Photography is the
art
Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.
There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...
, application, and practice of creating durable
image
An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensiona ...
s by recording
light
Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 tera ...
, either electronically by means of an
image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as
photographic film
Photographic film is a strip or sheet of transparent film base coated on one side with a gelatin photographic emulsion, emulsion containing microscopically small light-sensitive silver halide crystals. The sizes and other characteristics of th ...
. It is employed in many fields of science, manufacturing (e.g.,
photolithography
In integrated circuit manufacturing, photolithography or optical lithography is a general term used for techniques that use light to produce minutely patterned thin films of suitable materials over a substrate, such as a silicon wafer, to protect ...
), and business, as well as its more direct uses for art,
film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
and
video production
Video production is the process of producing video content for video. It is the equivalent of filmmaking, but with video recorded either as analog signals on videotape, digitally in video tape or as computer files stored on optical discs, hard dri ...
, recreational purposes, hobby, and
mass communication.
Typically, a
lens is used to
focus the light reflected or emitted from objects into a real image on the light-sensitive surface inside a
camera
A camera is an Optics, optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), ...
during a timed
exposure. With an electronic image sensor, this produces an
electrical charge at each
pixel
In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest point in an all points addressable display device.
In most digital display devices, pixels are the smal ...
, which is
electronically processed and stored in a
digital image file for subsequent display or processing. The result with
photographic emulsion is an invisible
latent image
{{citations needed, date=November 2015
A latent image is an invisible image produced by the exposure to light of a photosensitive material such as photographic film. When photographic film is developed, the area that was exposed darkens and forms ...
, which is later chemically
"developed" into a visible image, either
negative or
positive, depending on the purpose of the photographic material and the method of
processing
Processing is a free graphical library and integrated development environment (IDE) built for the electronic arts, new media art, and visual design communities with the purpose of teaching non-programmers the fundamentals of computer programming ...
. A negative image on film is traditionally used to photographically create a positive image on a paper base, known as a
print, either by using an
enlarger
An enlarger is a specialized transparency projector used to produce photographic prints from film or glass negatives, or from transparencies.
Construction
All enlargers consist of a light source, normally an incandescent light bulb shining thou ...
or by
contact print
A contact print is a photographic image produced from film; sometimes from a film negative, and sometimes from a film positive or paper negative. In a darkroom an exposed and developed piece of film or photographic paper is placed emulsion si ...
ing.
Etymology
The word "photography" was created from the Greek roots φωτός (''phōtós''), genitive of φῶς (''phōs''), "light" and γραφή (''graphé'') "representation by means of lines" or "drawing", together meaning "drawing with light".
Several people may have coined the same new term from these roots independently.
Hercules Florence
Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.
The Romans adapted the Gr ...
, a French painter and inventor living in Campinas,
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, used the French form of the word, ''photographie'', in private notes which a Brazilian historian believes were written in 1834. This claim is widely reported but is not yet largely recognized internationally. The first use of the word by the Franco-Brazilian inventor became widely known after the research of Boris Kossoy in 1980.
The German newspaper ''Vossische Zeitung'' of 25 February 1839 contained an article entitled ''Photographie'', discussing several priority claims – especially
Henry Fox Talbot
William Henry Fox Talbot FRS FRSE FRAS (; 11 February 180017 September 1877) was an English scientist, inventor, and photography pioneer who invented the salted paper and calotype processes, precursors to photographic processes of the later ...
's – regarding Daguerre's claim of invention. The article is the earliest known occurrence of the word in public print. It was signed "J.M.", believed to have been Berlin astronomer
Johann von Maedler.
The astronomer Sir
John Herschel
Sir John Frederick William Herschel, 1st Baronet (; 7 March 1792 – 11 May 1871) was an English polymath active as a mathematician, astronomer, chemist, inventor, experimental photographer who invented the blueprint and did botanical wor ...
is also credited with coining the word, independent of Talbot, in 1839.
The inventors
Nicéphore Niépce, Henry Fox Talbot, and
Louis Daguerre seem not to have known or used the word "photography", but referred to their processes as "Heliography" (Niépce), "Photogenic Drawing"/"Talbotype"/"Calotype" (Talbot), and "Daguerreotype" (Daguerre).
History
Precursor technologies
![Camera obscura box](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Camera_obscura_box.jpg)
Photography is the result of combining several technical discoveries, relating to seeing an image and capturing the image. The discovery of the
camera obscura ("dark chamber" in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
) that provides an image of a scene dates back to
ancient China
The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the '' Book of Documents'' (early chapte ...
. Greek mathematicians
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
and
Euclid
Euclid (; grc-gre, Wikt:Εὐκλείδης, Εὐκλείδης; BC) was an ancient Greek mathematician active as a geometer and logician. Considered the "father of geometry", he is chiefly known for the ''Euclid's Elements, Elements'' trea ...
independently described a camera obscura in the 5th and 4th centuries BCE.
In the 6th century CE, Byzantine mathematician
Anthemius of Tralles
Anthemius of Tralles ( grc-gre, Ἀνθέμιος ὁ Τραλλιανός, Medieval Greek: , ''Anthémios o Trallianós''; – 533 558) was a Greek from Tralles who worked as a geometer and architect in Constantinople, the capit ...
used a type of camera obscura in his experiments.
The
Arab physicist Ibn al-Haytham
Ḥasan Ibn al-Haytham, Latinized as Alhazen (; full name ; ), was a medieval mathematician, astronomer, and physicist of the Islamic Golden Age from present-day Iraq.For the description of his main fields, see e.g. ("He is one of the prin ...
(Alhazen) (965–1040) also invented a camera obscura as well as the first true
pinhole camera.
The invention of the camera has been traced back to the work of Ibn al-Haytham.
While the effects of a single light passing through a pinhole had been described earlier,
Ibn al-Haytham gave the first correct analysis of the camera obscura, including the first geometrical and quantitative descriptions of the phenomenon, and was the first to use a screen in a dark room so that an image from one side of a hole in the surface could be projected onto a screen on the other side. He also first understood the relationship between the
focal point
Focal point may refer to:
* Focus (optics)
* Focus (geometry)
* Conjugate points, also called focal points
* Focal point (game theory)
* Unicom Focal Point, a portfolio management software tool
* Focal point review, a human resources process for ...
and the pinhole, and performed early experiments with
afterimages, laying the foundations for the invention of photography in the 19th century.
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
mentions natural camerae obscurae that are formed by dark caves on the edge of a sunlit valley. A hole in the cave wall will act as a pinhole camera and project a laterally reversed, upside down image on a piece of paper.
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
painters used the camera obscura which, in fact, gives the optical rendering in color that dominates Western Art. It is a box with a small hole in one side, which allows specific light rays to enter, projecting an inverted image onto a viewing screen or paper.
The birth of photography was then concerned with inventing means to capture and keep the image produced by the camera obscura.
Albertus Magnus (1193–1280) discovered
silver nitrate
Silver nitrate is an inorganic compound with chemical formula . It is a versatile precursor to many other silver compounds, such as those used in photography. It is far less sensitive to light than the halides. It was once called ''lunar caustic' ...
, and
Georg Fabricius
Georg Fabricius (23 April 1516 – 17 July 1571), born Georg Goldschmidt, was a Protestant German poet, historian and archaeologist who wrote in Latin during the German Renaissance.
Life
Fabricius was born in Chemnitz in Saxony and educated at ...
(1516–1571) discovered
silver chloride
Silver chloride is a chemical compound with the chemical formula Ag Cl. This white crystalline solid is well known for its low solubility in water (this behavior being reminiscent of the chlorides of Tl+ and Pb2+). Upon illumination or heating, ...
