Camera: A History of Photography from Daguerreotype to Digital [Hardcover]

Todd Gustavson (Author), George Eastman House (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 6, 2009

Cameras, and what they capture, forever changed our perception of the world, and of ourselves. Few inventions have had the impact of this ingenious, elegant, and deceptively simple device.

This gorgeous cornerstone volume, created in collaboration with the world-famous George Eastman House, celebrates the camera and the art of the photograph. It spans almost two hundred years of progress, from the first faint image ever caught to the instantaneous pictures snapped by today’s state-of-the-art digital equipment.

The informative narrative by Todd Gustavson traces the camera’s development, the lives of its brilliant but often eccentric inventors, and the artists behind the lens. Images and highly descriptive captions for more than 350 cameras from the George Eastman House Collection, plus more than 100 historic photos, ads, and drawings, complement the text.

A foreword by the George Eastman House Director Anthony Bannon, and insightful essays by Steve Sasson, inventor of the digital camera, and Alexis Gerard, visionary founder and president of Future Image Inc., completes this illuminating study of one of the greatest modern technological achievements.

 

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Gustavson's book is a history not of iconic images, but rather of the machines that made them possible. Examples, from the Eastman House in Rochester, N.Y., where he is curator of technology, show how innovative ideas became products and how those products made possible the progressive transformation of photography from amateur pastime into a business and a central component in the world of modern art. Major developments are discussed from the earliest wet plate cameras to the camera NASA used on the moon. Detailed captions provide both the technical information to satisfy enthusiasts and glimpses into the personalities of those who created the cameras. Over 350 color illus. (Oct.)
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About the Author

Todd Gustavson is Curator of Technology at the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York. He is responsible for the cataloging, storage, and maintenance of one of the world’s largest collections of photographic and cinematic equipment, containing more than 20,000 artifacts. He has curated or co-curated ten exhibitions for the museum, including the critically acclaimed traveling exhibition The Brownie at 100.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Sterling Innovation; 1 edition (October 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402756569
• ISBN-13: 978-1402756566
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 10.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #146,029 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #50 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Criticism & Essays
  • #77 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > History

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I couldn't put it down., September 25, 2009

By 

Matthew R. Isenburg "The Daguerreian Society" (Hadlyme CT) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Camera: A History of Photography from Daguerreotype to Digital (Hardcover)

Camera: A History of Photography from Daguerreotype to Digital is a feast for the eyes as well as the intellect. It is a tour de force of the cameras at the George Eastman House with some great images thrown in. The photographs of the cameras, equipment and images are beautifully lit and the perspective on each item is superb, and every photo is in perfect focus. For three hundred and sixty exciting pages, the reader takes a special guided tour of the storerooms of the Eastman House with excellent descriptions by author Todd Gustavsen. I loved the book and it refreshed my memory as to what wonderful treasures are at The George Eastman House. The Forward by Director Anthony Bannon was a fresh approach to how photographs effect us and was well balanced against The Introduction by the author. The use of ephemera to liven up many of the pages was in excellent taste and a delight to the eye. This book was a long time in coming, but with every photograph in color as a bonus, it was well worth the wait. The provenance on a few of the cameras owned by important photographers seemed a little thin, but there was so much good in this book that I feel uneasy questioning even the slightest aspect of the text. For those who really love the early period, each page is a feast for the eyes. The first 139 pages concerned themselves with nineteenth century equipment of which so little has been written that this volume is a must for any collector of the early period and the book, written in a roughly chronological fashion covers all aspects of equipment right up to the present day. In summary, I could not put it down till I had read it from cover to cover.
Matthew R. Isenburg

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing book about the histroy of photography, October 24, 2009

By 

Carbonadam "Ladies and gentleman, I hope that... (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Camera: A History of Photography from Daguerreotype to Digital (Hardcover)

I saw this book, flipped through a few pages, check the price, and walked up the the counter and bought it. The book is simply amazing. It's filled with hundreds of great shots of every camera you can possibly imagine dating right back to the beginning. There is even a shot of the first photograph ever taken. The short history of photography has been a rapid one, quickly jumping form camera to camera, varying film formats and finally now digital. We live in a great time and are all witnesses to history as film has shifted to digital. This book even chronicles that. My one complaint is there could be more on digital. Still the book is filed soup to nuts with everything one could want to see or know. Spy cameras, Polaroid, early Leica and more. A must have for any photo nut like me.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A milestone publication on the history of the camera, October 4, 2009

By 

Graham Wootton (Hobart, Australia) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Camera: A History of Photography from Daguerreotype to Digital (Hardcover)

When "The History of Photography as seen through the Spira Collection" was published in 2001 it was described by that doyen of the photographic press Herbert Keppler as "the most exquisite camera-collecting history ever printed". This description was completely justified and I thought that the quality and scope of that book would never again be approached, let alone equalled, particularly given the almost total dominance of digital in the photographic press today.

I was wrong. This new volume by Todd Gustavson and George Eastman House is superb and fully matches the Spira title. Experts who want to nit pick may argue that one or other of the books handles a particular subject better than the other. However, Gustavson's new book is simply a must have for anyone interested in camera development and collecting and at the selling price is an absolute bargain. This is a large, heavy book of 360 pages printed on fine art paper, beautifully set out and illustrated with very high quality photography. Don't think twice before getting one.