Photography History

The study of photography history is a fascinating subject in itself but it is also a great opportunity to learn from the great masters. More articles will be added to this section quite soon.

Above: Man dressed in a worn coat lying down on the pier, New York City Docks, 1935: Photo by Lewis Hine

1. A Brief History of Photography

Photography took a major leap forward when practical colour plates became available in 1907. The first was called Autochrome, and used a screen that filtered the light using dyed potato starch. Once the plate was developed, colours could be restored. However, commercially viable colour photography wasn't available until the appearance of Kodachrome in the 1930s...

2. A Brief History of Photography Part 2

The daguerreotype, the patent of which was purchased and declared public domain by the French government, was extremely popular. The newly growing middle class demanded easy portraiture, and photography filled this need. Oil paintings were neither fast nor cheap enough. Unfortunately, daguerreotypes were...

3. Digital Photography Timeline

The first digital image was produced in 1957 on a computer by Russell Kirsch. It was a scanned image of Kirsch's son. But the first digital consumer camera that did not require film was not produced until 1981, when Sony brought out the Mavica electronic still camera. The camera recorded up to 50 images on a two-inch floppy disk...

4. History of Aerial Photography

The history of aerial photography began long before the Wright brothers developed the right stuff for the Kitty Hawk in 1909, in a rather modest if eccentric way, with a Frenchman called Arthur Batut...

5. Photos of the Great Depression

Some of the photographs of the Great Depression were taken by famous photographers who worked for the government during that era, including such well-known names as Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans and Lewis Hine.

6. Photos of Native Americans

Of all the photographs of native Americans, the work of Edward Curtis (1868-1952) stands head and shoulders above the rest. His work forms one of the most amazing series of photographs of all time.

Still to come: the history of:

7. ...crime scene photography
8. ...color photography
9. ...fashion photography
10. ...portrait photography
11. ...documentary photography

...and a whole lot more

Click the link to go to the first article on photography history.