History of Photography Essay

A lot of effort has been taken to ensure the development of the camera from the age of a big box to small-sized ones (Benjamin, 2012). Moreover, the process of inventing the first camera involved many people and was characterized by methods of trial and error. The development of the camera created a significant impact on the world. The ancestors of photographic camera both pinhole and obscura camera date back to Chinese and the ancient Greek. Mozi, a philosopher from China, was the first person to write down the principles of camera obscura. These days, almost everyone has a smartphone with a camera on it. Before selfies were a cultural norm, someone had to invent this kind of technology. The document focuses on the history of photography. Also, the paper explains how the first camera was created and the developments of the camera from the beginning till now.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The first camera was designed in 1685 by Johann Zahn. Many people were involved in the process of inventing the camera. Mo-Ti was the first person who developed the photography invention. However, it was Joseph Nicephore Niepce who used it to take the first photos. Therefore, the first photography innovation was co-shared between Joseph Nicephore Niepce and Johann Zahn. Also, the invention of the first camera involved many people who spent over a decade developing the camera. Johann Zahn designed the first portable camera in 1685. However, there was no much progress that was made in the next 130 years that followed since most of the attempts that were made in between were futile. In 1814, Joseph Nicephore clicked the first photograph, which was not permanent (Hall-Duncan Saint Laurent, and Riley, 2009). The photograph was taken using the camera he had taken on a film coated with silver chloride. The picture was not a clear one because it had been taken in a dark room.

Louis Daguerra invented the first ever photography in 1829 after a decade of attempting to develop an effective method for photography. Alexander Walcott is given credit to developing the first ever photos that did not fade quickly. The first cameras were huge (Pollack, and Grushkin, 2017). For instance, the first camera was so huge, and it required a big storage space such as a room. Moreover, the first camera had a big space in the inside that would accommodate the people that used to operate it. The cameras produced blurred images and could only take black and white colours. However, the development and modification of the first camera have resulted in better and smaller cameras that are used today.

In the 1940s, coloured photography became popular and was commercialized. The first colour photograph was taken by James Clerk Maxwell (Linfield, 2011). In 1926, underwater colour photography was born where photographers were capable of captioning fish under water. In the history of photography, cameras have been known to use films which would come with the negative of the image. However, as time progressed, the techniques used to develop photos have continued to improve with the invention of the ability to produce coloured photographs. George Eastman in invented photographic film in1885. However, in 1889, he developed the use of celluloid in photography. Kodak was the name of the first camera and continues to be recognized as a significant player in the development of the camera film (Galassi, 2011. In the 1940s, the Brownie camera was introduced by Eastman and had the capability of taking snapshots. Kodak and Brownie were affordable and continued to be popular even in the late 1960s. However, they were not very compact and were not comfortable handling them.

Asahiflex was introduced into the market in 1952 and was made by the Asahi Optical Company. Other cameras introduced in the 1950s included Yashica, Canon and Nikon from Japanese camera makers. Nikon F came with interchangeable components and was regarded as the first system camera from Japan. The part enabled Nikon to establish a significant market share and helped its reputation which they continue to enjoy up to date. Cameras used in the ancient past required a film which would be taken back to the factory for developing photographs. In the 1970s, more conventional cameras became more sophisticated, and Polaroid Mode 95 was invented as the very first instant-picture camera. The camera was expensive though it had the advantage of users getting their photos right immediately after taking a photograph.

The arrival of digital cameras later changed the history of photography. Digital cameras are some of the most innovative in the history of photography since they do not require a film to store images and instead use internal storage or memory cards for keeping the photos (Brennen Bonnie, and Hanno, 2012). Digital cameras produce photos that can be printed or be viewed on other gadgets which have display screens such as laptops and desktop computers. Also, digital cameras have the capability of displaying photos right after they have been taken on their display screens.

