History of Photography
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| Pocket-Premo | Speed Graphic | Zeiss-Ikon |
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| American Optical | Graflex Camera | 1910 Kodak |
What would life be with out the History Photography? The History of Photography tells us that the word “photography“ was not heard of in the early 19th century. Sir John Herschel was the first person to use the word which came from the Greeks. To write with “light“ was known as “photography”. The two processes to create a photograph had been known centuries before, but no one had thought about bring the two together. The Camera Obscura and optics were able to display a picture on a flat surface in the 15th century. Later in the 16th century, it was noticed that silver chloride would turn dark when exposed to the sun. Optics and chemistry were about to change photography history in the early 19th century.
The first history of photography photograph was produced in August of 1827 by Nipce. The exposure time was 8 hours, but it was a start. Nipce and Louis Daguerre started working together and improved the process. On the 19th of August, 1839, when Daguerre announced to the public about his invention and received a patent, history was about to be made.
The people in the Western world were not as excited about this invention as where those in Europe. Artists thought people would not be interested in paintings anymore and they would have a problem making a living. They felt photography was taking away the purity of the art.
Many problems surrounded photography in the beginning. The first one was making the picture permanent, as the chemical process continued, the picture would be lost. Secondly, the chemicals, which made up the images, were very delicate. They were easily scratched, so care had to be taken handling them. One of the more frustrating problems was the time it took to take the picture. Portraits could not be taken as no one could hold still long enough.
People got involved in attempting to improve the process. Speed of the sensitive plates was increased which cut down the exposure time. The process improved, portrait studios started appearing everywhere. The ordinary and poor people could now have their portraits taken.
Portable darkrooms had to be used, as the pictures had to be developed as soon as they were taken. By 1870, the wet process gave way to the new dry process. This allowed the photographer to go out in the field and take the pictures, then return to his darkroom and have them developed. Considerably more efficient as less equipment had to take into the field. Cameras were also being improved. Mechanical shutters were being developed, instead of manually operating a shutter by hand. Improved lenses were becoming available. Improvement continued at a rapid rate.
The beginning of the 20th century, George Eastman entered in to the business. His first project was to replace the plate with roll film which could hold multiple pictures. The history of film starts here. This film was on a roll which was then placed in the camera. When a picture was taken, the film was advanced and ready for another picture. This new camera was called the “Kodak Camera”. When all the pictures were taken, the camera was sent back to the factory for developing. This made photography easy for everyone at a reasonable price. Color film was developed, along with numerous other equipment and processes to make taking better pictures.The history of photography was then in the making.