, and the techniques described in
Ibn al-Haytham
Ḥasan Ibn al-Haytham, Latinized as Alhazen (; full name ; ), was a medieval mathematician, astronomer, and physicist of the Islamic Golden Age from present-day Iraq.For the description of his main fields, see e.g. ("He is one of the prin ...
's
Book of Optics
The ''Book of Optics'' ( ar, كتاب المناظر, Kitāb al-Manāẓir; la, De Aspectibus or ''Perspectiva''; it, Deli Aspecti) is a seven-volume treatise on optics and other fields of study composed by the medieval Arab scholar Ibn al- ...
are capable of producing primitive photographs using medieval materials.
Daniele Barbaro described a
diaphragm
Diaphragm may refer to:
Anatomy
* Thoracic diaphragm, a thin sheet of muscle between the thorax and the abdomen
* Pelvic diaphragm or pelvic floor, a pelvic structure
* Urogenital diaphragm or triangular ligament, a pelvic structure
Other
* Diap ...
in 1566.
[ Gernsheim, Helmut (1986). ]
A concise history of photography
''. Courier Dover Publications. pp. 3–4. Wilhelm Homberg
Wilhelm Homberg (January 8, 1652 – September 24, 1715), also known as Guillaume Homberg in French, was a German natural philosopher.
Life
Wilhelm Homberg was the son of John Homberg, a Saxon gentleman, originally from Quedlinburg, who was str ...
described how light darkened some chemicals (photochemical effect) in 1694. The fiction book ''
Giphantie
''Giphantie'' is a novel by Tiphaigne de la Roche published in 1760. The title is an anagram of the author's given name.
A translated excerpt from the novel describes photography:
“Thou knowest that the rays of light, reflected from differen ...
'', published in 1760, by French author
Tiphaigne de la Roche, described what can be interpreted as photography.
Around the year 1800,
British inventor
Thomas Wedgwood made the first known attempt to capture the image in a camera obscura by means of a light-sensitive substance. He used paper or white leather treated with
silver nitrate
Silver nitrate is an inorganic compound with chemical formula . It is a versatile precursor to many other silver compounds, such as those used in photography. It is far less sensitive to light than the halides. It was once called ''lunar caustic' ...
. Although he succeeded in capturing the shadows of objects placed on the surface in direct sunlight, and even made shadow copies of paintings on glass, it was reported in 1802 that "the images formed by means of a camera obscura have been found too faint to produce, in any moderate time, an effect upon the nitrate of silver." The shadow images eventually darkened all over.
Invention
![Nicéphore Niépce Oldest Photograph 1825](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Nic%C3%A9phore_Ni%C3%A9pce_Oldest_Photograph_1825.jpg)
The first permanent
photoetching
Photoengraving is a process that uses a light-sensitive photoresist applied to the surface to be engraved to create a mask that protects some areas during a subsequent operation which etches, dissolves, or otherwise removes some or all of the mate ...
was an image produced in 1822 by the French inventor
Nicéphore Niépce, but it was destroyed in a later attempt to make prints from it.
Niépce was successful again in 1825. In 1826 or 1827, he made the ''
View from the Window at Le Gras'', the earliest surviving photograph from nature (i.e., of the image of a real-world scene, as formed in a
camera obscura by a
lens).
![Boulevard du Temple by Daguerre](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Boulevard_du_Temple_by_Daguerre.jpg)
Because Niépce's camera photographs required an extremely long
exposure (at least eight hours and probably several days), he sought to greatly improve his
bitumen
Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...
process or replace it with one that was more practical. In partnership with
Louis Daguerre, he worked out post-exposure processing methods that produced visually superior results and replaced the bitumen with a more light-sensitive resin, but hours of exposure in the camera were still required. With an eye to eventual commercial exploitation, the partners opted for total secrecy.
Niépce died in 1833 and Daguerre then redirected the experiments toward the light-sensitive
silver halide
A silver halide (or silver salt) is one of the chemical compounds that can form between the element silver (Ag) and one of the halogens. In particular, bromine (Br), chlorine (Cl), iodine (I) and fluorine (F) may each combine with silver to prod ...
s, which Niépce had abandoned many years earlier because of his inability to make the images he captured with them light-fast and permanent. Daguerre's efforts culminated in what would later be named the
daguerreotype
Daguerreotype (; french: daguerréotype) was the first publicly available photographic process; it was widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. "Daguerreotype" also refers to an image created through this process.
Invented by Louis Daguerre an ...
process. The essential elements—a silver-plated surface sensitized by
iodine
Iodine is a chemical element with the symbol I and atomic number 53. The heaviest of the stable halogens, it exists as a semi-lustrous, non-metallic solid at standard conditions that melts to form a deep violet liquid at , and boils to a vi ...
vapor, developed by
mercury
Mercury commonly refers to:
* Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun
* Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg
* Mercury (mythology), a Roman god
Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to:
Companies
* Merc ...
vapor, and "fixed" with hot saturated
salt
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...
water—were in place in 1837. The required exposure time was measured in minutes instead of hours. Daguerre took the earliest confirmed photograph of a person in 1838 while capturing a view of a Paris street: unlike the other pedestrian and horse-drawn traffic on the busy boulevard, which appears deserted, one man having his boots polished stood sufficiently still throughout the several-minutes-long exposure to be visible. The existence of Daguerre's process was publicly announced, without details, on 7 January 1839. The news created an international sensation. France soon agreed to pay Daguerre a pension in exchange for the right to present his invention to the world as the gift of France, which occurred when complete working instructions were unveiled on 19 August 1839. In that same year, American photographer
Robert Cornelius is credited with taking the earliest surviving photographic self-portrait.
![Latticed window at lacock abbey 1835](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Latticed_window_at_lacock_abbey_1835.jpg)
In Brazil,
Hercules Florence
Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.
The Romans adapted the Gr ...
had apparently started working out a silver-salt-based paper process in 1832, later naming it ''Photographie''.
Meanwhile, a
British inventor,
William Fox Talbot, had succeeded in making crude but reasonably light-fast silver images on paper as early as 1834 but had kept his work secret. After reading about Daguerre's invention in January 1839, Talbot published his hitherto secret method and set about improving on it. At first, like other pre-daguerreotype processes, Talbot's paper-based photography typically required hours-long
exposures in the camera, but in 1840 he created the
calotype
Calotype or talbotype is an early photographic process introduced in 1841 by William Henry Fox Talbot, using paper coated with silver iodide. Paper texture effects in calotype photography limit the ability of this early process to record low co ...
process, which used the
chemical development of a
latent image
{{citations needed, date=November 2015
A latent image is an invisible image produced by the exposure to light of a photosensitive material such as photographic film. When photographic film is developed, the area that was exposed darkens and forms ...
to greatly reduce the exposure needed and compete with the daguerreotype. In both its original and calotype forms, Talbot's process, unlike Daguerre's, created a translucent
negative which could be used to print multiple positive copies; this is the basis of most modern chemical photography up to the present day, as daguerreotypes could only be replicated by rephotographing them with a camera. Talbot's famous tiny paper negative of the Oriel window in
Lacock Abbey, one of a number of camera photographs he made in the summer of 1835, may be the oldest camera negative in existence.
In France,
Hippolyte Bayard invented his own process for producing direct positive paper prints and claimed to have invented photography earlier than Daguerre or Talbot.
