|
| |
|
From a millennial perspective, photography is an art form in its infancy. In 1839, two processes for capturing images and transferring them to a medium evolved. The Daguerreotype, named after Louis Jacques Daguerre, created a "unique, unduplicatable, laterally reversed monochromatic picture on a metal plate," as described by Naomi Rosenblum in "A World History of Photography" (Abbeville Press). The other process produced a reversed image on paper that was then placed in contact with a chemically treated surface, exposed to sunlight, which resulted in a picture with a normal image. This process was named a Talbotype after its inventor, William Henry Fox Talbot. The European and American culture of the 19th century had a craving for greater representations of reality. This appetite had roots in Renaissance painting and increased with developments in science and industry. Samuel F. B. Morse, inventor of the electromagnetic telegraph, was an early publicist and experimenter with the daguerreotype. His work with scientist John William Draper spread the knowledge of this early art, teaching famed Civil War photographer Matthew Brady. Today, millions of photographic images are produced everyday. The age old aphorism "seeing is believing," if written today, would include the addendum "but confirmed with a photo." Every photo is but a fool's image of ourselves, but it is good to recognize the fool within us. For more information on photography and photographers, visit www.amazon.com.
| Home | Cultural | Environmental | Musical | Ordinary | | Contact Us | About the Authors |
© Copyright 2009 fiftythings
|
||||||||
