rd frames), not while stretched out.
Muybridge set up along side a race track 12 cameras the shutters of which were
triggered as the horse passed.
35. compare: GÉRICAULT: HORSE RACING AT EPSOM, 1821
Ptg. by 19th-century French Romanticist w/all 4 feet off ground while stretched out.
Thus, photography is more truthful than painting in this case.
36. compare: DEGAS/MUYBRIDGE: TROTTING HORSES, 1870s
French Impressionist painter used Muybridge’s action photos for his exploration of
stop action motion.
37. compare: DEGAS: HORSE TROTTING (bronze), 1880
-this sculpture accurately expresses the horse’s motion through its pose and uneven
light reflection off of its rough metal surface.
38. MUYBRIDGE: ZOOPRAXISCOPE, 1880
1880: Muybridge invented the zoopraxiscope (pre-cursor to projector) which
produced a series of images of a moving object.
Thus, photography = practical art for recording historical events and aiding scientific
investigation.
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= photographic movement whose members believed that a photograph should capture
nature’s own truth, specializing in peaceful scenes of country life & soft focus,
blurred edges.
Peter Henry EMERSON, 1856-1936
1886: he co-authored Life & Landscape in the Norfolk Broads, with 40 illustrations of
East Anglican peasant life.
39. EMERSON: HAYMAKING IN NORFOLK BROADS, 1890
He based his photographs on scientific principles and British painter Constable’s
landscapes from 70 years earlier:
40. compare: CONSTABLE: THE HAYWAIN, 1821
Romantic interest in natural phenomenon based on actual observation.
Emerson finally decided that photography was a science and not an art, because it was
machine-made and not personal.
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= photographic movement whose members imitated themes in painting and created painterly effects by manipulating the image during picture-taking or processing.
Julia Margaret CAMERON, 1815-79
Self-taught photographer.
1863: at middle age (48), she took up photography when given camera by daughter.
Known for her allegorical and narrative photographs, & portraits of famous
Englishmen.
41. CAMERON: PORTRAIT OF ELLEN TERRY, 1863
Photo of actress imitates current Victorian (Pre-Raphaelite) painting style:
42. compare: ROSSETTI: BEATA BEATRIX, 1863
= characteristic of Pre-Raphaelite painters during Victorian Period in England.
43. compare: Left: ROSSETTI: JANE MORRIS (photo), 1865
Right: ROSSETTI: REVERIE (colored chalk, 33x28") 1868
Pre-Raphaelite artist uses photograph as model for his drawing.
Thus, photography also influences art.
44. CAMERON: THOMAS CARLYLE, 1867
-soft focus portrait of British author resembles painting.
Cameron concentrated on the inner spirit of the sitter and forced them to pose until she
was content with the result.
Clarence H. WHITE, 1871-1925
Self-taught, American practitioner of Pictorialism; allegorical subjects.
45. WHITE: THE CAVE, 1901
Soft focus & somber mood.
“Tonalist style”: concentrates on light & atmosphere w/tonal variation achieved
with platinum plate process (contact-printing process produces a soft print with
long tonal scale & luminous shadow detail. Results in image color from silvery
gray to rosy brown).
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Important changes occur at turn of century (19th to 20th century).
46. KODAK ADVERTISEMENT FOR BOX CAMERA, 1895
George Eastman introduced 1st easy to use camera: simple box w/lens, a cord to cock
the shutter, a release button and crank to wind film.
It came loaded w/film for 100 photos; when used up, camera was returned to Kodak;
film was developed & printed, then camera was reloaded.
Name “Kodak” has no significance, except for a name people could remember.
Alfred STIEGLITZ, 1864-1946
First modern American photographer.
47. STIEGLITZ: VIEW OF THE SEINE, 1894
Started off w/Pictorialism, manipulating images to imitate painting.
1902: founded Photo-Secession movement.
1903: established Camera Work = quarterly magazine which promoted photograph as independent art form.
1905: Stieglitz opened “Gallery 291” in NYC, which endorsed modern European and
American art.
48. STIEGLITZ: THE STEERAGE, 1907
Introduced “straight photography”: exploiting optical & aesthetic properties of
photographic techniques w/o light effects or darkroom enhancement.
49. STIEGLITZ: GEORGIA O’KEEFE, 1922
Portrait of his wife, a famous American painter.
Edward STEICHEN, 1879-1973
-studied to be a painter in Paris
1905: with Stieglitz, he established “Gallery 291”.
1955: "Family of Man": International Photo Exhibit curated by Steichen.
50. STEICHEN: RODIN, THE THINKER, 1902
Portrays famous French sculptor with his masterpiece The Thinker.
