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History of Photography

The word "photograph" is derived from Greek origin,


with "photo" meaning "light" and "graph" meaning "to
write or to draw." The literal translation of photograph,
then, is "light writing," or possibly "light drawing.”
The term camera obscura is also of Greek origin, and translates to "dark
chamber." A dark room or dark box was constructed with a hole to allow light
from the outside to pass though, before projecting an inverted view of the
exterior scene onto the ground, wall, or other flat receiving surface.
A camera obscura, from
the collection of
historical apparatus of
the National University
of Ireland, Galway.

A contemporary camera obscura in action, by Abelardo Morell.


William Henry Fox Talbot, "Feathers,
Lace & Leaves," 1839. A "photogenic
drawing"
Cyanotype of Algae, c. 1843
A photogram by Anna Atkins, who
created the first published book to be
illustrated with photographic images,
British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions
(1843-1853)
Joseph Niépce, "View from a Window Cras," 1827.
This image by Joseph Niépce is the result of an eight-hour exposure,
and is the oldest photographic image still in existence.
Nicephore Niepce
Set Table c. 1827.
Heliograph.
A daguerréotype portrait of Lois Daguerre.

Jean Baptiste Sabatier-Blot


French (1801-1881)
1844
Daguerreotype Cameras
Daguerreotype was the first successful photographic process:
announced on 7 January 1839

Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre


Still-life
Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre - 1839,
man in photo is perhaps first person to be photographed
Félix-Jacques-Antoine Moulin (French, 1800–after 1869)

Two Nudes Standing, ca. 1850


Alexander Hesler
Woman at a Mirror, 1856, half plate.
Albert Sands Southworth and Josiah Johnson Hawes,
Young Girl with Hands on Chair, n.d., whole plate.
Unidentified Artist
Editor, n.d., quarter plate.
Jeremiah Gurney
Woman and Child, n.d., sixth plate.
Quaker Sisters
Unidentified Photographer
1853
daguerreotype with applied color
6.9 x 8.2 cm., (oval) one sixth plate
Finely colored dress
daguerreotype with applied color
Portrait of Virginia Crane
daguerreotype with applied color
Postmortem of a little girl
daguerreotype with applied color
How the Daguerreotype is made:
• exposing copper plates to iodine, the fumes forming light-sensitive silver
iodide. The plate would have to be used within an hour.

• exposing to light - between 10 and 20 minutes, depending upon the light


available.

• developing the plate over mercury heated to 75 degrees Centigrade. This


caused the mercury to amalgamate with the silver.

• fixing the image in a warm solution of common salt (later sodium sulfite
was used.)

• rinsing the plate in hot distilled water.


Drawbacks of the Daguerreotype:

-long exposure- 10 to 20 minutes


-reverse image
-fragile output
-unique/only image
-toxic chemicals
--difficult to view from certain angles
Photogenic Drawings
1839
William Henry Fox Talbot
Lace, c. 1844
William Henry Fox Talbot
Botanical Specimen
Calotype:
paper negative prints
1840s
William Henry Fox Talbot
Stable court negative
William Henry Fox Talbot
Plant stems
William Henry Fox Talbot
Cloisters, Lacock Abbey, 1843
William Henry Fox Talbot
The Game Keeper, c. 1843
William Henry Fox Talbot
The Open Door, c. 1844
Plate VI, "The Pencil of Nature”
Salted paper print from a calotype negative
William Henry Fox Talbot
The Haystack, 1843
Salted paper print from a calotype negative
William Henry Fox Talbot
Single Leaf
Basic guidelines to distinguish between the
Daguerreotype and Calotype:

Daguerreotypes
SINGLE UNIQUE POSITIVE IMAGE
On metal plates (aquatint engravings to publish)
=popular in France, Germany, & America
Lots of daguerreotypists —process given freely (names not always known) (esp. in America)
Subject matter: portraits
Linear/sharp detail
 
Like scientific illustration
More “objective”

Calotypes
NEGATIVEPOSITIVE, REPRODUCIBLE
Paper; easier to publish
=mostly in England and France (NOT in America)
Not that many calotypists—due to patents and difficulty with process
Landscapes & architectural views
painterly/tonal masses: read the photo in masses of light and dark
tend to leave more to the imagination
more “subjective”
George Eastman

"Advertisement for the Kodak #1," 1890

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