British chemist
John Herschel
Sir John Frederick William Herschel, 1st Baronet (; 7 March 1792 – 11 May 1871) was an English polymath active as a mathematician, astronomer, chemist, inventor, experimental photographer who invented the blueprint and did botanical wor ...
made many contributions to the new field. He invented the
cyanotype process, later familiar as the "blueprint". He was the first to use the terms "photography", "negative" and "positive". He had discovered in 1819 that
sodium thiosulphate was a solvent of silver halides, and in 1839 he informed Talbot (and, indirectly, Daguerre) that it could be used to "fix" silver-halide-based photographs and make them completely light-fast. He made the first
glass negative in late 1839.
![Wilson Chinn](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Wilson_Chinn.jpg)
In the March 1851 issue of ''The Chemist'',
Frederick Scott Archer published his wet plate
collodion process
The collodion process is an early photographic process. The collodion process, mostly synonymous with the "collodion wet plate process", requires the photographic material to be coated, sensitized, exposed, and developed within the span of about ...
. It became the most widely used photographic medium until the gelatin dry plate, introduced in the 1870s, eventually replaced it. There are three subsets to the collodion process; the
Ambrotype
The ambrotype (from grc, ἀμβροτός — “immortal”, and — “impression”) also known as a collodion positive in the UK, is a positive photograph on glass made by a variant of the wet plate collodion process. Like a pr ...
(a positive image on glass), the
Ferrotype
A tintype, also known as a melainotype or ferrotype, is a photograph made by creating a direct positive on a thin sheet of metal coated with a dark lacquer or enamel and used as the support for the photographic emulsion. Tintypes enjoyed their w ...
or Tintype (a positive image on metal) and the glass negative, which was used to make positive prints on
albumen
Egg white is the clear liquid (also called the albumen or the glair/glaire) contained within an egg. In chickens it is formed from the layers of secretions of the anterior section of the hen's oviduct during the passage of the egg. It forms arou ...
or salted paper.
Many advances in
photographic glass plates and printing were made during the rest of the 19th century. In 1891,
Gabriel Lippmann introduced a process for making natural-color photographs based on the optical phenomenon of the
interference
Interference is the act of interfering, invading, or poaching. Interference may also refer to:
Communications
* Interference (communication), anything which alters, modifies, or disrupts a message
* Adjacent-channel interference, caused by extra ...
of light waves. His scientifically elegant and important but ultimately impractical invention earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1908.
Glass plates were the medium for most original camera photography from the late 1850s until the general introduction of flexible plastic films during the 1890s. Although the convenience of the film greatly popularized amateur photography, early films were somewhat more expensive and of markedly lower optical quality than their glass plate equivalents, and until the late 1910s they were not available in the large formats preferred by most professional photographers, so the new medium did not immediately or completely replace the old. Because of the superior dimensional stability of glass, the use of plates for some scientific applications, such as
astrophotography, continued into the 1990s, and in the niche field of laser
holography, it has persisted into the 21st century.
Film
Hurter and Driffield began pioneering work on the
light sensitivity Photosensitivity is the amount to which an object reacts upon receiving photons, especially visible light. In medicine, the term is principally used for abnormal reactions of the skin, and two types are distinguished, photoallergy and phototoxicity ...
of photographic emulsions in 1876. Their work enabled the first quantitative measure of film speed to be devised.
The first flexible photographic roll film was marketed by
George Eastman, founder of
Kodak
The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...
in 1885, but this original "film" was actually a coating on a paper base. As part of the processing, the image-bearing layer was stripped from the paper and transferred to a hardened gelatin support. The first transparent plastic roll film followed in 1889. It was made from highly flammable
nitrocellulose
Nitrocellulose (also known as cellulose nitrate, flash paper, flash cotton, guncotton, pyroxylin and flash string, depending on form) is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to a mixture of nitric acid and ...
known as nitrate film.
Although
cellulose acetate or "
safety film
Cellulose acetate film, or safety film, is used in photography as a base material for photographic emulsions. It was introduced in the early 20th century by film manufacturers and intended as a safe film base replacement for unstable and highly ...
" had been introduced by Kodak in 1908, at first it found only a few special applications as an alternative to the hazardous nitrate film, which had the advantages of being considerably tougher, slightly more transparent, and cheaper. The changeover was not completed for
X-ray
An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nb ...
films until 1933, and although safety film was always used for 16 mm and 8 mm home movies, nitrate film remained standard for theatrical 35 mm motion pictures until it was finally discontinued in 1951.
Films remained the dominant form of photography until the early 21st century when advances in digital photography drew consumers to digital formats. Although modern photography is dominated by digital users, film continues to be used by enthusiasts and professional photographers. The distinctive "look" of film based photographs compared to digital images is likely due to a combination of factors, including (1) differences in spectral and tonal sensitivity (S-shaped density-to-exposure (H&D curve) with film vs. linear response curve for digital CCD sensors), (2) resolution, and (3) continuity of tone.
Black-and-white
![Dark room](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Dark_room.jpg)
Originally, all photography was
monochrome
A monochrome or monochromatic image, object or palette is composed of one color (or values of one color). Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale (typically digital) or black-and-white (typically analog). In physics, monochrom ...
, or ''
black-and-white
Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey.
Media
The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...
''. Even after color film was readily available, black-and-white photography continued to dominate for decades, due to its lower cost, chemical stability, and its "classic" photographic look. The tones and contrast between light and dark areas define black-and-white photography. Monochromatic pictures are not necessarily composed of pure blacks, whites, and intermediate shades of gray but can involve shades of one particular
hue depending on the process. The
cyanotype process, for example, produces an image composed of blue tones. The
albumen print
The albumen print, also called albumen silver print, was published in January 1847 by Louis Désiré Blanquart-Evrard, and was the first commercially exploitable method of producing a photographic print on a paper base from a negative. It us ...
process, publicly revealed in 1847, produces brownish tones.
Many
photographers continue to produce some monochrome images, sometimes because of the established archival permanence of well-processed silver-halide-based materials. Some full-color digital images are processed using a variety of techniques to create black-and-white results, and some manufacturers produce digital cameras that exclusively shoot monochrome. Monochrome printing or electronic display can be used to salvage certain photographs taken in color which are unsatisfactory in their original form; sometimes when presented as black-and-white or single-color-toned images they are found to be more effective. Although color photography has long predominated, monochrome images are still produced, mostly for artistic reasons. Almost all
digital cameras have an option to shoot in monochrome, and almost all image editing software can combine or selectively discard
RGB color channels to produce a monochrome image from one shot in color.
Color
Color photography
Color photography is photography that uses media capable of capturing and reproducing colors. By contrast, black-and-white or gray-monochrome photography records only a single channel of luminance (brightness) and uses media capable only of ...
was explored beginning in the 1840s. Early experiments in color required extremely long exposures (hours or days for camera images) and could not "fix" the photograph to prevent the color from quickly fading when exposed to white light.
The first permanent color photograph was taken in 1861 using the three-color-separation principle first published by Scottish physicist
James Clerk Maxwell
James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879) was a Scottish mathematician and scientist responsible for the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, which was the first theory to describe electricity, magnetism and ligh ...
in 1855.
The foundation of virtually all practical color processes, Maxwell's idea was to take three separate black-and-white photographs through red, green and blue
filters
Filter, filtering or filters may refer to:
Science and technology
Computing
* Filter (higher-order function), in functional programming
* Filter (software), a computer program to process a data stream
* Filter (video), a software component tha ...
.
This provides the photographer with the three basic channels required to recreate a color image. Transparent prints of the images could be projected through similar color filters and superimposed on the projection screen, an
additive method of color reproduction. A color print on paper could be produced by superimposing
carbon prints of the three images made in their
complementary color
Complementary colors are pairs of colors which, when combined or mixed, cancel each other out (lose hue) by producing a grayscale color like white or black. When placed next to each other, they create the strongest contrast for those two co ...
s, a
subtractive method of color reproduction pioneered by
Louis Ducos du Hauron Louis may refer to:
* Louis (coin)
* Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name
* Louis (surname)
* Louis (singer), Serbian singer
* HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy
See also
Derived or associated terms
* Lewis (d ...
in the late 1860s.
