The Beginnings: Ancient-1800
Camera Obscura: noun; early 18th century: from Latin, ‘dark chamber.’
a darkened box with a convex lens or aperture for projecting the image of an external object onto a screen inside.
These kinds of cameras were first used in ancient times when Aristotle saw how light passing through a hole created an image on the opposite wall during a solar eclipse. Experts often argue that it may have been used much before that. People in the stone age may have used a concept similar to the camera obscura to help they draw and paint cave art. In about the 10th century, an Arabian scholar named Al Hassan used the camera to show that light traveled in straight lines.
Camera obscuras were large, box-shaped objects that worked by allowing light rays to pass through a small hole and reflect themselves upside-down on a screen that is parallel to the hole. The image created was often dim and not in focus. In 1515, Leonardo Da Vinci described the camera obscura in one of his many notebooks. Camera obscuras were not refined until the 1600's when people put a telescope lens in the pinhole and incorporated mirrors in the structure to display the image outside the camera. This greatly improved the brightness and clarity of the image that was displayed. Camera obscuras also became portable during the mid- seventeenth cetury, so people could take pictures almost anywhere. As the years went on, these cameras became smaller and smaller, and many people used this idea to make pinhole cameras.
In 1666, Isaac Newton discovered that white light was composed of seven different colors. He also realized that you could see all of these colors by refracting light through a prism. This discovery would impact color photography in the future.
Giovanni Antonio Canal, or better known as Canaletto, was born on October 18, 1697, in Venice, Italy. His father painted the backdrops for the theater located by their house and Canaletto would help him. Canaletto became very good and would make his money by receiving commissions from foreign markets, but he painted topographical paintings on the side. He was a huge supporter of the camera obscura and he used it to help him paint his landscape and topographical paintings around 1750.
Thomas Wedgewood is the next important person on the long timeline of photography. Born in 1771 in England, he was raised surrounded by scientists and astronomers due to his father's profession (a Staffordshire potter) and the man's membership in the Lunar Society. While he was growing up, he experienced "an advanced scientific and cultural education" (Barnes). He loved watching his father experiment with different chemicals to create different colored glazes. He began to experiment with chemicals to try to find a way to create a permanent photographic image on a piece of leather. His precursor, Johann Heinrich Schulze, discovered in 1727 that silver nitrate plates would darken when they were exposed to light. Wedgewood tried to create 'sun images' by placing objects on top of strips of leather that had been treated with silver nitrate. The images, however, faded after a short amount of time. Although he was unsuccessful, in 1790, he was able to produce several photograms using the same silver nitrate plate principal that Schulze used. He did help pave the way for photographers and scientists in the nineteenth century.
The last big advancement in photography before the nineteenth century was the opening of the first panorama theater. These theaters provided the viewer with the illusion of continuous space, most often in a 360 degree painting format. Barker used a camera obscura to help him create the theater. Panorama theaters didn't become popular until the 1820's and 30's, but he completed the painting and building in 1794. These theaters were the forerunners to the modern movie theater created by Robert Barker.
Lots of important advancements happened during this time, however, even more were to come with the turn of the century.
a darkened box with a convex lens or aperture for projecting the image of an external object onto a screen inside.
These kinds of cameras were first used in ancient times when Aristotle saw how light passing through a hole created an image on the opposite wall during a solar eclipse. Experts often argue that it may have been used much before that. People in the stone age may have used a concept similar to the camera obscura to help they draw and paint cave art. In about the 10th century, an Arabian scholar named Al Hassan used the camera to show that light traveled in straight lines.
Camera obscuras were large, box-shaped objects that worked by allowing light rays to pass through a small hole and reflect themselves upside-down on a screen that is parallel to the hole. The image created was often dim and not in focus. In 1515, Leonardo Da Vinci described the camera obscura in one of his many notebooks. Camera obscuras were not refined until the 1600's when people put a telescope lens in the pinhole and incorporated mirrors in the structure to display the image outside the camera. This greatly improved the brightness and clarity of the image that was displayed. Camera obscuras also became portable during the mid- seventeenth cetury, so people could take pictures almost anywhere. As the years went on, these cameras became smaller and smaller, and many people used this idea to make pinhole cameras.
In 1666, Isaac Newton discovered that white light was composed of seven different colors. He also realized that you could see all of these colors by refracting light through a prism. This discovery would impact color photography in the future.
Giovanni Antonio Canal, or better known as Canaletto, was born on October 18, 1697, in Venice, Italy. His father painted the backdrops for the theater located by their house and Canaletto would help him. Canaletto became very good and would make his money by receiving commissions from foreign markets, but he painted topographical paintings on the side. He was a huge supporter of the camera obscura and he used it to help him paint his landscape and topographical paintings around 1750.
Thomas Wedgewood is the next important person on the long timeline of photography. Born in 1771 in England, he was raised surrounded by scientists and astronomers due to his father's profession (a Staffordshire potter) and the man's membership in the Lunar Society. While he was growing up, he experienced "an advanced scientific and cultural education" (Barnes). He loved watching his father experiment with different chemicals to create different colored glazes. He began to experiment with chemicals to try to find a way to create a permanent photographic image on a piece of leather. His precursor, Johann Heinrich Schulze, discovered in 1727 that silver nitrate plates would darken when they were exposed to light. Wedgewood tried to create 'sun images' by placing objects on top of strips of leather that had been treated with silver nitrate. The images, however, faded after a short amount of time. Although he was unsuccessful, in 1790, he was able to produce several photograms using the same silver nitrate plate principal that Schulze used. He did help pave the way for photographers and scientists in the nineteenth century.
The last big advancement in photography before the nineteenth century was the opening of the first panorama theater. These theaters provided the viewer with the illusion of continuous space, most often in a 360 degree painting format. Barker used a camera obscura to help him create the theater. Panorama theaters didn't become popular until the 1820's and 30's, but he completed the painting and building in 1794. These theaters were the forerunners to the modern movie theater created by Robert Barker.
Lots of important advancements happened during this time, however, even more were to come with the turn of the century.