It is pretty obvious that we are a visual species. right from the very beginning, we expressed our selves through images, whether they be cave paintings of hunting animals or carvings of gods. In fact, the superiority of writing as a form of communication has only come about in the last few hundred years -after the Gutenberg press and mass literacy. There is no surprise, that in many cultures the symbols used to write with were formed from actual drawings. 
Because images are universally understood, they have long been the primary method of conveying ideas, maintaining tradition and asserting power. Religious iconography embedded the core beliefs into the community, images of leaders and kings emphasized their power and greatness. Iconic images form the basis of many of our own memories. Imagery has a direct affect on our emotions and so from Jesus to Che Guevara, imagery has been used to form a common history and culture.
Often, when we look back at some of the greatest inventions, the seem to have appeared from nowhere and filled a gap that nobody even realized existed. Indeed much of national culture is often built upon the idea that a group of individuals drove the nation forward by inventing things that either revolutionized their industry or invented a completely new one. Think of George Stephenson's Rocket or Henry Ford's model T, or perhaps even the home computer. Photography also seems to have been discovered almost by accident, but I think there was a need for it even if it hadn't been openly expressed.
Both words and pictures are open to misinterpretation. Words can be ambiguous and pictures can be taken out of context. However, when used together they are much more likely to be fully understood. As Europe emerged through the Italian renaissance (and remember what remarkable works of visual art that produced), it turned its attention away from religion and culture to science. As that science became more practical and more complicated, it was obvious that a simple and logical way of illustrating experiments and ideas was going to be required.
Of course, scientists could have produced the images themselves - there are plenty of famous example of scientists who were also artists - or have the pictures produced for them. But that would mean they were always produced after the fact. For greater veracity, the images needed to be produced at the same time. They needed to record events as they happened with accuracy. The first attempt at this was the camera obscura. By channelling light through a lens into a darkened room and projecting it onto a flat surface, it was possible then reproduce images with great accuracy. This was the original camera and it was known about by the Greeks and Chinese hundreds of years ago.
Chemistry was behind the development of photography and so it isn't surprising to learn that the earliest pioneers came from a metallurgy or scientific background. In the 1720s it was discovered that that light could have an effect on a mixture of chalk and silver nitrate. A century later frenchman Joseph Nicphore Nipce created the first photograph, "View from the Window at Le Gras". He captured the image with a camera obscura focused onto a sheet of oil-treated bitumen. The exposure time was 8 hours. He was introduced to Louis Daguerre, and they went on to develop the process further. After the death of Nipce, Daguerre won fame as the man who invented the photography.
The first known photographic portrait dates back to 1839 - a self portrait of Robert Cornelius using the daguerreotype process. He was originally a metal polisher, who worked with his father, specializing in silver plating. The daguerreotype process uses silver on a copper plate and Cornelius combined his knowledge of metallurgy and chemistry to try to improve the process. This self-portrait of Robert Cornelius is one of the first photographs of a human to be produced. Cornelius operated two of the earliest photographic studios in the U.S. between 1841 and 1843, but realized that he could make more money at the family gas and lighting company and lost interest.
War has all the drama and emotion and artist might be looking for in a painting and so it was natural that the early cameras, bulky, heavy and unpredictable wold try to capture the essence of brute force. Roger Fenton was one of the first men to photograph warfare when he provided the British people with an exclusive insight into the war in Crimea. He was sent by the British government as an official war photographer, their intention being to use the pictures as a jingoistic prove of British superiority. Due to the limitations of early photography there were no 'action pictures'. All the pictures were either landscapes or posed. Fenton avoided taking pictures of the dead or injured. But his photographs gave the public back in England a unique glimpse of what their soldiers were experiencing in southern Russia.
The taboo of photographing the dead was broken only a few years later during the American Civil war when Mathew Brady, Alexander Gardner and Timothy O'Sullivan followed the troops around the country and photographed the aftermath of the battles. Gardner's famous picture ' The home of the rebel sharpshooter' shocked the nation when it was published in a collection in 1866. It began the tradition of war photography, which ever since has strived to powerfully tell the story of war.
