A Brief History and camera evolution

1. HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
A.CHAYAPATHI
10020507

2. PHOTOGRAPHY DEFINITION
THE WORD
PHOTOGRAPHY CAME FROM TWO
GREEK
WORDS THAT MEAN "WRITING WITH LIGHT." THE FIRST TIME
THE WORD "PHOTOGRAPHY" WAS USED WAS IN
1839, THE
YEAR THE INVENTION OF THE PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESS WAS
MADE PUBLIC, BY SIR JOHN
HERSCHEL

3. CAMERA OBSCURA
GO IN THE A DARK ROOM ON A BRIGHT DAY, MAKE A HOLE IN THE
WINDOW COVER AND THE OUTSIDE IS PROJECTED INSIDE BUT ITS
UPSIDE DOWN THE PICTURE IS IN FULL COLOR. ITS EXPLAINED BY
SOME LAWS OF PHYSICS, LIGHT TRAVELS IN A STRAIGHT LINE WHEN
SOME OF THE RAYS REFLECTED FROM A BRIGHT SUBJECT PASS
THROUGH A SMALL HOLE IN THIN MATERIAL THEY DO NOT SCATTER
BUT CROSS AND REFORM AS AN UPSIDE DOWN IMAGE ON A FLAT
SURFACE HELD PARALLEL TO THE HOLE. THIS LAW OF OPTICS WAS
KNOWN IN ANCIENT TIMES.
CAMERA = LATIN FOR “ROOM”
OBSCURE = LATIN FOR “DARK”

4. 4TH CENTURY
ABOUT 2,400 YEARS AGO (4TH CENTURY B.C.) THE
FAMOUS PHILOSOPHER ARISTOTLE TALKED ABOUT A PINHOLE
IMAGE FORMATION IN HIS WORK. HE WONDERED WHY
"WHEN LIGHT SHINES THROUGH A RECTANGULAR PEEP-HOLE,
IT APPEARS CIRCULAR IN THE FORM OF A CONE?" HE DIDN'T
FIND AN ANSWER TO HIS QUESTION AND THE PROBLEM
WASN'T ANSWERED UNTIL ABOUT
1500S.
2,000 YEARS LATER IN THE

5. 14TH CENTURY
THE EARLIEST MENTION OF THE CAMERA OBSCURA WAS IN 5TH
CENTURY BC BY A CHINESE PHILOSOPHER MO-TI. HE
RECORDED THIS CREATION OF AN INVERTED IMAGE FORMED BY
RAYS OF LIGHT PASSING THROUGH A PINHOLE VIN A DARK
ROOM HE CALLED THIS DARKEN ROOM A "COLLECTING PLACE"
OR THE "LOCKED TREASURE ROOM." IN 1490 LEONARDO DA
VINCI GAVE TWO DESCRIPTIONS OF THE CAMERA OBSCURA IN
HIS NOTEBOOKS. MANY OF THE FIRST CAMERA OBSCURAS
WERE LARGE ROOMS LIKE THAT ILLUSTRATED BY THE DUTCH
SCIENTIST REINERUS GEMMA-FRISIUS IN 1544 FOR USE IN
OBSERVING A SOLAR ECLIPSE.

6. 18TH CENTURY
THIS IS THE FRENCH INVENTOR NICEPHORE NIEPCE WAS
BORN IN 1765, HE WAS FASCINATED BY LITHOGRAPHY BUT
UNSKILLED AT DRAWING. HE SOUGHT OUT AWAY TO TAKE
IMAGES OF NATURE, IN 1826-27 HE CAPTURED AN IMAGE
FROM HIS WORKROOM WINDOW USING LIGHT SENSITIVE
CHEMICALS ON A PIECE OF METAL
PERMANENT PHOTOGRAPH.
THIS WAS THE FIRST
HE KEPT HIS PROCESS A SECRET
UNTIL 1829, WHEN HE PARTNERED WITH LOUIS-JACQUESMANDÉ DAGUERRE.