Started off with Pictorialism, imitating painting.
51. STEICHEN: PORTRAIT DE COLETTE, PARIS, 1920s
= famous French writer (1873-1954); author of Gigi (1943).
He uses dramatic lighting and steep camera angle to express his subject.
1920s: Steichen abandoned his early Pictorialism and became successful celebrity
and fashion photographer.
52. STEICHEN: GRETA GARBO, 1920s
= captures true character of famous silent movie star; not a Hollywood stereotype.
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Next generation of photographers directly influenced by Stieglitz.
Paul STRAND, 1890-1976
Studied in NYC with Hine and joined Stieglitz circle in 1916 after abandoning Pictorialism & took up “straight photography”; shift in style was influenced by 1915 Armory Show in NYC, which exhibited European modernism (Cezanne, Picasso, Matisse, etc.)
1916, his photos appeared in Camera Work; he became leader of “Straight Photography”
53. STRAND: TOWN HALL, NEW ENGLAND, 1946
Creates full range of tonal values w/o tricks of process or manipulation by using
“straight” photographic methods.
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Their goal was to define photography as an art form by simple and direct presentation
through purely photographic methods = “pure photography.”
Edward WESTON, 1886-1958
Introduced “pure photography”
1920s: influenced by Stieglitz, Weston pursued abstraction & realism separately in
his photographs.
1930: Weston fused the 2 together, concentrating on design & detail.
54. WESTON: PEPPER, 1930
He transformed “straight” nature into abstraction through high degree of sharpness
and close-up view that monumentalizes the pepper = “pure” photography.
He used 8x10 view camera and made contact prints from 8x10” negative; rejected the
process of enlarging to prevent losing detail.
By abstracting the pepper, different levels of reality can be perceived = parallel to
the contemporary art movement of Surrealism:
55. compare: DALI: APPARITION OF A FACE AND FRUIT DISH ON A BEACH, 1938
Dali = 1 of major Surrealist painters who created images based on the subconscious.
1932: Weston founded “Group f.64” in San Francisco w/Imogene Cunningham and
Ansel Adams; group named for smallest aperture on large format camera which produced sharp focus & great depth of field.
Imogen CUNNINGHAM, 1883-1976
Began w/Pictorialism & switched to “straight” photography; “Group f.64” co-founder
56. CUNNINGHAM: TWO CALLAS, 1929
Part of series of plant studies in which close-up details & perfect lighting create
abstraction of flowers.
Ansel ADAMS, 1902-84
Strand convinced him to quit Pictorialism in 1930s; “Group f.64” co-founder Adams
introduced the “Zone System” to help adjust exposure and development.
He was a nature photographer who used full tonal range.
57. ADAMS: MOONRISE, HERNANDEZ, NEW MEXICO, 1941
Sharp focus and great depth of field record texture and space of unspoiled nature.
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Eugène ATGET, 1857-1927
-studied theatre; self-taught photographer.
-photographed commonplace subjects in Paris such as storefronts.
-technique: tripod and large format view camera with emphasis on clarity.
58. ATGET: AT THE SIGN OF THE DRUM, 1908
-clarity of detail and symmetrical composition w/o people; only their reflections.
59. ATGET: MAGASIN, AVENUE DES GOBELINS, PARIS, 1925
-Gobelins tapestry works (across the street) reflected in window of clothing shop.
Ambiguous image presents two levels of reality = pre-announces Surrealism.
Berenice ABBOTT (1898-1992)
-American woman photographer working in Paris during 1920s; spent 2 yrs. as an
assistant to Surrealist photographer.
She later saved Atget’s prints and negatives, by buying them and arranging
exhibitions of his work.
60. ABBOTT: PORTRAIT OF EUGÈNE ATGET, c.1927
= late portrait of Atget.
61. ABBOTT: COLUMBUS CIRCLE, 1933
-aimed at capturing inner spirit and driving force of New York City through
abstractions of the great metropolis.
62. ABBOTT: NEW YORK CITY AT NIGHT, 1933
Part of her major project to document NYC and its changing appearance; resulted in
her Changing New York exhibition and book published in 1937.
Henri CARTIER-BRESSON, 1908-2004
-master of “decisive moment” = instant recognition & visual organization of an event
at its most intense moment of action or emotion, in order to reveal inner meaning—
not just record of occurrence (people/places captured at right moment).
63. CARTIER-BRESSON: PARIS, GARE ST-LAZARE, 1932
-expresses humour & irony of hurrying passenger at flooded Paris train station.
64. CARTIER-BRESSON: CHILDREN PLAYING IN RUINS, SPAIN, 1933
-view of children among ruins in Seville foretells the devastation that would consume Spain 3 yrs. later during Spanish Civil War; uses framing for composition.
