I once read a quote by Maya Angelou “You can't know where you're going until you know where you've been” and I think this quote serves as a great introduction to this article, as I want to look at what photography is and where it comes from.
What is Photography?
Photography is the process of creating images by capturing light on a light-sensitive medium, such as a photographic film or a digital sensor. It combines artistic and scientific elements, and it can serve as a method for recording, narrating, expressing, or communicating something.
The word "photography" originates from the Greek words 'photos' (light) and 'graphein' (to draw), which together means 'drawing with light.'
These days, a lot of people have great cameras on their phones, which has changed how we capture and share pictures. Thanks to digital technology, photography is easier and more flexible than ever.
Photography has many uses in our world today - we can use it to take pictures of our special memories, or of things happening around the world, make art, show off, be ourselves, and communicate with other people.
No matter what kind of photography you like, whether it's landscape photography that shows the beauty of nature, portrait photography that reveals the personality of a person, street photography that records daily life, or any other type of photography, there's always something new to discover and try out in this amazing field.
Where does photography come from, a few highlights from history.
Photography began in the early 1800s. In 1826, a French man named Joseph Nicéphore Niépce used a camera obscura and heliography to make what is now known as the first photograph in the world. The image, called 'View from the Window at Le Gras,' was a simple, fuzzy view of rooftops and countryside. It was a humble start but one that will change the world greatly.
After Niépce's discovery, another Frenchman named Louis Daguerre created a better and easier way called the daguerreotype process, which he revealed to the world in 1839. The daguerreotype was a one-of-a-kind picture on a copper plate with silver coating, very sharp but not able to be copied.
Another method that changed photography was the calotype process by William Henry Fox Talbot, which created a negative that could be used to make multiple positive prints. This method allowed for mass production and was an important advance for photography as we know it today.
The 20th century saw a rapid growth of technology. One of the breakthroughs was the roll film, invented by George Eastman in the late 1800s. This innovation enabled the production of the Kodak camera, which made photography easier and more affordable for the average person, not only for professionals and enthusiasts.
The first digital camera
In 1975, an engineer called Steven Sasson at Eastman Kodak created the first digital camera. He had the job of investigating an innovative technology called a charged coupled device (CCD). Sasson made a camera that used this CCD to capture images electronically.
By modern standards, the camera was quite large, roughly the same size as a toaster. It saved black-and-white images on a cassette tape, had a resolution of 0.01 megapixels, and needed about 23 seconds to take a picture.
Digital photography didn't take off right away, and Kodak didn't launch its first digital camera product for consumers until 1991, the Kodak DCS-100. It was mainly designed for photojournalists, with a cost that was too high for most ordinary consumers.
The development of consumer digital cameras that were affordable and easy to use accelerated in the late 1990s and early 2000s, due to improvements in technology and a reduction in costs. By the 2010s, the emergence of smartphones with powerful cameras ushered in a new era of photography. Today, almost anyone can take and share pictures instantly, everywhere, anytime.
Photography: More Than Just Technology
Photography is more than just its technical developments. It's a way of communicating, a medium for sharing feelings and thoughts, a technique for narrating stories, and a tool for recording our lives and the world around us.
Photography is always changing, but at its core, it is still a way of showing. It lets us express and understand our experiences, capture moments in time, and convey our personal views on the world.
The history of photography reflects our constant quest to discover, create, and communicate. From Niépce's groundbreaking photograph to the countless images we produce and share every day, photography has evolved and expanded tremendously. As we imagine photography's future, we should honor its roots, acknowledge its past, and look forward to the amazing opportunities ahead.
Thank you for reading and have a great day!
-Robert van Sterkenburg
Comments