![Colonel William Willoughby Verner, Sanger Shepherd process, by Sarah Acland 1903](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Colonel_William_Willoughby_Verner%2C_Sanger_Shepherd_process%2C_by_Sarah_Acland_1903.png)
Russian photographer
Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii
Sergius is a male given name of Ancient Roman origin after the name of the Latin ''gens'' Sergia or Sergii of regal and republican ages. It is a common Christian name, in honor of Saint Sergius, or in Russia, of Saint Sergius of Radonezh, and h ...
made extensive use of this color separation technique, employing a special camera which successively exposed the three color-filtered images on different parts of an oblong
plate. Because his exposures were not simultaneous, unsteady subjects exhibited color "fringes" or, if rapidly moving through the scene, appeared as brightly colored ghosts in the resulting projected or printed images.
Implementation of color photography was hindered by the limited sensitivity of early photographic materials, which were mostly sensitive to blue, only slightly sensitive to green, and virtually insensitive to red. The discovery of dye sensitization by photochemist
Hermann Vogel in 1873 suddenly made it possible to add sensitivity to green, yellow and even red. Improved color sensitizers and ongoing improvements in the overall sensitivity of
emulsions
An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible (unmixable or unblendable) owing to liquid-liquid phase separation. Emulsions are part of a more general class of two-phase systems of matter called colloids. Althoug ...
steadily reduced the once-prohibitive long exposure times required for color, bringing it ever closer to commercial viability.
Autochrome, the first commercially successful color process, was introduced by the
Lumière brothers
Lumière is French for 'light'.
Lumiere, Lumière or Lumieres may refer to:
*Lumières, the philosophical movement in the Age of Enlightenment People
*Auguste and Louis Lumière, French pioneers in film-making Film and TV
* Institut Lumière, a ...
in 1907. Autochrome
plates incorporated a
mosaic
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
color filter layer made of dyed grains of
potato starch
Potato starch is starch extracted from potatoes. The cells of the root tubers of the potato plant contain leucoplasts (starch grains). To extract the starch, the potatoes are crushed, and the starch grains are released from the destroyed cells. Th ...
, which allowed the three color components to be recorded as adjacent microscopic image fragments. After an Autochrome plate was
reversal processed to produce a positive
transparency, the starch grains served to illuminate each fragment with the correct color and the tiny colored points blended together in the eye, synthesizing the color of the subject by the
additive method. Autochrome plates were one of several varieties of additive color screen plates and films marketed between the 1890s and the 1950s.
Kodachrome, the first modern "integral tripack" (or "monopack") color film, was introduced by
Kodak
The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...
in 1935. It captured the three color components in a multi-layer
emulsion
An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible (unmixable or unblendable) owing to liquid-liquid phase separation. Emulsions are part of a more general class of two-phase systems of matter called colloids. Althoug ...
. One layer was sensitized to record the red-dominated part of the
spectrum
A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors i ...
, another layer recorded only the green part and a third recorded only the blue. Without special
film processing
Photographic processing or photographic development is the chemical means by which photographic film or paper is treated after photographic exposure to produce a negative or positive image. Photographic processing transforms the latent image into ...
, the result would simply be three superimposed black-and-white images, but
complementary
A complement is something that completes something else.
Complement may refer specifically to:
The arts
* Complement (music), an interval that, when added to another, spans an octave
** Aggregate complementation, the separation of pitch-class ...
cyan, magenta, and yellow dye images were created in those layers by adding
color coupler
Dye coupler is present in chromogenic film and paper used in photography, primarily color photography. When a color developer reduces ionized (exposed) silver halide crystals, the developer is oxidized, and the oxidized molecules react with dye ...
s during a complex processing procedure.
Agfa's similarly structured
Agfacolor Neu was introduced in 1936. Unlike Kodachrome, the color couplers in Agfacolor Neu were incorporated into the emulsion layers during manufacture, which greatly simplified the processing. Currently, available color films still employ a multi-layer emulsion and the same principles, most closely resembling Agfa's product.
Instant color film, used in a special camera which yielded a unique finished color print only a minute or two after the exposure, was introduced by
Polaroid
Polaroid may refer to:
* Polaroid Corporation, an American company known for its instant film and cameras
* Polaroid camera, a brand of instant camera formerly produced by Polaroid Corporation
* Polaroid film, instant film, and photographs
* Polar ...
in 1963.
Color photography
Color photography is photography that uses media capable of capturing and reproducing colors. By contrast, black-and-white or gray-monochrome photography records only a single channel of luminance (brightness) and uses media capable only of ...
may form images as positive transparencies, which can be used in a
slide projector
A slide projector is an opto-mechanical device for showing photographic slides.
35 mm slide projectors, direct descendants of the larger-format magic lantern, first came into widespread use during the 1950s as a form of occasional home ...
, or as color negatives intended for use in creating positive color enlargements on specially coated paper. The latter is now the most common form of film (non-digital) color photography owing to the introduction of automated photo printing equipment. After a transition period centered around 1995–2005, color film was relegated to a niche market by inexpensive multi-megapixel digital cameras. Film continues to be the preference of some photographers because of its distinctive "look".
Digital
![Early digital!](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Early_digital%21.jpg)
In 1981,
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
unveiled the first consumer camera to use a
charge-coupled device for imaging, eliminating the need for film: the
Sony Mavica
Mavica (''Magnetic Video Camera'') is a discontinued brand of Sony cameras which use removable disks as the main recording medium. On August 25th 1981, Sony unveiled a prototype of the Sony Mavica as the world's first electronic still video ca ...
. While the Mavica saved images to disk, the images were displayed on television, and the camera was not fully digital.
The first digital camera to both record and save images in a digital format was the Fujix DS-1P created by Fujfilm in 1988.
In 1991, Kodak unveiled the
DCS 100
The Kodak Professional Digital Camera System or DCS, later unofficially named DCS 100, was the first commercially available digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera. It was a customized camera back bearing the digital image sensor, mounted on a Ni ...
, the first commercially available digital single lens reflex camera. Although its high cost precluded uses other than
photojournalism
Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...
and professional photography, commercial
digital photography
Digital photography uses cameras containing arrays of electronic photodetectors interfaced to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to produce images focused by a lens, as opposed to an exposure on photographic film. The digitized image is sto ...
was born.
Digital imaging uses an electronic
image sensor to record the image as a set of electronic data rather than as chemical changes on film. An important difference between digital and chemical photography is that chemical photography resists
photo manipulation
Photograph manipulation involves the transformation or alteration of a photograph using various methods and techniques to achieve desired results. Some photograph manipulations are considered to be skillful artwork, while others are consider ...
because it involves
film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
and
photographic paper
Photographic paper is a paper coated with a light-sensitive chemical formula, like photographic film, used for making photographic prints. When photographic paper is exposed to light, it captures a latent image that is then developed to form a v ...
, while digital imaging is a highly manipulative medium. This difference allows for a degree of image post-processing that is comparatively difficult in film-based photography and permits different communicative potentials and applications.
![Smartphone photography](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Smartphone_photography.jpg)
Digital photography dominates the 21st century. More than 99% of photographs taken around the world are through digital cameras, increasingly through smartphones.
