How Photography And Technology Has Evolved Over Time
From the black and white portraits of static, formally dressed families to the huge and global marketing tool and art form that we know today, photography has had a rich history over the past two hundred years.
It isn't just the science that has evolved over time, but the techniques, implementation and mediums on which photography can be stored.
We've come a long way from the camera obscura that has its first known uses as far back as 470 BCE, with digital photography now an accessible technology that most people carry with them on their mobile phone.
It's no longer just a process for documenting memories and important events; photography allows us to capture and share the most trivial and the most important of moments instantly, create brands and market products and has become one of the most influential forms of art and expression in the world.
Photography's Evolution The pinhole camera, a device that dated back to the ancient Chinese and Greek civilisations, was the first step on the road to Nicéphore Niépce creating the very first successful fixed image.
Building upon the research of Johann Heinrich Schultz, Niépce started the development of camera technology that would lead to dry plates and, subsequently, the Kodak film.
Dry plates allowed the first handheld cameras and, by the turn of the century, celluloid film and the Kodak brand became the leading name in photographic technology.
The Kodak camera offered a low-cost and accessible alternative to dry plates, but the poor quality meant that plate cameras were still widely used.
Twin-lens reflex and single-lens reflex technology in the late 1920s and early 1930s gave the photographer the ability to see exactly how a shot would turn out, something that would help film cameras gain widespread popularity.
The SLR remained the most advanced preview system up until the 1990s.
1948 saw the invention of the Polaroid, the first instant camera and a brand that would have countless models on the market by the 1960s.
Automatic exposure also became a feature of high priced cameras of the 1940s until the advancement of small electronics in the 60s saw the technology become widespread.
Perhaps the most important development in photographic technology in the past 50 years has been the arrival of the digital camera.
First patented in 1970, true digital cameras didn't arrive on the consumer market until 1990 with the Dycam Model 1.
Soon every company was releasing their own cameras that incorporated digital technology, but it wasn't until 1999 when the first digital SLR camera developed by Nikon was released that digital technology stepped out of its infancy.
Today, digital cameras can be found in nearly any modern home.
Phones that can shoot at 5 megapixels scoff at the 2.
74 megapixel Nikon D1 model and digital imagery has completely taken over.
Hard drives are the new film and photographers are able to easily manipulate and correct their images.
Photo database software has taken the place of picture albums and allows sharing, filing and backup functionality instantaneously through the Internet.
Photography is a big business and a skilled photographer can easily make a living through his or her craft.
What started as a curious discovery has turned into a global industry and crucial method of documenting history - photography has let us capture the last century exactly as it was.
We can only imagine what new developments will bring.
It isn't just the science that has evolved over time, but the techniques, implementation and mediums on which photography can be stored.
We've come a long way from the camera obscura that has its first known uses as far back as 470 BCE, with digital photography now an accessible technology that most people carry with them on their mobile phone.
It's no longer just a process for documenting memories and important events; photography allows us to capture and share the most trivial and the most important of moments instantly, create brands and market products and has become one of the most influential forms of art and expression in the world.
Photography's Evolution The pinhole camera, a device that dated back to the ancient Chinese and Greek civilisations, was the first step on the road to Nicéphore Niépce creating the very first successful fixed image.
Building upon the research of Johann Heinrich Schultz, Niépce started the development of camera technology that would lead to dry plates and, subsequently, the Kodak film.
Dry plates allowed the first handheld cameras and, by the turn of the century, celluloid film and the Kodak brand became the leading name in photographic technology.
The Kodak camera offered a low-cost and accessible alternative to dry plates, but the poor quality meant that plate cameras were still widely used.
Twin-lens reflex and single-lens reflex technology in the late 1920s and early 1930s gave the photographer the ability to see exactly how a shot would turn out, something that would help film cameras gain widespread popularity.
The SLR remained the most advanced preview system up until the 1990s.
1948 saw the invention of the Polaroid, the first instant camera and a brand that would have countless models on the market by the 1960s.
Automatic exposure also became a feature of high priced cameras of the 1940s until the advancement of small electronics in the 60s saw the technology become widespread.
Perhaps the most important development in photographic technology in the past 50 years has been the arrival of the digital camera.
First patented in 1970, true digital cameras didn't arrive on the consumer market until 1990 with the Dycam Model 1.
Soon every company was releasing their own cameras that incorporated digital technology, but it wasn't until 1999 when the first digital SLR camera developed by Nikon was released that digital technology stepped out of its infancy.
Today, digital cameras can be found in nearly any modern home.
Phones that can shoot at 5 megapixels scoff at the 2.
74 megapixel Nikon D1 model and digital imagery has completely taken over.
Hard drives are the new film and photographers are able to easily manipulate and correct their images.
Photo database software has taken the place of picture albums and allows sharing, filing and backup functionality instantaneously through the Internet.
Photography is a big business and a skilled photographer can easily make a living through his or her craft.
What started as a curious discovery has turned into a global industry and crucial method of documenting history - photography has let us capture the last century exactly as it was.
We can only imagine what new developments will bring.
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