Birth of Photography 1837 by Louis M. Daguerre invented the first practical process of photography

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Birth of Photography1837 by Louis M. Daguerre
invented the first practical process of
photography
To take the first portraits, the subject had to
sit dead still for twenty minutes. The subjects
neck was clamped in a vise hidden from the
cameras sight. Daguerreotypes were wildly
popular.
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War photography

• Matthew Brady 1823-96 brought home the horrors of
  the Civil War
• Wagonload of camera equipment became a target
• It took 3 minutes to make an impression
• Confined to pictures of posed soldiers, camp
  pictures, corpses
• The new medium claimed to be a mirror with a
  memory

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Documentary Photography

• Jacob Riis (1849-1914) was a New York police
  reporter
• He invaded robbers hangouts, sweatshops, and
  squalid conditions
• His graphic images led to the 1st legislation to
  reform housing codes and labor laws

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Portrait Photography

• Nadar did portraits of artistic figures of Paris
  in 1853
• He posed figures and used dramatic lighting for
  photographs
• This photo is of Sarah Bernhardt 1859, showing
  her in a dramatic sweep of drapery

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Art Photography

• Julia Cameron (1815-79) wanted to capture ideal
  beauty
• She was the first to have lenses built for a
  soft-focus effect in her sentimental pictures

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Photographys impact

• The art of painting miniature portraits was
  doomed
• Daguerreotypes could be ready in 15 minutes for
  12 cents
• Some painters proclaimed From this day, painting
  is dead.
• Painters who did painstakingly detailed scenes
  were threatened

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Some artists viewed photography as helpful

• Delacroix used them as studies for hard- to- hold
  poses
• Some painters used photos for portraits instead
  of long sittings
• Bierstadt used photos for his panoramic
  landscapes
• Degas used photos for unusual poses and
  unconventional compositions
• Within 3 generations after the invention of
  photography, painters abandoned the image for
  abstraction
• Photographers insisted their craft was more than
  snapping a picture, but fine art in itself
• The camera excelled at reproducing images
  realistically but photographers aspired to
  imitate painting
• Photographers manipulated the mechanically
  produced images by retouching the negative,
  painting the prints, superimposing the negatives