Techniques
![Chicago-Calder-Diagonal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Chicago-Calder-Diagonal.jpg)
A large variety of photographic techniques and media are used in the process of capturing images for photography. These include the camera; dualphotography; full-spectrum, ultraviolet and infrared media; light field photography; and other imaging techniques.
Cameras
The camera is the image-forming device, and a
photographic plate
Photographic plates preceded photographic film as a capture medium in photography, and were still used in some communities up until the late 20th century. The light-sensitive emulsion of silver salts was coated on a glass plate, typically thinn ...
,
photographic film
Photographic film is a strip or sheet of transparent film base coated on one side with a gelatin photographic emulsion, emulsion containing microscopically small light-sensitive silver halide crystals. The sizes and other characteristics of th ...
or a
silicon
Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic luster, and is a tetravalent metalloid and semiconductor. It is a member of group 14 in the periodic tab ...
electronic
image sensor is the capture medium. The respective recording medium can be the plate or film itself, or a digital magnetic or electronic memory.
Photographers control the camera and lens to "expose" the light recording material to the required amount of light to form a "
latent image
{{citations needed, date=November 2015
A latent image is an invisible image produced by the exposure to light of a photosensitive material such as photographic film. When photographic film is developed, the area that was exposed darkens and forms ...
" (on plate or film) or
RAW file
A camera raw image file contains unprocessed or minimally processed data from the image sensor of either a digital camera, a motion picture film scanner, or other image scanner. Raw files are named so because they are not yet processed and the ...
(in digital cameras) which, after appropriate processing, is converted to a usable image.
Digital cameras use an electronic image sensor based on light-sensitive electronics such as
charge-coupled device (CCD) or
complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor
Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS, pronounced "sea-moss", ) is a type of metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) fabrication process that uses complementary and symmetrical pairs of p-type and n-type MOSFE ...
(CMOS) technology. The resulting digital image is stored electronically, but can be reproduced on a paper.
The camera (or '
camera obscura') is a dark room or chamber from which, as far as possible, all light is excluded except the light that forms the image. It was discovered and used in the 16th century by painters. The subject being photographed, however, must be illuminated. Cameras can range from small to very large, a whole room that is kept dark while the object to be photographed is in another room where it is properly illuminated. This was common for reproduction photography of flat copy when large film negatives were used (see
Process camera).
As soon as photographic materials became "fast" (sensitive) enough for taking
candid
Candid may refer to:
* Candid (app), a mobile app for anonymous discussions
* Candid (organization), providing information on US nonprofit companies
* Candid Records, a record label
* Ilyushin Il-76, NATO reporting name ''Candid'', a Soviet aircraf ...
or surreptitious pictures, small "detective" cameras were made, some actually disguised as a book or handbag or pocket watch (the ''Ticka'' camera) or even worn hidden behind an
Ascot necktie with a tie pin that was really the lens.
The
movie camera is a type of photographic camera which takes a rapid sequence of photographs on recording medium. In contrast to a still camera, which captures a single snapshot at a time, the movie camera takes a series of images, each called a "frame". This is accomplished through an intermittent mechanism. The frames are later played back in a movie projector at a specific speed, called the "frame rate" (number of frames per second). While viewing, a person's eyes and brain merge the separate pictures to create the illusion of motion.
Stereoscopic
Photographs, both monochrome and color, can be captured and displayed through two side-by-side images that emulate human stereoscopic vision. Stereoscopic photography was the first that captured figures in motion. While known colloquially as "3-D" photography, the more accurate term is stereoscopy. Such cameras have long been realized by using film and more recently in digital electronic methods (including cell phone cameras).
Dualphotography
![1485016840 IMG 7518](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/1485016840_IMG_7518.JPG_larger.jpg)
Dualphotography consists of photographing a scene from both sides of a photographic device at once (e.g. camera for back-to-back dualphotography, or two networked cameras for portal-plane dualphotography). The dualphoto apparatus can be used to simultaneously capture both the subject and the photographer, or both sides of a geographical place at once, thus adding a supplementary narrative layer to that of a single image.
Full-spectrum, ultraviolet and infrared
Ultraviolet
Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nanometer, nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 Hertz, PHz) to 400 nm (750 Hertz, THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than ...
and
infrared
Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...
films have been available for many decades and employed in a variety of photographic avenues since the 1960s. New technological trends in digital photography have opened a new direction in
full spectrum photography
Full-spectrum photography is a subset of multispectral imaging, defined among photography enthusiasts as imaging with consumer cameras the full, broad spectrum of a film or camera sensor bandwidth. In practice, specialized broadband/full-spectru ...
, where careful filtering choices across the ultraviolet, visible and infrared lead to new artistic visions.
Modified digital cameras can detect some ultraviolet, all of the visible and much of the near infrared spectrum, as most digital imaging sensors are sensitive from about 350 nm to 1000 nm. An off-the-shelf digital camera contains an infrared
hot mirror filter that blocks most of the infrared and a bit of the ultraviolet that would otherwise be detected by the sensor, narrowing the accepted range from about 400 nm to 700 nm.
Replacing a hot mirror or infrared blocking filter with an infrared pass or a wide spectrally transmitting filter allows the camera to detect the wider spectrum light at greater sensitivity. Without the hot-mirror, the red, green and blue (or cyan, yellow and magenta) colored micro-filters placed over the sensor elements pass varying amounts of ultraviolet (blue window) and infrared (primarily red and somewhat lesser the green and blue micro-filters).
Uses of full spectrum photography are for
fine art photography,
geology
Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...
,
forensics
Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and crimina ...
and law enforcement.
Layering
Layering is a photographic
composition technique that manipulates the foreground, subject or middle-ground, and background layers in a way that they all work together to tell a story through the image. Layers may be incorporated by altering the focal length, distorting the perspective by positioning the camera in a certain spot. People, movement, light and a variety of objects can be used in layering.
Light field
Digital methods of image capture and display processing have enabled the new technology of "light field photography" (also known as synthetic aperture photography). This process allows focusing at various depths of field to be selected ''after'' the photograph has been captured. As explained by
Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...
in 1846, the "
light field" is understood as 5-dimensional, with each point in 3-D space having attributes of two more angles that define the direction of each ray passing through that point.
These additional vector attributes can be captured optically through the use of
microlenses
A microlens is a small lens, generally with a diameter less than a millimetre (mm) and often as small as 10 micrometres (µm). The small sizes of the lenses means that a simple design can give good optical quality but sometimes unwanted effects ...
at each pixel point within the 2-dimensional image sensor. Every pixel of the final image is actually a selection from each sub-array located under each microlens, as identified by a post-image capture focus algorithm.
Other
Besides the camera, other methods of forming images with light are available. For instance, a
photocopy
A photocopier (also called copier or copy machine, and formerly Xerox machine, the generic trademark) is a machine that makes copies of documents and other visual images onto paper or plastic film quickly and cheaply. Most modern photocopiers u ...
or
xerography
Xerography is a dry photocopying technique. Originally called electrophotography, it was renamed xerography—from the roots el, ξηρός, label=none ''xeros'', meaning "dry" and -γραφία ''-graphia'', meaning "writing"—to emphasize ...
machine forms permanent images but uses the transfer of static
electrical charges rather than photographic medium, hence the term
electrophotography.
Photograms are images produced by the shadows of objects cast on the photographic paper, without the use of a camera. Objects can also be placed directly on the glass of an
image scanner
An image scanner—often abbreviated to just scanner—is a device that optically scans images, printed text, handwriting or an object and converts it to a digital image. Commonly used in offices are variations of the desktop ''flatbed scanner'' ...
to produce digital pictures.
