A Brief History Of Photography

We take a quick look back at the history of photography. The first cameras ever used were back when Aristotle was alive and were actually darkened rooms. The cameras of long ago and today did share a common goal, to capture light.

The first camera called, camera obscura, which means “darkened room” used a small hole in a window shade or in the side of a wall to let light in. Through this small hole a perfect upside down image of what was outside the room appeared on the opposite wall. In 1558, a published account was recorded on how a camera obscura was being used as a tool to aid draftsmen.

As time progressed, the camera obscura grew smaller, becoming a box made of wood, with a lens attached at one end. On the opposite end of the box a mirror was placed at a 45-degree angle and above this was a frosted or ground glass plate. Artists would place thin sheets of paper over the glass and trace the image that was created. Early artists learned about the effects of light on objects by using what was now call “camera lucida” or light chamber.

Around 1825, a Frenchman named Louis Daguerre found a way to make the image last. He coated a copper plate with silver and then exposed the silver to iodine fumes, creating a silver-iodine salt. This made the plate photosensitive. He then placed the plate in the camera lucida and exposed the plate to light. He found the image was made permanent if the plate was exposed to mercury fumes, which was unhealthy. He also had no way of removing the unused silver. A British astronomer found if you washed the plate with a solution of sodium hypo sulfate, the unexposed silver was chemically removed.

The process worked and the photos were aptly called “daguerreotypes”. These daguerreotypes were rare and expensive. Only the very wealthy could afford to have daguerreotypes taken of them. After the Civil War, daguerreotypes became common and affordable. Don't you think that the daguerreotypes sound like digital cameras; at first a new novelty, very expensive and only for tech savvy gadget lovers. The photography industry realized digital was the way of the future and, to grab that market, started developing cameras that were user-friendly and affordable. Improvements were made to the batteries and memory cards needed for these cameras. Computer software that works in conjunction with the digital camera were also made with ease of use. Creating cameras, computers, scanners and software that worked well together put the digital camera into the hands of the amateur as well as the professional.

By Georgiana Marshen

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