7. THE FIRST PHOTOGRAPH
ON A SUMMER
1827, NICEPHORE NIEPCE MADE THE FIRST PHOTOGRAPHIC
IMAGE WITH A CAMERA OBSCURA. PRIOR TO NIEPCE PEOPLE JUST USED THE CAMERA
OBSCURA FOR VIEWING OR DRAWING PURPOSES NOT FOR MAKING PHOTOGRAPHS.
JOSEPH NICEPHORE NIEPCE'S HELIOGRAPHS OR SUN PRINTS AS THEY WERE CALLED WERE
THE PROTOTYPE FOR THE MODERN PHOTOGRAPH, BY LETTING LIGHT DRAW THE PICTURE.
NIEPCE PLACED AN ENGRAVING ONTO A METAL PLATE COATED IN BITUMEN, AND THEN
EXPOSED IT TO LIGHT. WHEN HE PLACED THE METAL PLATE IN A SOLVENT EVENTUALLY AN
IMAGE ,BEFORE THEN INVISIBLE, APPEARED. HOWEVER, HIS PHOTOGRAPH TOOK EIGHT
DAY IN
HOURS OF LIGHT EXPOSURE TO CREATE AND AFTER APPEARING WOULD SOON FADE
AWAY.

8. EXAMPLES OF CAMERA OBSCURAS

9. 1834
HENRY TALBOT CREATES PERMANENT NEGATIVE IMAGE USING PAPER SOAKED IN SILVER
CHLORIDE AND FIXED WITH A SALT SOLUTION. TALBOT CREATED POSITIVE IMAGES BY
CONTACT PRINTING ONTO ANOTHER SHEET OF PAPER.

10. DAGUERREOTYPE
LOUIS DAGUERRE, A FRENCH ARTIST AND SCENIC PAINTER. DAGUERRE
HAD BEGAN
EXPERIMENTING WITH WAYS OF FIXING THE IMAGES FORMED BY THE CAMERA OBSCURA
AROUND 1824, IN 1829 HE MADE A PARTNERSHIP WITH NIEPCE. AFTER THE DEATH OF HIS
PARTNER HE CONTINUED TO EXPERIMENT WITH COPPER PLATES COATED WITH SILVER
IODIDE TO PRODUCE DIRECT POSITIVE PICTURES. HE DISCOVERED THE LATENT IMAGE ON
AN EXPOSED PLATE COULD BE "DEVELOPED" WITH THE FUMES FROM WARMED MERCURY.
THE USE OF MERCURY VAPOR MEANT THAT PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGES COULD BE
PRODUCED IN TWENTY TO THIRTY MINUTES RATHER THAN HOURS. IN 1837, DAGUERRE
FOUND A WAY OF "FIXING" THE PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGES WITH A SOLUTION OF COMMON
SALT. TWO YEARS LATER, HE GOT A SUGGESTION FROM SIR JOHN HERSCHEL AND USED
THIOSULPHATE OF SODA AS THE FIXING AGENT

11. 1841
TALBOT PATENTS
HIS PROCESS UNDER THE NAME CALOTYPE ALSO KNOWN AS TINTYPES

12. 1846
ASSOCIATED PRESS:

13. 1851
FREDRICK SCOTT ARCHER, A SCULPTOR
IN LONDON, IMPROVES PHOTOGRAPHY
RESOLUTION BY SPREADING A MIXTURE OF COLLODION AND CHEMICALS ON SHEETS OF
GLASS.
WET
PLATE COLLODION PHOTOGRAPHY WAS MUCH CHEAPER THAN
DAGUERREOTYPES THE NEGATIVE/ POSITIVE PROCESS PERMITTED UNLIMITED
REPRODUCTIONS.

14. 1855-57
DIRECT POSITIVE IMAGES ON GLASS
(AMBORTYPES) AND METAL (TINTYPES
OR FERROTYPES) WERE POPULAR IN THE
US 3 MILLION TINTYPES PRODUCED IN
THE MID 1800S.

15. 1861
SCOTTISH PHYSICIST JAMES MAXWELL DEMONSTRATES A COLOR PHOTO SYSTEM WHICH
INCLUDED 3 BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOS EACH TAKEN THROUGH A GREEN, BLUE AND RED
FILTER. THE PHOTOS WERE TURNED INTO LANTERN SLIDES AND PROJECTED IN THE SAME
COLOR FILTER.