Types
Amateur
Amateur photographers take photos for personal use, as a
hobby or out of casual interest, rather than as a business or job. The quality of amateur work can be comparable to that of many professionals. Amateurs can fill a gap in subjects or topics that might not otherwise be photographed if they are not commercially useful or salable. Amateur photography grew during the late 19th century due to the popularization of the hand-held camera. Twenty-first century
social media
Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
and near-ubiquitous
camera phone
A camera phone is a mobile phone which is able to capture photographs and often record video using one or more built-in digital cameras. It can also send the resulting image wirelessly and conveniently. The first commercial phone with color cam ...
s have made photographic and video recording pervasive in everyday life. In the mid-2010s
smartphone
A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
cameras added numerous automatic assistance features like
color management,
autofocus face detection and
image stabilization
Image stabilization (IS) is a family of techniques that reduce blurring associated with the motion of a camera or other imaging device during exposure.
Generally, it compensates for pan and tilt (angular movement, equivalent to yaw and pit ...
that significantly decreased skill and effort needed to take high quality images.
Commercial
Commercial photography is probably best defined as any photography for which the photographer is paid for
image
An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensiona ...
s rather than
works of art. In this light, money could be paid for the subject of the photograph or the photograph itself.
Wholesale
Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...
,
retail
Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...
, and professional uses of photography would fall under this definition. The commercial photographic world could include:
* Advertising photography: photographs made to illustrate and usually sell a service or product. These images, such as
packshot
A packshot (also pack shot) is a still or moving image of a product, usually including its packaging and labeling, used to portray the product's reputation in advertising on TV. or other media.
Its goal is to trigger in-store, on-shelf product rec ...
s, are generally done with an
advertising agency
An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generally ...
,
design firm
A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...
or with an in-house corporate design team.
*
Architectural photography
Architectural photography is the sub genre of the photography discipline where the primary emphasis is made to capturing photographs of buildings and similar architectural structures that are both aesthetically pleasing and accurate in terms of re ...
focuses on capturing photographs of buildings and architectural structures that are aesthetically pleasing and accurate in terms of representations of their subjects.
*
Event photography
Event photography is the practice of Photography, photographing guests and occurrences at any Event or occasion where one may hire a photographer for. This is a coverage that is used around the world at occasions such as weddings, Baptism, christ ...
focuses on photographing guests and occurrences at mostly social events.
* Fashion and glamour photography usually incorporates
models
A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure.
Models c ...
and is a form of advertising photography.
Fashion photography
Fashion photography is a genre of photography which is devoted to displaying clothing and other fashion items, sometimes haute couture. It typically consists of a fashion photographer taking a picture of a dressed model in a photographic studio o ...
, like the work featured in ''
Harper's Bazaar
''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...
'', emphasizes clothes and other products; glamour emphasizes the model and body form. Glamour photography is popular in advertising and
men's magazines. Models in
glamour photography
Glamour photography is a genre of photography in which the subjects are portrayed in erotic poses ranging from fully clothed to nude. The term may be a euphemism for erotic photography. For Model (person)#Glamour models, glamour models, body sha ...
sometimes work
nude
Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing.
The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to h ...
.
*
360 product photography
360 photography (also referred to as 360 product photography, 360 spin or spin photography) refers to a photographic technique by which a series of photos give the impression of an object rotating. These photos can be displayed as an interactive a ...
displays a series of photos to give the impression of a rotating object. This technique is commonly used by ecommerce websites to help shoppers visualise products.
*
Concert photography focuses on capturing candid images of both the artist or band as well as the atmosphere (including the crowd). Many of these photographers work freelance and are contracted through an artist or their management to cover a specific show. Concert photographs are often used to promote the artist or band in addition to the venue.
*
Crime scene photography
Forensic photography may refer to the visual documentation of different aspects that can be found at a crime scene. It may include the documentation of the crime scene, or physical evidence that is either found at a crime scene or already proce ...
consists of photographing scenes of crime such as robberies and murders. A black and white camera or an
infrared camera
Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...
may be used to capture specific details.
*
Still life photography
Still life photography is a genre of photography used for the depiction of inanimate subject matter, typically a small group of objects. Similar to still life painting, it is the application of photography to the still life artistic style. Ta ...
usually depicts inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural or man-made. Still life is a broader category for food and some natural photography and can be used for advertising purposes.
* Real Estate photography focuses on the production of photographs showcasing a property that is for sale, such photographs requires the use of wide-lens and extensive knowledge in
High-dynamic-range imaging
In photography and videography, multi-exposure HDR capture is a technique that creates extended or high dynamic range (HDR) images by taking and combining multiple exposures of the same subject matter at different exposure levels. Combining mu ...
photography.
![Cheese and Tomatoes](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Cheese_and_Tomatoes.jpg)
*
Food photography
Food photography is a still life photography genre used to create attractive still life photographs of food. It is a specialization of commercial photography, the products of which are used in advertisements, magazines, packaging, menus or cook ...
can be used for editorial, packaging or advertising use. Food photography is similar to still life photography but requires some special skills.
*
Photojournalism
Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...
can be considered a subset of editorial photography. Photographs made in this context are accepted as a documentation of a news story.
*
Paparazzi
Paparazzi (, ; ; singular: masculine paparazzo or feminine paparazza) are independent photographers who take pictures of high-profile people; such as actors, musicians, athletes, politicians, and other celebrities, typically while subjects ...
is a form of photojournalism in which the photographer captures candid images of athletes, celebrities, politicians, and other prominent people.
*
Portrait
A portrait is a portrait painting, painting, portrait photography, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, Personality type ...
and
wedding photography
Wedding photography is a specialty in photography that is primarily focused on the photography of events and activities relating to weddings. It may include other types of portrait photography of the couple before the official wedding day, such ...
: photographs made and sold directly to the end user of the images.
*
Landscape photography
Landscape photography shows the spaces within the world, sometimes vast and unending, but other times microscopic. Landscape photographs typically capture the presence of nature but can also focus on man-made features or disturbances of landscapes ...
depicts locations.
*
Wildlife photography
Wildlife photography is a genre of photography concerned with documenting various forms of wildlife in their natural habitat.
As well as requiring photography skills, wildlife photographers may need field craft skills. For example, some anima ...
demonstrates the life of wild animals.
Art
![Alfred Stieglitz - The Steerage - Google Art Project](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Alfred_Stieglitz_-_The_Steerage_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
During the 20th century, both
fine art photography and
documentary photography became accepted by the
English-speaking
Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest language ...
art world and the
gallery system. In the United States, a handful of photographers, including
Alfred Stieglitz
Alfred Stieglitz (January 1, 1864 – July 13, 1946) was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his 50-year career in making photography an accepted art form. In addition to his photography, Stieglitz was kno ...
,
Edward Steichen
Edward Jean Steichen (March 27, 1879 – March 25, 1973) was a Luxembourgish American photographer, painter, and curator, renowned as one of the most prolific and influential figures in the history of photography.
Steichen was credited with tr ...
,
John Szarkowski,
F. Holland Day
Fred Holland Day (23 July 1864—23 November 1933), known professionally as F. Holland Day, was an American photographer and publisher. He was prominent in literary and photography circles in the late nineteenth century and was a leading Pict ...
, and
Edward Weston
Edward Henry Weston (March 24, 1886 – January 1, 1958) was a 20th-century American photographer. He has been called "one of the most innovative and influential American photographers..." and "one of the masters of 20th century photography." ...
, spent their lives advocating for photography as a fine art.
At first, fine art photographers tried to imitate painting styles. This movement is called
Pictorialism, often using
soft focus for a dreamy, 'romantic' look. In reaction to that, Weston,
Ansel Adams
Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his black-and-white images of the American West. He helped found Group f/64, an association of photographers advoca ...
