I.

Introduction to Photography
a.​ What is photography?
-​ Photography is the skill, job, or process of producing photographs. It is the art of
capturing light with a camera, usually via a digital sensor or film, to create an
image.
b.​ Importance of photography in modern society
-​ Photography become a popular form of capturing moments and instances that
add sentimental value to the user. According to Photutorial data, 1.81 trillion
photos are taken worldwide yearly, which equals 57,000 per second, or 5.0 billion
per day. By 2030, around 2.3 trillion photos will be taken every year Matic Broz
(2023).
The visual impact of photography has transformed the way we perceive the
world, as it has become an integral part of how we communicate and share our
experiences with others. They serve as witnesses to history, channels for artistic
expression, and tools to build bridges between individuals and communities.
​

II. Historical Overview

a.​ Photography technology (timeline)
The beginning of photography started almost 200 years ago when the first prototype of a
camera was developed from a plain box that took blurry photos. Photographic history has
advanced from crude photos to the high-tech mini computers found in today's DSLRs and
smartphones.

●​ 5TH CENTURY B.C. ⇢ Chinese and greek philosophers describe the basic principals of

optics and the camera. The Chinese were among the first to discover the idea of the
 basic pinhole camera. Around 5th Century B.C. they wrote about how an image was

formed upside down from a “pinhole” on the opposite wall.

●​ 4TH CENTURY B.C.⇢ The Greek philosopher Aristotle discussed pinhole image

formation in his work.

●​ 1021 A.D. ⇢ The invention of the camera obscura is attributed to the Iraqi scientist

Alhazen and described in his book of optics.

●​ 1664-1672 ⇢ Sir Isaac Newton discovers that white light is composed of different colors

by refracting white light off a prism.

●​ 1685 ⇢ The vision of a box form of a Camera that was portable and small was was

envisioned by Johann Zahn, THOUGH it would be nearly 150 years before technology

was able to bring his vision to life.

●​ 1717 ⇢ Johann Heinrich Schulze discovered that silver nitrate darkened upon exposure

to light.

Developing the First Permanent Images

●​ 1816 ⇢ Frenchman Joseph Nicephore Niepce constructed a wood camera fitted with a

microscope lens.

-​ He succeeded in photographing the images formed in a small camera, but the

photographs were negatives- meaning they were darkest where the camera
 image was lightest and vice versa. They were not permanent in the sense of

being reasonably light-fast; like earlier experimenters, Niépce could find no way

to prevent the coating from darkening all over when it was exposed to light for

viewing. Disenchanted with silver salts, he turned his attention to light-sensitive

organic substances.

●​ 1826 ⇢ Joseph Nicephore Niepce invented Heliograph, which he used to make the

earliest known permanent photograph from nature, View from the Window at Le Gras.

-​ The process used bitumen, as a coating on glass or metal, which hardened in

relation to exposure to light. When the plate was washed with oil of lavender, only

the hardened image area remained.

View from the window at Le Gras

The Daguerreotype

●​ 1837⇢ In collaboration with Joseph Nicephore Niepce– Louis Daguerre invented

the first practical photographic process, which was widely used in portraiture until

the mid 1850s. Here's roughly how this camera worked:

 ❖​ A copper plate was coated with silver and exposed to iodine vapor before

it was exposed to light.

❖​ To create the image on the plate, the early daguerreotypes had to be

exposed to light for up to 15 minutes.

❖​ The daguerreotype was very popular until it was replaced in the late

1850s by emulsion plates.

Emulsion Plates

●​ 1850s - Emulsion plates, or wet plates, were used between the 1830s and 1870s (before

dry plates were invented in 1871). Wet plates were less expensive than daguerreotypes

and required only two or three seconds of exposure time. This made them much more

suited to portrait photographs, which was the most common use of photography at the

time.

-​ These wet plates used an emulsion process called the Collodion process, rather

than a simple coating on the image plate.

-​ Two common types of emulsion plates were the ambrotype and the tintype.

Ambrotypes used a glass plate instead of the copper plate of the daguerreotypes.

Tintypes used a tin plate. While these plates were much more sensitive to light,

they had to be developed quickly.

