Many years ago, when I first started an interest in photography and especially in the techniques of processing film - in my teens and early twenties - I had read a few books with references to the history of photography which piqued an interest and borrowed from a library a history of photography so complete (for its time) that it was a coffee table-sized book that just about fitted into my briefcase.
This is a far more concise volume and will quite easily fit into a pocket and it concerns itself only with the first 50 years during which time photography took several different exploratory routes in order to find one that worked reliably and consistently and was easy to use. Some of the earlier ideas were complex, hazardous to the photographer or inconsistent and were suited only to controlled use by those properly trained. Hence only few participated until consistency and repeatability could be assured.
Its story ends at the time when commercial interests assumed responsibility for the making of the plates and the film that followed, namely Eastman's Kodak company, removing the chore from the user and making it more available to the masses at prices many could afford. Initially, it also placed the responsibility for processing and printing with Kodak, hence the motto of the time, 'You press the button; we do the rest'.
Originally written in French, it is to that nation that so much is owed for several of the early innovations of which one, the Daguerrotype, was responsible for the commercialisation of photography as its use was not restricted by patent or license. Studios were opened in several European countries and in the USA, where the process had a longer period of success than it did elsewhere. It provided the opportunity to those who could afford the price to sit for a photographic portrait. It wasn't a comfortable procedure and would need several minutes' exposure during which they could not move. Devices such as head clamps, special posing chairs or head and arm rests on a metal pole were often deployed, or use made of a false Roman column or other props simply to ease the discomfort and limit movement. It brought family portraits from the wealthy to the middle and working classes. Many examples still survive more than 150 years later in family collections and museums.
The book highlights these efforts, the personalities involved, and also the attitudes towards photography. Was it an art or a science? That was a question long asked. At that stage it was mostly science but it did progress to become art in many hands.
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Londoner
The title says it all
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 2, 2012Verified Purchase
Amazon Customer
Good item, recommended.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 17, 2018Verified Purchase