, and others formed the
Group f/64
Group 64 or f.64 was a group founded by seven 20th-century San Francisco Bay Area photographers who shared a common photographic style characterized by sharply focused and carefully framed images seen through a particularly Western (U.S.) viewpo ...
to advocate '
straight photography
Straight may refer to:
Slang
* Straight, slang for heterosexual
** Straight-acting, an LGBT person who does not exhibit the appearance or mannerisms of the gay stereotype
* Straight, a member of the straight edge subculture
Sport and games
* St ...
', the photograph as a (sharply focused) thing in itself and not an imitation of something else.
The
aesthetics
Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...
of photography is a matter that continues to be discussed regularly, especially in artistic circles. Many artists argued that photography was the mechanical reproduction of an image. If photography is authentically art, then photography in the context of art would need redefinition, such as determining what component of a photograph makes it
beautiful to the viewer. The controversy began with the earliest images "written with light";
Nicéphore Niépce,
Louis Daguerre, and others among the very earliest photographers were met with acclaim, but some questioned if their work met the definitions and purposes of art.
Clive Bell in his classic essay ''Art'' states that only "significant form" can distinguish art from what is not art.
On 7 February 2007, Sotheby's London sold the 2001 photograph ''
99 Cent II Diptychon
''99 Cent II Diptychon'' is a two-part colour photograph made by Andreas Gursky in 2001. It was based on an original photograph called ''99 Cent (photograph), 99 Cent'', from 1999, sometimes called "99 cent.1999".
The work depicts an interior of ...
'' for an unprecedented $3,346,456 to an anonymous bidder, making it the most expensive at the time.
Conceptual photography turns a concept or idea into a photograph. Even though what is depicted in the photographs are real objects, the subject is strictly abstract.
![Josef H Neumann- Gustav I (1976)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Josef_H_Neumann-_Gustav_I_%281976%29.jpg)
In parallel to this development, the then largely separate interface between painting and photography was closed in the early 1970s with the work of the photo artists Pierre Cordier (Chimigramm),
Chemigram
A chemigram (from "chemistry" and ''gramma'', Greek for "things written") is an experimental piece of art where an image is made by painting with chemicals on light-sensitive paper (such as photographic paper).
The term ''Chemigram'' was coined ...
and
Josef H. Neumann
Josef H. Neumann (born May 27, 1953) is a German Art Photographer, media designer and art historian. He invented the chemogram, an experimental artform involving manipulating chemicals in film photography.
Life
Education
From 1967 to 1970 ...
,
Chemogram
A chemogram (from "chemistry", "optic" and ''gramma'', Greek for "things written") is an experimental art where a photographic image is partly or fully enlarged and processed onto photographic paper in the darkroom and afterwards selectively painte ...
. In 1974 the chemograms by Josef H. Neumann concluded the separation of the painterly background and the photographic layer by showing the picture elements in a symbiosis that had never existed before, as an unmistakable unique specimen, in a simultaneous painterly and at the same time real photographic perspective, using lenses, within a photographic layer, united in colors and shapes. This Neumann
chemogram
A chemogram (from "chemistry", "optic" and ''gramma'', Greek for "things written") is an experimental art where a photographic image is partly or fully enlarged and processed onto photographic paper in the darkroom and afterwards selectively painte ...
from the seventies of the 20th century thus differs from the beginning of the previously created cameraless
chemigrams of a
Pierre Cordier
Pierre Cordier (born January 28, 1933 in Brussels) is a Belgian artist. He is considered to be a pioneer of the chemigram and of its development as a means of artistic expression.
Childhood and education
Cordirn into a family of Franco-Belg ...
and the
photogram Man Ray
Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealism, Surrealist movements, although his t ...
or
László Moholy-Nagy of the previous decades. These works of art were almost simultaneous with the invention of photography by various important artists who characterized
Hippolyte Bayard,
Thomas Wedgwood,
William Henry Fox Talbot in their early stages, and later
Man Ray
Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealism, Surrealist movements, although his t ...
and
László Moholy-Nagy in the twenties and by the painter in the thirties
Edmund Kesting
Edmund Kesting (27 July 1892, in Dresden – 21 October 1970, in Birkenwerder) was a German photographer, painter and art professor.
He studied until 1916 at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts before participating as a soldier in the First World W ...
and
Christian Schad
Christian Schad (21 August 189425 February 1982) was a German painter and photographer. He was associated with the Dada and the New Objectivity movements. Considered as a group, Schad's portraits form an extraordinary record of life in Vienna a ...
by draping objects directly onto appropriately sensitized photo paper and using a light source without a camera.
Photojournalism
Photojournalism
Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...
is a particular form of photography (the collecting, editing, and presenting of news material for publication or broadcast) that employs images in order to tell a news story. It is now usually understood to refer only to still images, but in some cases the term also refers to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (e.g.,
documentary photography, social documentary photography,
street photography or
celebrity photography) by complying with a rigid ethical framework which demands that the work be both honest and impartial whilst telling the story in strictly journalistic terms. Photojournalists create pictures that contribute to the news media, and help communities connect with one other. Photojournalists must be well informed and knowledgeable about events happening right outside their door. They deliver news in a creative format that is not only informative, but also entertaining, including
sports photography.
Science and forensics
![Wootton bridge](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Wootton_bridge.jpg)
The camera has a long and distinguished history as a means of recording scientific phenomena from the first use by Daguerre and Fox-Talbot, such as astronomical events (
eclipses
An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ce ...
for example), small creatures and plants when the camera was attached to the eyepiece of microscopes (in
photomicroscopy
A micrograph or photomicrograph is a photograph or digital image taken through a microscope or similar device to show a magnify, magnified image of an object. This is opposed to a macrograph or photomacrograph, an image which is also taken ...
) and for
macro photography
Macro photography (or photomacrography or macrography, and sometimes macrophotography) is extreme close-up photography, usually of very small subjects and living organisms like insects, in which the size of the subject in the photograph is grea ...
of larger specimens. The camera also proved useful in recording
crime scenes and the scenes of accidents, such as the
Wootton bridge collapse
The Wootton bridge collapse occurred on 11 June 1861, when the rail bridge over the road between Leek Wootton and Hill Wootton in Warwickshire collapsed under the weight of a passing goods train on the line between Leamington Spa and Kenilwor ...
in 1861. The methods used in analysing photographs for use in legal cases are collectively known as
forensic photography. Crime scene photos are taken from three vantage point. The vantage points are overview, mid-range, and close-up.
In 1845
Francis Ronalds, the Honorary Director of the
Kew Observatory, invented the first successful camera to make continuous recordings of meteorological and geomagnetic parameters. Different machines produced 12- or 24- hour photographic traces of the minute-by-minute variations of
atmospheric pressure, temperature,
humidity
Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present.
Humidity depe ...
,
atmospheric electricity, and the three components of
geomagnetic forces. The cameras were supplied to numerous observatories around the world and some remained in use until well into the 20th century.
Charles Brooke a little later developed similar instruments for the
Greenwich Observatory.
Science uses image technology that has derived from the design of the Pin Hole camera.
X-ray
An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nb ...
machines are similar in design to Pin Hole cameras with high-grade filters and laser radiation.
Photography has become universal in recording events and data in science and engineering, and at
crime scenes or accident scenes. The method has been much extended by using other wavelengths, such as
infrared photography and
ultraviolet photography
Ultraviolet photography is a photographic process of recording images by using radiation from the ultraviolet (UV) spectrum only. Images taken with ultraviolet radiation serve a number of scientific, medical or artistic purposes. Images may rev ...
