As modern day photographers many people may not really understand the rich history of photography and in the scope of humanity how new this medium and technology really is. Modern day photography as we understand it today was fully realized back in 1839. Every since then photography has captured the attention of generations. As a photographer that struggles to master the medium I feel it is important to fully understand the history of the art and science and so I plan to write a variety of articles starting today discussing the history of this wonderful thing we call photography. Anyone who has tried to master the medium understands that it is impossible to separate the art from the science but in the end it is the art that we chase. I love the technical nature of fine art black and white photography but I am always focused on making a fine print. Rigor and stability in my processes only help me realize my vision in the end and while I place a great deal of importance on the technical side of things, I never let the balance shift away from the art. I appreciate and also enjoy the many different processes and the precision that is required to ultimately produce that piece of art that makes us stop and pause for a moment from our busy lives. I can’t imagine a better way to see the world and experience it.
Chasing the Image
Long before 1839 and the discovery of the silver salts light sensitivity principles were conceived in the Renaissance period (14th to 17th centuries). The word “dark room” came from the term “camera obscura” which literally means dark room. The people in this time period had already figured out that by allowing light to enter a small hole in the wall of a dark room that it would produce an inverted image of what was outside the room on the back wall. Can you imagine how these people must have felt about this? They must have thought this was some sort of magic.
In 1435 Leon Battista Alberti (1404 to 1472) and several colleagues documented the theory and rules of perspective which basically states that when light rays emanating from objects are received by the eye at the apex of a cone. The plane of a picture is is considered to be a vertical section of this pyramid.
Later on it was discovered that Alberti’s theoretical window could be realized in our world by drawing on a pane of vertical glass when looking through a small hole on the opposite center of the pane. In 1525 a device like this was created for portraiture. We can duplicate Alberti’s window today in our modern cameras when light rays passing through the lens are received on the vertical plane of our film.
In the mid 1500′s others continued the work and realized that a better image could be produced by replacing the pinhole with a lens. They would darken the room by closing all the windows and shutters until the only light entering the room came via the lens. Then they would have a piece of paper that would be moved forward or backward until the scene was the sharpest. They would then trace and shade the image to make their modern day piece of art.
As you could image the camera obscura was very limited until the people of the 17th and 18th century figure out how to make it portable.