Dry Plates

●​ 1871⇢ Dr. Richard Maddox discovered a method of using gelatin instead of glass as the

plate material for the light-sensitive solution.

-​ This discovery led to the invention of dry plate photography, a less cumbersome

process that did not require the photographer to use a darkroom tent for

immediate plate development as had been required by wet plate processes.

●​ 1873⇢ Charles Harper Bennett made even more improvements to the process for better

photo quality.
 -​ These dry plates could be stored rather than made as needed. This allowed

photographers much more freedom when and where they could take

photographs. The process also allowed for smaller cameras that could be

hand-held and became the precursor to the film roll process.

The Dawn of Roll Film

●​ 1884- 1888⇢ George Eastman introduced celluloid based film in and the small portable

easy-to-use box camera.

-​ His first camera, which he called the “Kodak,” was a very simple box camera with

a fixed-focus lens and single shutter speed, which along with its relatively low

price appealed to the average consumer.

-​ The Kodak came preloaded with enough film for 100 exposures and needed to

be sent back to the factory for processing and reloading when the roll was

finished. By the end of the 19th century Eastman had expanded his lineup to

several models including both box and folding cameras. Photography could now

reach the masses.

The Magic of Instant Images

●​ 1948⇢ An entirely new type of camera is introduced– the Polaroid Model 95. It was the
world’s first viable instant-picture camera. The Model 95 used a patented chemical
process to produce finished positive prints from the exposed negatives in under a
minute.

Introduction of Advanced SLR Cameras

●​ 1949⇢ A historic camera: the Contax S— the first pentaprism SLR for eye-level viewing.

●​ 1952⇢ Asahi’s first model, the Asahiflex, was the first Japanese-built 35mm SLR.

Innovations in Smarter Cameras

●​ 1975⇢ The first ever digital camera was invented by Steven Sasson, an engineer at
Eastman Kodak.
 -​ The 8 pound camera recorded 0.01 megapixel black and white photos to
a cassette tape. The first photograph took 23 seconds to create.
-​ To play back images, data was read from the tape and then displayed on
a television set.

●​ 1988⇢ Fujifilm released the FUJIX DS-1P, the first commercially available, fully digital
camera (meaning, it had a memory storage card and not a detached hard drive).

Ushering in Digital Photography

●​ 1991⇢ Kodak released the DCS 100, the first commercially available DSLR (digital
single lens reflex) camera.

●​ 1997 ⇢ Philippe Kahn created the first camera phone solution to share pictures instantly
on public networks. The impetus for this invention was the birth of Kahn's daughter,
when he jerry-rigged a mobile phone with a digital camera and sent photos in real time.
●​ 2000 ⇢ Japanese phone manufacturers developed cell phones with camera capabilities
and the concept quickly took root in the United States in the early 2000s.
 -​ Since then, the quality of cameras in cell phones has increased exponentially

The history of photography is likely not over yet, but it is holding steady as basic point-and-shoot
cameras take high-quality digital photos, most of us depend on smartphone cameras to
document our everyday lives, and professional photographers continue to rely on DSLRs to take
top-quality images.

III. Photography Trends and Technologies

a.​ Advances in Camera Technology
●​ WiFi-connected Cameras- This common function is intended to do away with the
requirement that photographers must insert their memory card into a computer
before using it to view files outside of their camera.
●​ Higher Resolution
●​ Improved Autofocus
●​ Vlogging Cameras- With the rise of content creation, video creation, and video
marketing on YouTube. The brands jumped into the opportunity to design
compact, expert-level but beginner-friendly video cameras for vloggers

b.​ Influences in Social Media

●​ Social media has turned photography into a global phenomenon.
●​ Social media has allowed photographers to showcase their work, connect with
other creatives, and gain exposure like never before.
●​ Social media has influenced the way we capture and edit photos, with filters and
editing tools becoming a standard part of the photography process.
c.​ Emerging trends
●​ Growth of mobile photography and advancements in smartphone camera
technology.
●​ Increased use of AI technology for photo editing and enhancement.
●​ Increasing popularity of instant film and Polaroid-style cameras.
●​ Development of new techniques and styles, such as computational photography
and drone photography.
●​ Greater focus on diversity and inclusivity in the photography industry.