Photography History – The Way It Used To Be.

Photography History

There are few other forms of art that have undergone the technological transformation that photography has.

Sometimes though we have to take a look backwards into photography history to realize just how far the art has actually come.  Things that we now take for granted today, such as through the lens metering, digital imaging and interchangeable lenses are relatively recent advances in photography history.  Sometimes we take these things so much for granted that it’s hard to realize just how simple and easy things have become when taking a photo.

So how do we get the true flavor of what it used to be like to take a picture, say oh 160 plus years ago?

Well one way is to read literature from that time period.  It can be fascinating to see exactly what equipment was available and the process involved in taking a photo.  That’s why we’ve included a link to the History and Practice of the Art of Photography by Henry Hunt Snelling, which was published in 1849 by G.P. Putnam.  The book will take you through light theory to something called Daguerreotype, which was the first publicly announced photo process.  Click on this picture and look at this photo produced by the Daguerreotype process taken in 1854.

It’s truly amazing what the process of taking a photograph was.

The Daguerreotype process of creating and developing a photo involved long exposure times plus the use of silver and mercury vapors to develop a picture, fortunately this was soon changed.  The invention of faster lenses and use a bromine enabled photography to go mainstream and capture the first images of people like Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln.  This process was so labor intensive that in 1854 it began to be replaced by a wet plate process called Ambrotype.

Want to see more? Then click on the link below and take a quick tour of the History and Practice of the Art of Photography by Henry Hunt Snelling.

I’m sure as you read through this book you will be grateful for all the technological innovations that have been accomplished over the last century and half.  Not the least of which is the ability to simply plug your camera in your computer and run then off copies of your latest photos on your laser printer using photo paper purchased at your local Office Depot.

Enjoy the photography history book and please leave a comment on your thoughts.

History and Practice of the Art of Photography by Henry Hunt Snelling