Development of Photography
Dominic Marchetti
The primary author is the individual who drafted the first version of this section; a section that could have been modified since it
was originally published.
The first ideas of photography started in AD 1000 in the Middle East. An influential person in optics at
the time was Alhazen and he created the first pinhole camera. This pinhole camera was called the
Camera Obscura and allowed an image to be projected through the hole upside down onto a wall.
Since the development of the Camera Obscura, four people who had large impacts on photography to
bring it to where it is today were Joseph Niepce, Louis Daguerre, O.G. Rejlander, and George Eastman.
Joseph Niepce
In 1827, the first photograph was created using a camera obscura. The creator of
this photograph was Joseph Niepce. Niepce used a metal plate, engraving, and
chemistry to imprint the image onto the plate. After treating the plate, the image
would appear but the process took long exposure times and the image eventually
faded. These images were called heliographs.
Louis Daguerre
One of the people who made a huge impact on photography was Louis
Daguerre. Some can argue that he made the largest impact on photography
with what he did.
Daguerre started as a painter and was very interested in art. His first
invention that made an impact was the diorama which he created the in
1822. A diorama is a three dimensional scene that was created by large
painted cloths and special lighting effects.
Daguerre became interested in photography in 1823 and later partnered up with Niepce in 1829. The
two began working on ways to make photography easier and better. They came up with the
Daguerreotype. This kind of photograph involved a polished sheet of silver plated copper. They began by
treating the plate with fumes so it became light sensitive and they exposed it for as long as was
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necessary. When fumed again, the image would appear on the plate. This type of photography greatly
increased the popularity of photography and helped it grow. It also decreased the amount of exposure
time needed for the photograph and the image was more permanent.
O.G. Rejlander
Although he isn't the most popular person in the photography world, O.G.
Rejlander had a big impact. He was most likely born in Sweden and he
studied painting at a young age. He studied and lived in Rome and he
supported himself by portraiture and lithography, which is printing from a
stone or metal plate.
Rejlander was an artist through 1851 and got inspired to do photography
by seeing Daguerreotypes. He studied photography and began creating his
own photographs. He began selling his photographs in 1857 and most of
his photographs were portraits. He was famous for having large groups of
people pose as if they were going through their normal day lives. This was
very impressive because the exposure time needed for photos was still
very long.
At first Rejlander thought photography would be great for improving
painting. Instead of having models pose for an extremely long time to
complete a painting, they could just take a photo of the model and paint
from the photo. He also utilized composition photos in his work.
Composition photos were photos that were created from multiple negatives being developed to create
a single image. As time went on, composition photography became very popular and is still popular
today. Using his methods and showing the world what could be done with photography; he showed how
photography could be an art form itself. Without Rejlander, photography may have never been used for
art until much later.
George Eastman
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George Eastman was born in New York in 1854. After he started working with photography, he created
the Kodak company. This company would allow customers to purchase a camera preloaded with 100
photos. The customer would take the 100 photos and send the camera back to the company. The
photos would be developed and sent back to the customer.
With his company, Eastman popularized roll film and photography. Kodak allowed normal people to be
able to have full access to photography and keep it at a low cost. The company helped bring
photography to the people all the way into the 21st century.
Works Consulted
Bellis, Mary. "History of Photography and the Camera." About.com. Web . 27 Jan 2015.
Brayer, Elizabeth. George Eastman: A Biography. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press,
1996. Print.
Daniel, Malcolm. "The Daguerre (1787-1851) and the Invention of Photography". In Heilbrunn
Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. October 2004. Web.
27 Jan 2015.
Easby, Rebecca. "Early Photography: Niepce, Talbot, and Muybridge." Khan Academy. 8 May 2014.
Web. 27 Jan 2015.
Gernsheim, Allison and Helmut. L.J.M. Daguerre: The History of the Diorama and the Daguerreotype.
New York: Dover Publication, Inc. 1968. Print.
Harrison, William. A History of Photgraphy. Oxford: P. Lund 1888. Google Search. Web. 05 Feb 2015.
Jones, Edgar. Father of Art Photography: O.G. Reejlander. New York: Graphic Society Ltd. 1933. Print
London, Barbara, and Upton, John. Photography. New York: Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers,
Inc. 1998. Print.
Reprinted from College History
http://www.collegehistory.info/middle/manuscripts/03-photography.html
Last updated on 14 March 2015
Photo Caption: Photographs are pictured next to their names.
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