The evolution of cameras from the ancient to the modern digital cameras has brought affordable and efficient photography in the contemporary world (Collier, and Collier, 2016). Digital cameras have some common properties which make them accessible compared to other ancient gadgets. Some of the unique features found in the modern digital cameras include having removable or internal storage systems, ability to be powered by rechargeable batteries, display screens and having advanced settings for ISO, focus, image resolution and shutter speed (Gernsheim, 2016). Moreover, the modern digital camera is portable, and they continue to gain a more significant market share compared to the old cameras. The first digital camera was created by engineers from Kodak and would take 23 seconds to create the first photograph. The first cameras would record white and black pictures with megapixels of 0.1 (Hirsch, 2017).

Important to note is the fact that modern cameras have great features such as the ability to have several photos taken at intervals, colour selection, shooting and mood selection. Moreover, modern cameras have capture timers for automatic shooting without anyone pressing on the capture button. Also, modern cameras have the features of Bluetooth and are Wi-Fi enabled to allow photo transfer to other devices for more comfortable sharing (Edwards, 2012). Cameras have undergone an evolution from being used to view a solar eclipse to gadgets that are now used to share works of arts or the most random of captured moments.

The move from ancient photography to modern photography is distinguished by the departure of traditional arts such as paintings to digital cameras capable of taking coloured photographs. Contemporary photography is now taught in colleges, and individuals graduate to become professional photographers. Contemporary photography is used in business in various ways such as enhancing blog posts and articles, documenting workflow efficiencies, taking pictures of milestones, as well as taking photos of essential functions and events. Also, modern photography is used to enhance PowerPoint presentations and creating informational and promotional videos. Conclusively, the invention of the camera is attributed to a combined effort by many people and has made significant developments such as coloured photography from black and white.

Bibliography

Benjamin, W., 2012. A short history of photography. Screen, 13(1), pp.5-26. Retrieved from https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=history+of+photography&oq=History+of+phot

Brennen, Bonnie, and Hanno Hardt, eds. Picturing the past: Media, history, and photography. University of Illinois Press, 2012. Retrieved from https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=history+of+photography&oq=History+of+phot

Collier, J. and Collier, M., 2016. Visual Anthropology: Photography as a research method. UNM Press. Retrieved from https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=photography&btnG=#d=gs_cit&u=%2Fscholar%3Fq%3Dinfo%3AOL7zI01BdzQJ%3Ascholar.google.com%2F%26output%3Dcite%26scirp%3D8%26hl%3Den

Edwards, E., 2012. Anthropology and photography, 1860-1920(No. Sirsi) i9780300051681). Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. Retrieved from https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=photography&btnG=#d=gs_cit&u=%2Fscholar%3Fq%3Dinfo%3AOL7zI01BdzQJ%3Ascholar.google.com%2F%26output%3Dcite%26scirp%3D8%26hl%3Den

Galassi, P.,2011. Before photography: Painting and the invention of photography (p. 28). New York: Museum of modern art. Retrieved from https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=photography&btnG=#d=gs_cit&u=%2Fscholar%3Fq%3Dinfo%3AOL7zI01BdzQJ%3Ascholar.google.com%2F%26output%3Dcite%26scirp%3D8%26hl%3Den

Gernsheim, H., 2016. A concise history of photography (No. 10). Courier Corporation. Retrieved from https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=history+of+photography&oq=History+of+phot

Hall-Duncan, N., Saint Laurent, Y. and Riley, R., 2009. The history of fashion photography. Alpine Book Company. Retrieved from https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=history+of+photography&oq=History+of+phot

Hirsch, M., 2017. Family Frames: Photography, narrative, and postmemory. Harvard University Press. Retrieved from https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=photography&btnG=#d=gs_cit&u=%2Fscholar%3Fq%3Dinfo%3AOL7zI01BdzQJ%3Ascholar.google.com%2F%26output%3Dcite%26scirp%3D8%26hl%3Den

Linfield, S., 2011. The cruel radiance: photography and political violence. University of Chicago Press. Retrieved from https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=history+of+photography&oq=History+of+phot

Pollack, P. and Grushkin, P., 2017. The picture history of photography: from the earliest beginnings to the present day. Thames and Hudson. Retrieved from https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=history+of+photography&oq=History+of+phot