Because images are universally understood, they have long been the primary method of conveying ideas, maintaining tradition and asserting power. Religious iconography embedded the core beliefs into the community, images of leaders and kings emphasized their power and greatness. Iconic images form the basis of many of our own memories. Imagery has a direct affect on our emotions and so from Jesus to Che Guevara, imagery has been used to form a common history and culture.
Often, when we look back at some of the greatest inventions, the seem to have appeared from nowhere and filled a gap that nobody even realized existed. Indeed much of national culture is often built upon the idea that a group of individuals drove the nation forward by inventing things that either revolutionized their industry or invented a completely new one. Think of George Stephenson's Rocket or Henry Ford's model T, or perhaps even the home computer. Photography also seems to have been discovered almost by accident, but I think there was a need for it even if it hadn't been openly expressed.
Both words and pictures are open to misinterpretation. Words can be ambiguous and pictures can be taken out of context. However, when used together they are much more likely to be fully understood. As Europe emerged through the Italian renaissance (and remember what remarkable works of visual art that produced), it turned its attention away from religion and culture to science. As that science became more practical and more complicated, it was obvious that a simple and logical way of illustrating experiments and ideas was going to be required.
Of course, scientists could have produced the images themselves - there are plenty of famous example of scientists who were also artists - or have the pictures produced for them. But that would mean they were always produced after the fact. For greater veracity, the images needed to be produced at the same time. They needed to record events as they happened with accuracy. The first attempt at this was the camera obscura. By channelling light through a lens into a darkened room and projecting it onto a flat surface, it was possible then reproduce images with great accuracy. This was the original camera and it was known about by the Greeks and Chinese hundreds of years ago.
Chemistry was behind the development of photography and so it isn't surprising to learn that the earliest pioneers came from a metallurgy or scientific background. In the 1720s it was discovered that that light could have an effect on a mixture of chalk and silver nitrate. A century later frenchman Joseph Nicphore Nipce created the first photograph, "View from the Window at Le Gras". He captured the image with a camera obscura focused onto a sheet of oil-treated bitumen. The exposure time was 8 hours. He was introduced to Louis Daguerre, and they went on to develop the process further. After the death of Nipce, Daguerre won fame as the man who invented the photography.
The first known photographic portrait dates back to 1839 - a self portrait of Robert Cornelius using the daguerreotype process. He was originally a metal polisher, who worked with his father, specializing in silver plating. The daguerreotype process uses silver on a copper plate and Cornelius combined his knowledge of metallurgy and chemistry to try to improve the process. This self-portrait of Robert Cornelius is one of the first photographs of a human to be produced. Cornelius operated two of the earliest photographic studios in the U.S. between 1841 and 1843, but realized that he could make more money at the family gas and lighting company and lost interest.
War has all the drama and emotion and artist might be looking for in a painting and so it was natural that the early cameras, bulky, heavy and unpredictable wold try to capture the essence of brute force. Roger Fenton was one of the first men to photograph warfare when he provided the British people with an exclusive insight into the war in Crimea. He was sent by the British government as an official war photographer, their intention being to use the pictures as a jingoistic prove of British superiority. Due to the limitations of early photography there were no 'action pictures'. All the pictures were either landscapes or posed. Fenton avoided taking pictures of the dead or injured. But his photographs gave the public back in England a unique glimpse of what their soldiers were experiencing in southern Russia.
The taboo of photographing the dead was broken only a few years later during the American Civil war when Mathew Brady, Alexander Gardner and Timothy O'Sullivan followed the troops around the country and photographed the aftermath of the battles. Gardner's famous picture ' The home of the rebel sharpshooter' shocked the nation when it was published in a collection in 1866. It began the tradition of war photography, which ever since has strived to powerfully tell the story of war.
About the Author:
Andy Pinkham has worked in the photographic industry for over two decades. He has a particular interest in digital photography and good cameras. Find out more about the best digital SLR cameras on his photography site, Camerawize and get top tips on how to improve your photography.
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