16. 1871
AN ENGLISH DOCTOR, RICHARD MADDOX, PROPOSES THE USE OF EMULSION OF
GELATIN AND SILVER BROMIDE ON A GLASS PLATE (THE DRY PLATE)

17. 1877
EDWARD MUYBRIDGE WHO
ENGLAND THEN MOVED TO AMERICA. HE
BEGAN AS A LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHER ACQUIRING A SUITABLE REPUTATION. HE WAS
THEN REQUESTED BY THE FORMER GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA HE BEGAN TO TAKE
PHOTOS OF HORSES TO SEE HOW THEY MOVED. HIS EARLY WORK REQUIRED FOR HIM TO
TAKE A PICTURE AT PRECISELY THE RIGHT TIME, HOWEVER IN 1878 HE CONDUCTED AN
EXPERIMENT TO TAKE A SEQUENCE OF IMAGES IN QUICK SUCCESSION .
WAS BORN IN

19. KODAK
AN INSTANT CAMERA IS A TYPE OF CAMERA THAT GENERATES
A DEVELOPED FILM IMAGE. THE MOST POPULAR TYPES TO USE
SELF DEVELOPING FILM FORMERLY MADE BY POLAROID
CORPORATION.
THESE WERE
INVENTED BY A LOT OF PEOPLE BUT THE CREDIT
GOES TO AN
AMERICAN SCIENTIST EDWIN LAND, WHO
UNVEILED THE FIRST COMMERCIAL INSTANT CAMERA THE LAND
CAMERA. IN FEBRUARY
2008, POLAROID ANNOUNCED
IT
WOULD DISCONTINUE PRODUCE OF FILM AND SHUT DOWN
FACTORIES.
3

20. EARLY 35MM CAMERAS
THE FIRST PATENT FOR ONE WAS GIVEN TO LEO, AUDOBARD AND BARDOT IN ENGLAND IN
1908. THE FIRST FULL SCALE PRODUCTION CAMERA WAS THE HOMES (A STEREO CAMERA)
PRODUCED BY JULES RICHARD IN 1903. IT TOOK STEREO PAIRS 18X24 WITH 2 TESSAR
LENSES IT WAS SOLD UNTIL 1920.
THE FIRST 35MM BIG SELLER WAS THE AMERICAN TOURIST MULTIPLE, ALSO APPEARING IN
1913, THIS CAMERA COST $175 IN 1913 (WHICH BY TODAYS STANDARDS IS THE EQUAL OF
$3000 LECIA)IT TOOK EITHER 800 HALF FRAME OR 400 FULL FRAME SHOTS ON 50FT ROLLS.

21. INSTANT CAMERA
AN INSTANT CAMERA IS A TYPE OF CAMERA THAT GENERATES A
DEVELOPED FILM IMAGE. THE MOST POPULAR TYPES TO USE SELF
DEVELOPING FILM FORMERLY MADE BY POLAROID
CORPORATION.
THESE WERE
INVENTED BY A LOT OF PEOPLE BUT THE CREDIT
GOES TO AN
AMERICAN SCIENTIST EDWIN LAND, WHO
UNVEILED THE FIRST COMMERCIAL INSTANT CAMERA THE LAND
CAMERA. IN FEBRUARY
2008, POLAROID ANNOUNCED
IT
WOULD DISCONTINUE PRODUCE OF FILM AND SHUT DOWN
FACTORIES.
3

22. DIGITAL CAMERA
THE FIRST TRUE
DIGITAL CAMERA THAT RECORDED IMAGES AS
A COMPUTERIZED FILE WAS MOST LIKELY THE FUJI
DS-1P OF
1988 WHICH RECORDED TO A 16 MB MEMORY CARD THAT
USED A BATTERY TO KEEP THE DATA IN MEMORY.( THIS
CAMERA WAS NEVER MARKETED IN THE US AND HASN’T BEEN
CONFIRMED TO HAVE SHIPPED TO JAPAN.)

23. SLR AND DSLR

24. THANK YOU
• A.CHAYAPATHI
• 10020507