Camera Obscura

A camera obscura an optical device which is the ancestor of modern cameras. From the 17th century onwards some artists used it as an aid to plotting compositions. Essentially the camera obscura consisted of a lens attached to an aperture on the side of a darkened tent or box. This invention is still relevant today but the first ever model attempt to create a camera obscura came to life when Alhazen first used one all the way back in the 11th century who was a scientist, mathematician, astronomer and philosopher. In addition, he wrote books and also invented the pinhole camera. This invention revolutionised the Renaissance period as art was could be recorded in another method than paintings, it was also popular as it was more efficient than painting and less time consuming.

Nicephore Niepce

Nicephore Niepce was a french inventor who is known more commonly as the inventor of photography and the pioneer of the field as he created the first photographic image in 1826, taken with a camera obscura, he did this by placing the plate into a camera obscura and positioned it near a window in his second-story workroom.

He “developed” this picture by washing away the unhardened bitumen with lavender water, revealing an image of the rooftops and trees visible from his studio window. And thus the first known photograph was born. Niepce himself called it heliography. advanced his work in 1826 and 1827 when he used a primitive camera to produce the oldest surviving photograph of a real-world scene. In addition, Niepce pioneered the future of photography as the term “heliography” became more well-known, his experimentation of using light sensitive materials made for images to be created on plate or stone.

Louis Daguerre and Daguerretypes

Louis Daguerre was was a French artist and photographer, recognised for his invention of the daguerreotype process of photography. He became known as one of the fathers of photography as this process creating a highly detailed image on a sheet of copper plated with a thin coat of silver without the use of a negative. The process required great care. After exposure to light, the plate was developed over hot mercury until an image appeared.

As Daguerre was professional scene painter for the opera with an interest in lighting effects, Daguerre began experimenting with the effects of light upon translucent paintings in the 1820s and came to create his first photo in 1838, it was even more impressive as it was of a person in Paris. Furthermore, in contrast with Niepce’s work, this process only requires 20-30 minutes of exposure whilst the first image ever created took around 8 hours.

Henry Fox Talbot

Henry Fox Talbot was an English scientist, inventor and photography pioneer who invented the salted paper and calotype processes in 1834, precursors to photographic processes of the later 19th and 20th centuries, he is best known for his development of the calotype, an early photographic process that was an improvement over the daguerreotype of the French inventor Louis Daguerre. In 1842 Talbot received a medal from the British Royal Society for his experiments with the calotype.

A calotype is a process that uses a paper negative to make a print with a softer, less sharp image than the daguerreotype, but because a negative is produced, it is possible to make multiple copies. The image is contained in the fabric of the paper rather than on the surface, so the paper fibres tend to show through on the prints. Talbot also created the oldest negative in existence as he created an image of a latticed window in Lacock Abbey in August 1835.

Richard Maddox

Richard Leach Maddox was an English photographer and physician who invented lightweight gelatin negative plates for photography in 1871. This enabled photographers to use commercial dry plates off the shelf instead of having to prepare their own emulsions in a mobile darkroom. This method involved a glass plate coated with a gelatin emulsion of silver bromide. It can be stored until exposure, and after exposure it can be brought back to a darkroom for development at leisure.

Maddox was influential as, for the first time cameras could be made small enough to be hand-held. This increased photography’s appeal as it was now more convenient, and therefore common. Dry plates were also practical as being pre-coated with a light-sensitive gelatin could be easily transported to external locations and the photos developed at a later time, back in the darkroom, greatly helping photographers to expand their business in outside locations.

Dorothea Lange ‘approached a hungry and desperate mother as if she was drawn by a magnet’ when she was driving north through San Louis Obispo county six years after the Dust Bowl she encountered the woman in a migrant workers campsite which was still effected by this tragedy.

The children looking away represent the strength that a mother needs to shelter her children from the outside world, however Florence ‘the migrant mothers’ facial expressions show how Dust Bowl migrants would look at the damage it caused their surroundings.

This image sets an emotive feeling of sadness as it is in a black and white colour scheme and the photo was taken to portray the hunger, poverty and helplessness the average American endured during the the dust bowl in 1930.

This image was taken with a high shutter speed as it shows the motion of her face as it expresses her emotions toward her surroundings and a lower ISO as the reflection on her face shows that the weather was probably sunny allowing for the highlights to stand out.

the hamptonne is the oldest farm in jersey it was purchased in 1633.

it is a square site with houses and courtyards.

the farm still makes cider they have there own orchid which you can freely walk aroun the trees in the orchid were chossen for there bitter and sweet tastees to combine together to make a flavour full cider.

