This week we are learning about photography, and more specifically the history of photography. I am going to split this assignment into part one and part two.
PART ONE
Pick three events in the timeline from this week’s lesson (History of Photography: An Introduction) and find photographs of the event on the Internet or in the library and write a paragraph explaining the event in more detail. Include your photographs in the description.
I chose the «the pinhole camera», «the first photograph» and «tintypes».
The Pinhole camera
A pinhole camera is a camera without a lens, but it is using a pinhole (a tiny apeture). Using a light-proof box with a small hole in one of the sides, we can create a pinhole camera. When light passes through the hole in the box, it creates an inverted image on the other side of the box. This is called the «camera obscura» effect, and this is how it looks like (if you got lost in my explaination):
A man named Alhazen invented the first pinhole camera around 1000 AD and used it mainly for studies about the nature of light and to watch solar eclipses safely.
For a picture taken with a pinhole camera the exposure is long, the image is softer and less sharp and the image has nearly infinite depth of field.
The first photograph
Joseph Nicéphore Niépce was born in 1765 in France. He was one of the most important figures in the invention of photography. He was interested in lithography and explored the idea of using light sensetive materials to produce images on printing plates and stones. He called his process «heliography» («drawing with light»). He dissolved a kind of asphalt in a solvent and covered a pewter plate with it. When the solvent was exposed to light in a camera obscura, it got hard. When he then washed the plate with lavender oil and terpentine, the solvent that had not been exposed to light got washed away, leaving an image on the plate.
Niépce took the earliest known surviving photograph called «View from the Window at Le Gras» in 1826 or 1827.
«View from the Window at Le Gras»
«View from the Window at Le Gras» recreated
I also found an interesting video showing how this image was created:
Tintypes
Tintypes (also called ferrotypes) appeared in America in the 1950s. An underexposed and negative image was produced on a thin iron plate covered in dark laquer, painting or enamel. It was also coated with a collodion photographic emulsion. Because of the dark background, the image got the appearance of a positive image. Because the photographer could use an underexposed image for this process, he could produce the image more quickly than other methods.
PART TWO
Go to the library or search on the Internet and find a photograph from the 19th century (taken before 1900). Write a short “think piece” about this photograph. You are free to select any image you would like to write about, as long as the photograph was taken during the 19th century. Examine the photograph carefully and write about what you see and what the photograph makes you think about.
I found this photo, where photographer Frances Benjamin Johnston is showing an early camera to a group of children.
I found this photograph interesting in many ways. First of all, it is nice to see so many young children being interested in the new technology. It kind of reminds me of when I was younger, and someone in our class was the first one to get a mobile phone. We were all standing around, watching this new technology, and of course wanting one ourselves.
One thing I find interesting in this image is the scene. They are standing in a place which looks to be an old railway-track. I wonder if this is a photography class for the children, and maybe this scene is what they are photographing for their class.
The photographer was probably fascinated by the children coming closer to look at the camera. The image portrays knowledge being passed on, as well as fascination and curiousness for new technology.
I think it is interesting that the exact same image could have been taken today (except for the clothing). The children would still be fascinated, but this time by the old technology. Since cameras have changed so much over the years, I think people would have been interested in learning how cameras worked in the old days. Just as I have started doing during this assignment.
– Therese •ᴗ•
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinhole_camera
https://jongrepstad.com/pinhole-photography/pinhole-photography-history-images-cameras-formulas/
http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/permanent/firstphotograph/
http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/permanent/firstphotograph/history/#top
http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/permanent/firstphotograph/process/#top
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tintype
Images:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera_obscura
http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/permanent/firstphotograph/history/#top
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tintype
https://kodakery.com/2012/11/30/frances-benjamin-johnston-what-a-woman-can-do-with-a-camera/
Therese Reinhardtsen 