, as well as
spectroscopy
Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets the electromagnetic spectra that result from the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter as a function of the wavelength or frequency of the radiation. Matter wa ...
. Those methods were first used in the
Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
and improved much further since that time.
The first photographed atom was discovered in 2012 by physicists at Griffith University, Australia. They used an electric field to trap an "Ion" of the element, Ytterbium. The image was recorded on a CCD, an electronic photographic film.
Wildlife photography
Wildlife photography involves capturing images of various forms of wildlife. Unlike other forms of photography such as product or food photography, successful wildlife photography requires a photographer to choose the right place and right time when specific wildlife are present and active. It often requires great patience and considerable skill and command of the right photographic equipment.
Social and cultural implications
![Aktikompositsioon 19 (J](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Aktikompositsioon_19_%28J._K%C3%BCnnap%29.jpg)
There are many ongoing questions about different aspects of photography. In her ''
On Photography
''On Photography'' is a 1977 collection of essays by Susan Sontag. It originally appeared as a series of essays in the ''New York Review of Books'' between 1973 and 1977.
Contents
In the book, Sontag expresses her views on the history and prese ...
'' (1977),
Susan Sontag
Susan Sontag (; January 16, 1933 – December 28, 2004) was an American writer, philosopher, and political activist. She mostly wrote essays, but also published novels; she published her first major work, the essay "Notes on 'Camp'", in 1964. Her ...
dismisses the objectivity of photography. This is a highly debated subject within the photographic community. Sontag argues, "To photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed. It means putting one's self into a certain relation to the world that feels like knowledge, and therefore like power."
[Sontag, S. (1977) '']On Photography
''On Photography'' is a 1977 collection of essays by Susan Sontag. It originally appeared as a series of essays in the ''New York Review of Books'' between 1973 and 1977.
Contents
In the book, Sontag expresses her views on the history and prese ...
'', Penguin, London, pp. 3–24, . Photographers decide what to take a photo of, what elements to exclude and what angle to frame the photo, and these factors may reflect a particular socio-historical context. Along these lines, it can be argued that photography is a subjective form of representation.
Modern photography has raised a number of concerns on its effect on society. In
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
's ''
Rear Window'' (1954), the camera is presented as promoting voyeurism. 'Although the camera is an observation station, the act of photographing is more than passive observing'.
The camera doesn't rape or even possess, though it may presume, intrude, trespass, distort, exploit, and, at the farthest reach of metaphor, assassinate – all activities that, unlike the sexual push and shove, can be conducted from a distance, and with some detachment.
Digital imaging has raised ethical concerns because of the ease of manipulating digital photographs in post-processing. Many
photojournalists
Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...
have declared they will not
crop
A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydroponic ...
their pictures or are forbidden from combining elements of multiple photos to make "
photomontages", passing them as "real" photographs. Today's technology has made
image editing relatively simple for even the novice photographer. However, recent changes of in-camera processing allow
digital fingerprinting of photos to detect tampering for purposes of
forensic photography.
Photography is one of the
new media forms that changes perception and changes the structure of society. Further unease has been caused around cameras in regards to desensitization. Fears that disturbing or explicit images are widely accessible to children and society at large have been raised. Particularly,
photos of war and
pornography
Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults, are causing a stir. Sontag is concerned that "to photograph is to turn people into objects that can be symbolically possessed". Desensitization discussion goes hand in hand with debates about censored images. Sontag writes of her concern that the ability to censor pictures means the photographer has the ability to construct reality.
One of the practices through which photography constitutes society is tourism. Tourism and photography combine to create a "tourist gaze"
in which local inhabitants are positioned and defined by the camera lens. However, it has also been argued that there exists a "reverse gaze" through which indigenous photographees can position the tourist photographer as a shallow consumer of images.
Law
Photography is both restricted and protected by the law in many jurisdictions. Protection of photographs is typically achieved through the granting of
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
or moral rights to the photographer. In the United States, photography is protected as a
First Amendment right and anyone is free to photograph anything seen in public spaces as long as it is in plain view. In the UK, a recent law (Counter-Terrorism Act 2008) increases the power of the police to prevent people, even press photographers, from taking pictures in public places.
In South Africa, any person may photograph any other person, without their permission, in public spaces and the only specific restriction placed on what may not be photographed by government is related to anything classed as national security. Each country has different laws.
See also
*
Outline of photography
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to photography:
Photography – process of making pictures by the action of recording light patterns, reflected or emitted from objects, on a photosensitive medium or an image ...
*
Science of photography
The science of photography is the use of chemistry and physics in all aspects of photography. This applies to the camera, its lenses, physical operation of the camera, electronic camera internals, and the process of developing film in order to ...
*
List of photographers
This is a list of notable photographers.
Africa
Algeria
* Hocine Zaourar (born 1952)
Benin
* Mayeul Akpovi (born 1979)
Cameroon
* Joseph Chila (born 1948)
* Angèle Etoundi Essamba (born 1962)
* Samuel Fosso (born 1962)
* Jacqu ...
*
List of photography awards
This list of photography awards is an index to articles that describe notable awards given for photography. It does not include photojournalism, which is covered in the list of journalism awards. The list is organized by the region and country of ...
*
Astrophotography
*
Image editing
*
Imaging
*
Photolab and minilab
*
Visual arts
The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...
References
Further reading
Introduction
* Barrett, T 2012, Criticizing Photographs: an introduction to understanding images, 5th edn, McGraw-Hill, New York.
* Bate, D. (2009), Photography: The Key Concepts, Bloomsbury, New York.
* Berger, J. (Dyer, G. ed.), (2013), Understanding a Photograph, Penguin Classics, London.
* Bright, S 2011, Art Photography Now, Thames & Hudson, London.
* Cotton, C. (2015), The Photograph as Contemporary Art, 3rd edn, Thames & Hudson, New York.
* Heiferman, M. (2013), Photography Changes Everything, Aperture Foundation, US.
* Shore, S. (2015), The Nature of Photographs, 2nd ed. Phaidon, New York.
* Wells, L. (2004), ''Photography. A Critical Introduction''
aperback 3rd ed. Routledge, London.
History
* ''A New History of Photography'', ed. by Michel Frizot, Köln : Könemann, 1998
* Franz-Xaver Schlegel, ''Das Leben der toten Dinge – Studien zur modernen Sachfotografie in den USA 1914–1935'', 2 Bände, Stuttgart/Germany: Art in Life 1999, .
Reference works
*
* Hans-Michael Koetzle: ''Das Lexikon der Fotografen: 1900 bis heute'', Munich: Knaur 2002, 512 p.,
* John Hannavy (ed.): ''Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography'', 1736 p., New York: Routledge 2005
* Lynne Warren (Hrsg.): ''Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Photography'', 1719 p., New York: Routledge, 2006
* ''The Oxford Companion to the Photograph'', ed. by Robin Lenman, Oxford University Press 2005
* "The Focal Encyclopedia of Photography", Richard Zakia, Leslie Stroebel, Focal Press 1993,
*
Other books
* ''Photography and The Art of Seeing'' by
Freeman Patterson
Freeman Wilford Patterson, (born September 25, 1937) is a Canadian nature photographer and writer. , Key Porter Books 1989, .
* ''The Art of Photography:'' An Approach to Personal Expression by Bruce Barnbaum, Rocky Nook 2010, .
* ''Image Clarity: High Resolution Photography'' by John B. Williams, Focal Press 1990, .
External links
World History of PhotographyFrom The History of Art.
Daguerreotype to Digital: A Brief History of the Photographic ProcessFrom the State Library & Archives of Florida.
{{Authority control
French inventions
19th-century inventions
Imaging
Audiovisual introductions in 1822