Robert Frank

Robert Frank was a Swiss photographer and documentary filmmaker, who became an American binational. His most notable work, the 1958 book titled The Americans, earned Frank comparisons to a modern-day de Tocqueville for his fresh and nuanced outsider’s view of American society. Robert was born on November 9th 1924 and died on September 9th, 2019 at the age of 94.

Here are some examples of Robert Franks work:

The history of Hamptonne traces back to the 15th century. With its numerous granite buildings, it provides a story of Jersey rural life throughout the years. It has houses and a farm, most of which have been restored and refurnished over time but are still reminiscent of what Jersey life used to be like across the centuries.

On our trip to Hamptonne, we explored the different houses, which are named after the families who have lived at Hamptonne.

The architecture of the Langlois house is similar to that in medieval Brittany. The rooms below were used for the livestock, whilst the rooms above were for the family.

The Hamptonne house was extended and transformed a number of times. A second storey was added in the 16th century, and another two-storey extension was built at the end of the 17th century.

The Syvret house was built on the site during the 1830’s. It is the most recent house on the site. The rooms are extremely high, and are typical of the large houses built in St. Helier at the time.

We got to photograph a woman in the house which gave us a chance to experiment with different lighting and angles as we moved around the room.

We also explored the cider apple orchard and the farm, which is home to many animals and also gives an insight on life in the 19th-20th century as Hamptonne has ran a farm for centuries.

Farm outbuildings became more important during the 19th century, as they were converted into amenities for the farmers and their families.

The northern yard was created in the late 19th century. It contained stables, a carriage house, a bakehouse, a washhouse, farm-labourers’ accommodation and an open shed.

HISTORY

In 1842 and British scientist, Sir John Herschel discovered the cyanotype process, the process is still used today in the same way which produces a white image on top a dark blue background.

Cyanotype is a photographic printing process which engineers used well into the 20th century as a low cost process to produce copies of drawings. This process used two chemicals: ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide.

ANNA ATKINS

Anna Atkins was born in Tonbridge, United Kingdom on March 16, 1799 and later died on June 9, 1871. Atkins was a botanical artist, collector and photographer and was the first person to illustrate with photographic images. Anna’s use of new photographic technologies merged art and science, it also exemplified the exceptional potential of photography in books.

When Atkins would create her cyanotypes she used light exposure and a simple chemical mixture to create very detailed blueprints of botanical specimens. She published her images in 1843, in her book Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions, this was the first book to be printed and illustrated by photography.

My Cyanotype

While at Hampton we got to create our own cyanotype, above I put an image of my final piece which I created whilst I was at Hampton, as it was a perfect day to create cyanotypes as it was it was a lovely summer day with warm temperatures. My favourite part of my piece is the feather in the bottom left side that is fading into the background, I like the faded effect of the object going into the background as it was completely unintentional but adds to the aesthetic of the piece. Furthermore, I like the mixture of shapes of the objects at the top of the piece as some objects such as the leaf came out legible and others such as the flower petals to the left turned out muddy and unclear.

Cyanotypes as a science

Cyanotypes were one of the earliest ways in which photographic processes were created. It was invented in 1842 by Sir John Herschel.

How are the images created?

Scientifically, it involves a paper which relies on the processing of two iron compounds where items can be placed on top of, which is then exposed to UV light for around 3-7 minutes. This then creates a monochromatic blue image which has to be left in water to stop it from processing any further once it has developed as well as you would like it to.

Cyanotypes as an art form

Cyanotypes were introduced to scientists who used it to create diagrams of plants, peoples bodies, etc. This then led to engineers/ architects who used it as a cost-effective and simple way to produce copies/drawings, which were used as we know them as “blueprints” therefore, in this case for various things such as buildings or machines.

Here is an example of which the prints would have looked like for scientists or engineers.

Photographers who have experienced with Cyanotypes

Anna Atkins–

Anna Atkins was an English botanical artist, collector and photographer during the 19th Century. Her cyanotypes consisted of botanical plants, which were highly detailed, this led to later help of illustrating the first book which included these images she created.

Christian Marclay –

Christian Marclay is a contemporary artist who explores visual arts, film and music culture. He created an exhibition of cyanotype photograms between September 8th to October 29th in 2011.

He created these through old cassette tapes which he disassembled. Here are some examples of him creating them and the final cyanotype:

My Cyanotype

Here is my attempt at a cyanotype which I created during our visit to Hamptonne.

