EOTO Technology Timeline of Photography

 Timeline of Photography

The photography timeframe fascinated me because though you think it started in 1826, you would have to go back to the 4th Century B.C. when Aristotle mentions the camera obscura. This camera obscura is the theory of looking through a small hole and seeing a picture presented. Unfortunately, the picture would be upside down when looking through the hole. 

Though the camera obscura was the building block of photography, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce and Louis Daguerre were the inventors of photography. Paintings were popular as they were the main form of art back then. The first photograph was created by Joseph Niépce when he took a picture of his view of his home. He used the materials like a sheet of pewter and bitumen. Joseph then used the theory of the camera obscura to help him with his first-ever photo. Though it was the first-ever photograph, it still took around 8  hours for the photo to develop. Louis Daguerre was a painter during the time Joseph created the first photo and loved his creativity. He [Louis] understood that it did take time to develop a photo and then helped decrease the exposure time by using copper sheets and mercury vapor. 

Though I could not find why photography was invented, from my knowledge, I would assume the time it took to create a painting, have it dry, and then give it to the person. In the world of art, any type of art is seen as new and unique, the idea of photography was a great addition to the world of modern art. Photography was a sense of entertainment for everyone because it was something new. In 1889, a film roll was created, which had multiple pictures side by side to create the illusion of movement. 

Photography has continued to grow since the first photograph was made by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. People saw these great ideas and continued them. The only negative effect of photography is nude photography. We have a negative view of nude photography now, which aligns with the views on nude photography back then. Though people frowned upon nude photography it was still created as a sense of art and still is today. Heinrich Heidersberger created 'Dress in Light' which depicted nude photography but "dressed" the women in light which created patterns on their bodies.

Being able to witness the growth of photography is tremendous, as we now have digitalization and image editing. With what we have now, it will be amazing to see what we have in the future and the ideas people will have to positively grow this medium. With photography branching into film, it also creates more entertainment for the public. Many saw the potential in photography and how it can be resourceful. We use photography every day, taking pictures on our phones, or it is a hobby for some, we see it every day. Every picture can depict a story to someone that we do not know about, which shows the true potential of just one photo. Though we look at a photograph thinking it looks nice, it means so much more to someone else.