Rough outline

Cameras I
I. 35mm is developed
II. The brownie- camera
III. The camera lucida
IV. Pinhole camera
V. Alexander Wolcott
VI. William Talbot- “little boxes” created smaller images in smaller time

Firsts II
I. Edward Steichen- 1st fashion photographer
II. Matthew b brady, civil war photographer
III. Robert fenton- one of the first war photographers
IV. Joseph nicephore niepce- first image
V. Alexander Wolcott- first patented camera

People III
I. Louis Jacques mande Daguerre- reduced exposure time
II. William Talbot- “little boxes” created smaller images in smaller time

Extra IV.
I. Calotype process
II. Origin of black and white photos
III. George Eastman- invented Kodak

Thesis

The complex world of photography started in the early 1800's (check) and has evolved over time by looking at the camera, techiniques, and style of photographs.

35mm is Developed

The 35 millimeter camera also known as the “candid” camera was developed by Oskar Barnack. In 1905 Oskar Barnack had the idea of reducing the format of the negatives and then enlarging the photographs after they had been through the exposure. Oskar was the development manager at Leica where he was able to test his theory and put it into practice. The world’s first 35 millimeter camera was produced by Oskar taking an instrument for taking exposure samples for cinema film and turning it into the “Ur Leica”. This was creater by Oskar Barnack in 1912 to 1913. In the 35 millimeter the supply and take-up spools were 25 mm in diameter and the shutter used was a cloth roller blind type. Oskar intended this invention to be used for his own personal use. The invention grabbed the attention of Ernst Leitz Jr. and he tried contacting Oskar in 1914 to try and patent the product. Ernst was unsuccessful because Oskar Barnack stayed true to his word when he said it was strictly for his personal use. With his small prototype of a camera Oskar had begun documenting events in his hometown in 1914. Oskar’s success with the first Leica camera continued on throughout the years where he became more successful from the invention of more cameras. Leica A cameras went on sale in 1925 where photographers were the ones to buy the cameras and make ‘quick use’ of them. In 1932 there were already 90,000 of the Leica cameras being used.

http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bl35.htm
http://www.answers.com/topic/ur-leica
http://us.leica-camera.com/culture/history/leica_products/

The Brownie

The brownie was first invented by Franklin A. Brownell for the company Kodak. The materials that were used to build the camera didn’t cost much and the camera was sold for just about one dollar. Because the cost was low the camera was manufactured in large quantities. Just in the first year there were one hundred and fifty thousand cameras shipped which was three times what was previously sold. With the invention of the Brownie in the late 1800’s it was possible for anyone from kids to the elderly t to take pictures that were known as snapshots. Snapshot is a term which was meant to shoot from the hip without careful aim. The snapshot became popular the same time the Brownie was put into the market. The snapshot is amateur and was used for capturing special occasions like birthdays, holidays, everyday life, etc. The Brownie was mostly aimed for the child’s market and was named after little characters that were created by Palmer Cox who was a children’s author and illustrator. He had Brownie characters that were as popular as Mickey Mouse today. Palmer’s Brownie characters appeared in everything from magazines, candles, coffee, ice cream, painkillers, etc. Putting the characters on items helped sell them faster and more efficiently. The Brownie characters were also marketed as dolls, games, puzzles, and trading cards. Because there was so much success in the character items, naming the camera after the Brownie characters helped boost the success of the camera.
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/corp/features/brownieCam/

George Eastman Part 2

At first George Eastman’s idea was to use a lighter and more flexible support than glass, and he coated the photographic emulsion on paper and then loaded the paper in a roll holder. The view holder was used in view cameras in place of the holders for glass plates. His work was successful with some minor changes like changing the paper, which wasn’t working out due to reproducing grain from the paper onto the image. He then came up with the idea to coat the paper with a gelatin followed by a layer of insoluble light-sensitive gelatin. After the exposure and development the gel bearing the image was then stripped from the paper, transferred to a new sheet of clear gel, and then varnished with collodion (which was a cellulose solution that forms a tough yet flexible film). The transparent roll film and roll holder were finally perfected. Eastman’s goal in all this was to make the camera more convenient for the average Joe so that photography would become more popular. He realized to spread the word he would need to take a big step in advertising. His first major slogan that he bought was, “’you press the button, we do the rest.’” The same year that he trademarked this slogan was also the year that he introduced the first Kodak camera in 1888. The word started to get out about Kodak and was advertised greatly in London which was a really big step for the company. It was said that the name ‘Kodak’ was just invented out of thin air from George Eastman’s thoughts, but today it is known around the world.
http://www.kodak.com/global/en/corp/historyOfKodak/eastmanTheMan.jhtml

George Eastman Part 1

George Eastman was in a struggling family, with no father, that needed support in terms of money. In order for him to do that he had to become a high school dropout in order to start working at the age of fourteen. George bought his first camera, at the age of twenty four, when a coworker of his suggested that he document his vacation to Santo Domingo. The camera included and outfit in order to carry around all of the supplies and parts needed for the camera and to later develop the photographs. He didn’t end up making his vacation but did discover his love for photography. Through this he realized what a complicated process it was to develop a picture and was then determined to make the process simpler. He started off by making gelatin emulsions which he read about in British magazines. His mother had said that George would stay up so late working on this process that he couldn’t even make it to bed some night and would fall asleep on the kitchen floor next to his working area. After three years of hard work, long nights, and endless experiments Eastman finally had figured out a formula that worked. By 1880 he had invented a dry plate formula and a machine that could prepare a large number of the plates and then had the idea that others would want to use his methods and thought to make some for sale. In the same year George started his own small business selling the plates that eventually grew into a much larger company
http://www.kodak.com/global/en/corp/historyOfKodak/eastmanTheMan.jhtml

Matthew B. Brady, Civil War Photographer

When Matthew B. Brady was young he moved to New York and studied photography in the free time that he had. Apparently Brady had found his calling in the field of photography because in 1844 he had opened his own studio of photography right in New York. He photographed a lot of famous people, done in portraits and said, “’.. I regarded myself as under obligation to my country to preserve the facts of its historic men and mothers.’” Matthew Brady was one of the first ever photographers to use his photography to document national history chronologically. Just as his portrait photography was at it’s highest he tried a different approach and turned his attention to Civil War photography. Brady planned to gather a group of photographers that would follow the troops in the battle field in order to document the war on a larger scale. Due to this method ‘his’ pictures, weren’t actually his, just his idea with him behind them. Though he did not take the pictures he was the working behind it all. He was the one that worked behind the scenes to preserve the negatives that the group of photographers had taken as well as to manage the films, cameras, etc. When the work was printed there was the issue of how to print as the actually photographers names or Brady’s name. In the end the result was that the photographs were “credited ‘Photographed by Brady’” even though the work was not taken by him. In 1862 he displayed the pictures in his gallery which allowed America to finally see how gruesome the war actually was, and not glorified at all. Although America was intrigued by the reality of war they weren’t interested in purchasing his work which led to Brady going bankrupt. Matthew risked his life and changed his entire lifestyle to show the world what they were unable to see in the war and to him that was all worth it.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/cwphtml/cwbrady.html