To create it I gathered twigs, leaves, flowers, feathers, etc and put them on to the blue paper and left it in the sun for it to process. I then left them in water for 2-3 minutes which stops the sun from processing them anymore then let it dry in the sun.

Hamptonne Country Life Museum gives the visitor a unique insight into the rural life carried on in Jersey for centuries. Dating back to the 15th Century the house and farm are perfect for discovering the rural history of Jersey.  Explore the different houses which make up Hamptonne, find out more about Jersey’s history of cider making in the cider barn and wander through the cider apple orchard and meet the Hamptonne calves, lambs, chickens and piglets in the traditional farmstead.

The Hamptonne farm complex takes its name from Laurens Hamptonne, who purchased it in 1633. The property is also known as ‘La Patente’, as is the name of one of the roads that passes it, after the Grants by Letters Patent received by its owner Richard Langlois in 1445, and by King Charles II to Laurens Hamptonne in 1649.

Overall the site is square in shape. It includes ranges of buildings built in different periods, arranged around two courtyards. While the farm has medieval origins, consecutive owners have made marked improvements to the living accommodation. The main buildings are therefore named after the Langlois, Hamptonne and Syvret families, who lived here between 15th and 19th centuries.

Discover Syvret House, a decorated and furnished farmhouse gives a unique window into 1940s rural life, including; agricultural traditions, day-to-day family life, language, religion and the experience of the German Occupation.

Photography is a way of taking an image with a camera. The five main features of a standard camera are;

ISO. ISO is your camera sensor’s sensitivity to light.

Shutter Speed. This is the amount of time that your camera’s shutter is open (or “on,” depending on your camera model), exposing light on each frame.

Aperture – the opening in a lens through which light passes to enter the camera..

White Balance – the colour balance on a digital camera.

Frame Rate – the frequency at which images are captured.

Photography is more than just taking a photo. Photography is considered an art form because of how it can capture emotions. it can convey emotions not just through photos of people but through photos of animals, still life, nature, etc.

When taking a photograph you need to consider 3 things – angle lighting and object. using these three techniques defines the difference between a regular photo and photography. Using different angles when taking a photo will explore new perspectives and provide you with more views to tell the story. Lighting is a key factor in creating a successful image. Lighting determines not only brightness and darkness, but also tone, mood, and atmosphere. Simply put, the object is what the photograph is “of” while the subject is what the photograph is “about”.

Photography helps define how we see things especially on the news or online as it plays a big part in media – for example paparazzi’s jobs revolve around photography and getting the perfect shot. Photography plays a crucial role in how we immediately view something. Whether its an ad or promotion, a small blog post, or in today’s top headlines of well known media outlets. The urgency for quality imagery is one step closer in helping create a world with no labels.

History

First introduced by John Herschel, creating cyanotypes is a photographic printing process that produces a cyan-blue print. Engineers used the process well into the 20th century as a simple and low-cost process to produce copies of drawings, referred to as blueprints. The process uses two chemicals: ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide. Originally Herschel, an astronomer, created cyanotypes as a way of ‘copying his notes’.

Whilst we were at Hampton we had the opportunity to experiment with cyanotypes as it was a perfectly sunny day to collect natural objects such as feathers, leaves and sticks and for the paper to dry quickly. This was a fun new experiment to carry out as i had not learnt about cyanotypes before and it was interesting top see how the reaction on the paper only took one minute to occur. The reaction works when iron compounds react with UV light and washed in water to oxidise to create Prussian blue images.

Anna Atkins

English botanical artist, collector and photographer Anna Atkins was the first person to illustrate a book with photographic images. Her nineteenth-century cyanotypes used light exposure and a simple chemical process to create impressively detailed blueprints of botanical specimens. Anna’s innovative use of new photographic technologies merged art and science, and exemplified the exceptional potential of photography in books.

I like how Atkins’ work includes lots of contrast between the blue and the white, this shows that she is very experiences using this material. In addition, her compositions throughout her pieces of work make the very aesthetic. This image below on the right is my favourite as the different areas of the plant are each very legible and look very natural.

Experimentation

Below I have included an image of the cyanotype I created at Hampton. My composition wasn’t very thought out but I do like how the final piece turned out as the legibility of the induvial strokes of the feather contrast with the washed out background. Furthermore, some parts of this piece didn’t turn out as great as others, as the flower petal near the top left corner doesn’t have a clear outline and its unclear that its part of nature. However, i do like the randomness of this piece is what makes it unique in my opinion, the main part of the piece which is the large leaf makes up the majority of the white.