History

Chapter Four



It seems like a bit boring first but when you have a full knowledge about your passion, hobby or profession  it’s going to be easy for you to understand  the basic  Pillars of Photography.

The story of the camera may have begun thousands of years ago when people first noticed that a chink in a wall or hole in a tent let light into the room and made a colored, upside down reflection. The word camera means room, and the first camera was a room (or tent, actually) called a camera obscura with an eye at the top of the tent much like a periscope that could be rotated. Artist used it by training the eye on an image, which was reflected down onto the artist’s work table where it could be drawn. Euclid and Aristotle  studied the principles of the light , and Leonardo da Vinci described and diagrammed the camera obscura, although it was not his discovery.

The first  portable cameras were boxes with the lenses on the front over apertures and plates at the back. The plates were flat and covered with light-sensitive materials. By removing the cover over the lens , light entered the box and was focused by the lens on the rear plate. Early exposures took from several seconds to a number of minutes because the sensitivity of the plates was so poor. Also, the only image was the one on the plate: photos, like those produced by Louis Daguerre and Joseph Niepce in France during the 1820s and 1830s, were unique artworks that were not reproducible. Plate-type photography continued to be refined, and , as plates were made more sensitive to light, the lens was improved to provide a variable aperture to control light exposure. The camera was also modified by adding a shutter, so leaves that opened or closed completely. A rubber bulb was used to provide air pressure to operate the shutter.

The invention of roll film in 1889 by George Eastman made photography more portable  because cameras ( and their operators) did not need to carry cumbersome plates and chemicals. Eastman’s invention and the cameras he also manufactured made photography a popular hobby.By 1896, the Eastman Kodak Company had sold 100,000  cameras. The camera was modified to include a film transport system with take-up spools, a winder, a lever for cocking the shutter blinds. By the turn of the century , the major obstacles to has branched from the basic concept and perfected each development. These developments are numerous, but include design and perfection to flash units including synchronized and high-speed flash; continued miniaturization if cameras; the Polaroid system of producing a finished print in the camera and without a negative; design of high quality equipment like Leica, Zeiss, and Hasselblad cameras and lenses; and advocacy of photography as an art from by photographers such as Matthew B. Brady, Alfred Stieglitz, Edward J. Steichen, and Ansel Adams.  

Also see the other topic on  Meaning of  Camera. In next chapter you will learn about  Timeline of Photogrpahy.  If you have any question regarding  PHOTOGRAPHY   just feel free to ask . So stay with us and like us on facebook