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| Daguerreotype of the White House http://portfoliography.com/blog/linked/page/13/ |
Looking
around at today’s photographs and photography, one would wonder how photographs
functioned in the past and its purpose. Portraits from the early days of
photography and today share a similar purpose and function in today’s society.
However, compared to present day and the past, photography has come a long way
in terms of its significance and processes, as well as in their impacts with
the rise of technology.
In the past, having
one’s portrait taken confirmed their social status in a given society and was a
significant trend in the new developing Western World, particularly in Western
Europe (Freund, 2004). During portraits’ early days, portraits were mostly done
by artists in the form paintings till the rise of photography in the 1850s
(Freund, 2004). In 1839, Frenchman Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre invented
photography, creating a mechanical process that would take on a dual character:
a medium of artistic expression and a scientific tool (Daniel, 2004). The birth
of photography evolved to become an artistic, technical and commercial medium
(The British Library, 2011), which would later become available to everyone and
not just those of high social status.
In
today’s world of photography, a similar approach to its purpose and function is
noted, yet it has become a completely evolved medium. In today’s photography,
there is no sense of social status or ranking in society, which was the main
purpose of photographs of the past (Freund, 2004). Subjects of the photographs
and portraits of today can be of individuals, products, landscapes, scientific,
and of various other forms. There is no importance held on what ranking an
individual is in society. In today’s world, anyone can be a photographer,
taking photographs of subjects they find important to them, compared to in the
past of artists being the main photographers (Freund, 2004). Looking at
photographs in general today, it is visible to see various approaches and
mechanics of the images in them. Images
may capture precious moments and milestones of life, business strategy
manoeuvres, scientific evidence and many others. Photography, from the past and present, can also be seen to have a major impact in the way the process is completed and in its technology. In 1839, Daguerre created the daruerreotype photographic process (The British Library, 2011). This first photographic process involved placing images created on silvered metal plate and then exposed to iodine fumes to form a light-sensitive, silver iodide surface in a delicate process (The British Library, 2011). The photos were then exposed a plate with heated mercury fumes and the image was fixed in a salt solution, creating a very sharp image (The British Library, 2011). In today’s photograph development, entirely different processes are available and used extensively. Today’s photographers and general public can conveniently develop their photos in a timely fashion and have the ability to develop them from home. Compared to the technology from the past, photography today has become an efficient and effortless process.
In
terms of technology used, it is evident to also see a development in the types
of equipment used in photography. The camera obscura, an early technology used
in photography, used the ability of a pinhole to create an image in a darkened
room (National Media Museum, 2010). The mechanisms of the camera obscura used lenses
creating brightness and sharpness in the 15th and 16th
centuries (National Media Museum, 2010). Today, the camera obscura and the
technology used with it are virtually obsolete with the rise of the digital
world. Present day’s photographic process has become a member of the digital
age and is constantly changing and updating to become better than ever. Every
part of the photographic experience and process is now completed digitally,
allowing us to create, edit and store images in a digital manner. One can’t
help but wonder how society functioned with photography and photographs before
digital cameras and the digital age, with constantly evolving technology at
society’s disposal.
Photography
and portraits of the past and present share similarities and differences in
areas, mostly relating to its importance and function in society, and
technological impacts that present themselves to photography. It is possible to
see how the advances of technology have affected photography and how society
has changed with it in its processes. |
| Camera Obscura http://www.sil.si.edu/ImageGalaxy/imageGalaxy_enlarge.cfm?id_image=9148 |
References
Daniel, M. (2004). Daguerre (1787–1851) and
the invention of photography. Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History,
Retrieved from http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dagu/hd_dagu.htm
Freund, G. (2004). Precursors of the
photographic portrait. In V. R. Schwartz & J. M. Przyblyski (Eds.), The
nineteenth-century visual culture reader (pp. 79 - 81). Retrieved
from https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxzaG9vdGluZ3RoZXRydXRofGd4OjU1ZjM5Yzc5YmExYTUxNjc
National Media Museum. (2010). Camera
obscura. Retrieved from http://www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/Collection/~/media/Files/NMeM/PDF/Collections/Photography/CameraObscura.ashx
The British Library. (2011). Historic
photographs - photographic processes. Retrieved from http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/features/photographicproject/photographicprocesses.html
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