PHOTOGRAPHY

1. The birth of fotography

In the early twenty-first century we are so familiar with the photograph and other technically reproduced imagery, that to imagine a world without these visuals is hard. However, the invention of photography was such an astonishing achievement in the mid-nineteenth century.

In 1826, the French Joseph Nicéphore Niépce (1765-1833), made the first photograph. 

The first picture, made by Joseph Nicéphore.

 

2. Technological Improvements

His research was continued by his business partner, Louis-Jaques-Mandé Daguerre (1787-51), who invented the daguerreotypes in 1839: small images made by the action of light on silver-based chemicals coating a silver copper plate. Even if the first pictures had the disadvantage to be reversed, the 'daguerreotypomania' and news of the invention of photography quickly spread, capturing the imagination and curiosity of many people all over the world.

The first daguerreotype, made by Daguerre.

Besides, an independent English scientist, William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-77) was experimenting with what became his calotype method that included the creation of a paper negative, and new technology that involved the transformation of the negative to a positive image, allowing for more than one copy of the picture. The big disadvantage of the collodion process was that it needed to be exposed and developed while the chemical coating was still wet so, photographers had to carry portable darkrooms to develop images after exposure.

A calbotype of a tree.

With the technology advancements, make photography became less laborious: the wet collodion method was replaced by the dry glass plate invention; in 1878, the exposure time decreased allowing moving objects to be photographed.

A motion photography.

Finally in 1888, George Eastman developed the dry gelatin roll film, making it easier for film to be carried. He also produced the first inexpensive cameras, allowing more people access photography.

In the 20 century, anyone could take a photograph thanks to the introduction of the Brownie camera created by the Eastman Kodak Company in 1901. Now, the possibility to take photographs has increase a lot with the development of the new technologies.

 

3. Kinds of photography

3.1. Early photography

The early history of photography in America, as in the rest of the world, is characterized to be divided in periods marked by a specific kind of photography. Here we have made a timeline with them:

- The first kind of photography taken was the individual portraits made on light sensitive paper.

- Some years later, the “carte de visite” photograph became very popular. People collected the images of their family and closer friends and put them into special albums to see them when they want. Sometimes they went with a personal quote or motto.

The carte de visite of the abolishionist and
women's rights activist Sojourney Truth.

The “carte de visite” was replaced by the larger “cabinet card”. The primary difference was that the cabinet card, which was initially used for landscape views, was larger and usually included extensive logos and information on the reverse side of the card to advertise the photographer’s services. 

- Then, the family portrait became famous too

3.2. Nowadays photography

With the popularization of the photography and so, the camera sale increase, the kind of photography that people can take has become infinite but we can divided it in four basic categories:

a) The creative genre, that allows significant retouching of images, as well as the wholesale creation or alteration and recreation of images. Some examples:

- Fashion photography: to display clothing and other fashion items

- Commercial photography: to display any kind of products

- Propaganda photography: to influence the attitude of a population toward some cause or position.

A commercial and fashion photography.

b) The editorial genre, in which a minimum of retouching is allowed. This is because these photographs make claims that what has been captured accurately reflects the situation or event as in reality. Nevertheless, sometimes they are also retouched. For example:

- Architectural photography: to take pictures of buildings and similar structures which  are aesthetically pleasing and accurate representations of their subjects.

- Nature photography: taken outdoors and devoted to displaying natural elements such as landscapes, wildlife, plants, and close-ups of natural scenes and textures. There are many types of nature pictures: aerial, landscape, wildlife, underwater, macro or flora.

A landscape photography.

- Life photography: that is divided in photojournalism (war, political, news); documentary and travel.

- Sports photography: either in action, for portraiture or adventure sports.

- Celebrity photography: like the red carpet one or the paparazzi one.

- Scientific photography: in which we can find the forensic, microscopic, macroscopic, telescopic, medical, fibreoptic, satellite, aerial and astronomy types.

A macroscopic photography.

c) The retail genre that captures, normally thanks to a professional photographer, a significant private event as an aid to memory. This genre includes photographs of graduations, weddings, right of passages but also passport and family portrait.

A wedding photography.

d) The personal genre that includes personal photographs of your daily live taken by ourselves, a relative or a friend. In this genre, photographs are not taken for money.

A daily life photography

That is all for today! We hope you have learnt a little about photography and that you have liked the beautiful photographs that we have included in this post. In future posts we will talk about American photography museums, artists and, obviously, American famous photographs.

See you next week for more information about American art.


Bibliography:

● INFORMATION:

-https://books.google.es/books?id=ZX_bdftWC94C&pg=PA229&dq=american+photography&hl=es&sa=X&ei=yFnwVNxJYuAU9WFhMgE&ved=0CEkQuwUwAw#v=onepage&q=american%20photography&f=false

- http://faculty.georgetown.edu/irvinem/theory/Osterman-Romer-history-of-photography-ex.pdf

- http://www.robinurton.com/history/photography.htm

- http://www.npg.org.uk/assets/files/pdf/learning/schools_wide_angle.pdf

- https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/becoming-modern/early-photography/a/early-photography-nipce-talbot-and-muybridge

- http://designgrapher.com/types-of-photography/

-http://www.shutha.org/photo-genres

●  PHOTOS:

- Joseph Nicéphore- First picture: http://cool.conservation-us.org/byorg/abbey/an/an26/an26-3/an26-3a.jpg

- The first daguerreotype: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02059/1837-first-dagueer_2059331i.jpg

- Calotype of a tree: https://harrietjonesphotography.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/1842-tree_1456693i.jpg

- Motion photography: http://www.meadowlarking.com/wp-content/uploads/blogger/-cw0eGHsfRTI/TfuVPvDT0uI/AAAAAAAABHc/Ydx92_uU-P4/s1600/resolver-3.jpeg

- Sojourney Truth “carte de visite”: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/odyssey/archive/03/0311002r.jpg

- Cabinet card: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Cab-card-wis-front.jpg

- Landscape: http://webneel.com/daily/sites/default/files/images/daily/10-2013/19-nature-photography-forest.jpg

- Macrophotography: http://www.thisiscolossal.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/chambon-3.jpg

- Wedding picture: http://globe-views.com/dcim/dreams/wedding/wedding-01.jpg

- Daily life picture: http://abeautifulmess.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8358081ff69e2016763527230970b-800wi

- Aurora Boreal: http://wallpapers.org.es/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/fondo-aurora-boreal.jpg