1947, Cartier-Bresson was a founding member of Magnum Photos, a cooperative
agency of independent photographers.
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Robert CAPA, 1913-54
Combat photographer who covered wars around the world for 20 yrs. before being
killed by a land mine in Indo-China.
1947, Capa was a founding member of Magnum Photos.
65. CAPA: DEATH OF A LOYALIST SOLDIER, 1936
-barely adequate technically, this battle close-up of a Loyalist soldier being shot
during the Spanish Civil War captures the horror of death at moment of impact.
66. CAPA: D-DAY, 1944
-documents first wave of American troops landing at Omaha Beach, on Normandy coast
of France, June 6, 1944.
2 rolls of film that Capa shot in the water and on the beach were mostly ruined by an
overly enthusiastic darkroom worker in Life magazine’s London office, who turned up
the heat in the drying cabinet so high that the emulsion began to melt.
Dorothea LANGE, 1895-1965
Studied with Clarence H. White at Columbia University, NYC.
c. 1918: career began as portrait photographer.
-employed in mid-1930s as staff photographer for U.S. Federal Farm Service
Administration to document effects of Great Depression on American farmers.
67. LANGE: MIGRANT WORKER, NIPOMO, CALIFORNIA, 1936
= unposed & uncropped photo of 32-yr. old Cherokee widow & 3 of her 5 children. Its publication caused U.S. government to send food & establish migrant relief camps.
This is one of six 4 x 5 negatives she shot with her Graflex camera.
Lange was a social documentary photographer. This photo is an icon of the Great Depression.
Margaret BOURKE-WHITE,1904-71
-industrial photographer (buildings & machines).
-played major role in establishing photojournalism: 1) use of photos in publications
to record world events; 2) became major source of information & insight for public.
She = 1st staff photographer hired by Fortune magazine & then by Life magazine.
68a. BOURKE-WHITE: FORT PECK DAM, MONTANA, 1936
-cover photo of Fort Peck Dam, Montana for 1st issue of Life magazine, Nov. 23, 1936
68b. BOURKE-WHITE: DETAIL FORT PECK DAM
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MAN RAY (1890-1976)
1915-18: part of New York Dada art movement.
1921: society & fashion photographer in Paris (Vogue & Harper’s Bazaar).
1920s: began exploring photograms, made by placing objects directly onto photo-
graphic paper & exposing them to light; joined Surrealist movement in Paris.
69. MAN RAY: RAYOGRAPH, 1928
-amusing face created by accidental process of dropping a string, 2 strips of paper, and
a few pieces of cotton onto to photographic paper, then adjusting them before
exposure to light.
70. MAN RAY: FINGERS (solarization), 1930
Solarization (film)& Sabattier Effect (paper) are processes which produce images in between a negative & positive; caused by exposure of emulsion to light during development.
Minor WHITE, 1908-76
Photographic artist and educator.
-like contemporary abstract painters, White worked in very personal style.
71. WHITE: SUN IN ROCK, 1947
-he manipulates viewpoint to create an abstraction of nature.
72. WHITE: RITUAL BRANCH, 1958
Stark silhouette creates mysterious shape.
David HOCKNEY, b.1937
-emerged as British Pop artist concurrent w/Beatles.
1982: he began creating photographic collages = photomontage.
73.HOCKNEY: THE SCRABBLE GAME, 1983
-explores space & time by using composite (combination) of separate views of same subject/scene; results in an approximation of what the eye sees, imitating the scanning sensation of actual vision.
Jerry UELSMANN, b.1934
-influenced by Stieglitz, Minor White, and Magritte’s Surrealist paintings.
-1960, started teaching at University of Florida.
74. UELSMANN: ROOM, 1963
-inspired by Rejlander’s 19th-century multiple-negative photos:
75. compare: Oscar REJLANDER (1813-75): Two Paths of Life (16x31”), 1857
-albumen print, composite photography = combination printing.
-Victorian Pictorialist used 30 separate negatives posed for by 16 professional and
other models. (loosely based on Raphael’s School of Athens fresco in Vatican).
= allegory of choice between good and evil (work vs idleness); relates thematically and
stylistically to paintings & photos in Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition of 1857.
76. UELSMANN: UNTITLED (1st version), 1970
= surrealistic landscape.
77. compare: UELSMANN: UNTITLED (process),1970
-he combines different negatives or fragments of negatives & projects them onto same
sheet of photographic paper which he moves from 1 enlarger to another.
He introduced “Post Visualization”: using multiple exposures/combination printing in the darkroom.
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