Blog Post #4

 Photography EOTO project 

History

Photography was invented in 1826 with the first photograph being made by a French inventor, Joseph Niépce. He did this by taking the camera obscura and placing a plate coating in bitumen and leaving it in the obscura for several hours in the sun. The light from the sun and the bitumen created a chemical reaction and allowing the image to be shown in a shadow like form. 

                          

                                     The first Photograph made. 1826 by Joseph Niépce. 

Before this photograph was made all people had was the camera obscura, which is a box with a small pin hole that allows light in. When the light enter the box it depicts whatever is outside the box upside down and backwards. People would go in the box and put up canvases and paper and draw what they saw. The camera obscura dates back to 400 BC when it was first documented to exist. 

When the first photograph was invented there were people all around the world who were attempting to create the first permanent form of a photo that did not involve painting or drawing it. Once word got out that the first one had been invented. The game changed, it was now a race on who could make the best, clearest form of permanent photography out there. 

Many different forms of photography was created but the one that was invented that had the biggest influence on our society was the Kodak No. 1 camera invented in 1889 by George Eastman. This was the first camera that could be used by ordinary people. It looked almost like a miniature version of the camera obscura and the photographs came out round. 

Kodak No.1 Camera by George Eastman

This camera became the bases for the camera and photography system we know today. Following this almost 90 years later the digital camera and photography system was invented by Kodak engineer, Steven Sasson in 1975. This is the system we use today for photos. 

Impact

Having actual photographs of places, events, and people rather than paintings and drawing changed the world drastically. Once photography was invented, it was the first time people saw how brutal war actually was compared to how it was just depicted in words. It was the first time lower classes had photographs of family, the first time people actually saw what the places they dreamed of traveling to actually looked like. Photography also gave us another form of communication, while it is argued to be a form of art many beg to differ unless the photo is changed in some way. This is because for those who are illiterate, photographs allowed for a new way for them to receive news compared to just hearing it by tongue. This was something new as commissions for paintings and drawings were too high for news medias to get. 

But just like all great inventions, photography came with its own issues. Photography exposed people to some things that should never be seen, while it was needed and it is great to have for historical purposes. Photography opened the world up to a whole new form of issues, people focus more on taking the photos than they do at what is currently happening around them. It also caused issues of morals, people are dumb and don’t always realize when to stop. This has lead to cruel and brutal photos of crashes and photos of peoples loved ones being exposed to the world. It also created the issue of the exposing culture we have now, with just about everyone knowing someone who has sent pornographic pictures and then only for those people to have those photos be exposed to social media. 

Photography helped the world grow a tremendous amount. However, there is a time and place for it. While the human race has yet to realize the issues that it has caused it will still always be around forever. Hopefully one day everyone can see the issues it has caused and instead of getting rid of it people just develop more common sense as to when to use it and when to not. 

Citations

All-About-Photo.com. “How the Art of Photography Has Influenced the World.” All about Photo: Photo Contests, Photography Exhibitions, Galleries, Schools, Books and Venues., 23 Mar. 2021, https://www.all-about-photo.com/photo-articles/photo-article/953/how-the-art-of-photography-has-influenced-the-world. 

“History of Photography.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/technology/photography. 

“History of Photography.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/eastman-history-photography/. 

“Milestones in Photography -- National Geographic.” Photography, National Geographic, 3 May 2021, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/article/milestones-photography#:~:text=Unauthorized%20use%20is%20prohibited.&text=World's%20First%20Photograph-,Centuries%20of%20advances%20in%20chemistry%20and%20optics%2C%20including%20the%20invention,at%20his%20family's%20country%20home. 

Team, Adobe Communications. “The Impact of Technology on Photography: Adobe.” Adobe Blog, https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2021/12/01/the-impact-of-technology-on-photography.