What is the Camera Obscura?

The camera obscura, or pinhole photography, is a term derived from Latin, which means “dark chamber.” It is essentially a box with a small hole on one side, through which light enters, and projects an inverted image of the outside world on the opposite wall of the box.

The discovery of the camera obscura dates back to ancient Greece, where the philosopher Aristotle observed this through a small hole in a tent – however, it was not until the 16th century that the camera obscura was actually used for scientific purposes. For example, Leonardo da Vinci used it as a tool for observing and drawing the world around him, as described in his notebooks.

In the earlier 19th century, the camera obscura was adapted to capture photographic images by using light-sensitive materials to capture the projected image, such as Henry Fox Talbot’s use of paper soaked in a silver nitrate and salt solution to create early, easy-to-replicate prints of his images.

What is Heliography?

Heliography is the process of using natural sunlight to create a photographic image without the use of a camera. It was one of the earliest methods of photography and was invented by French scientist Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in the early 1820s.

To create a heliograph, Niépce would coat a polished metal plate with a light-sensitive material called bitumen of Judea. He would then place an object or a scene in front of the plate and expose it to the sun’s rays for several hours, hardening in the areas exposed to light, while the areas obscured by the object or scene would remain soft and removable with a solvent that washed off the unhardened bitumen, leaving a permanent, positive image on the metal plate.

Although heliography was an essential step in the development of photography, it had several limitations, which is why it was later replaced by more practical photographic processes, such as the daguerreotype and calotype.

What is the Daguerreotype?

The daguerreotype was a photographic process invented by French artist Louis Daguerre in the 1830s. It was the first commercially successful photographic process, revolutionising how people captured and preserved images.

To create a daguerreotype, a polished copper plate was coated with a thin layer of silver, which was then exposed to iodine vapours to make it light-sensitive. The plate was then placed in a camera and exposed to the subject for several seconds. The exposed plate was then developed in a mercury vapour, which caused the silver to amalgamate and form a unique, one-of-a-kind photograph that was highly detailed and had a sharp, mirror-like surface.

However, despite its initial popularity, the daguerreotype had several limitations that eventually led to its decline as a medium of photography. Firstly, the process was time-consuming and expensive. It required a skilled operator and specialized equipment, making it impractical for most people to use. Secondly, daguerreotypes produced a single image that could not be easily duplicated, which limited their commercial appeal. Finally, the chemicals used in the process were toxic, and the resulting images would end up very fragile.

As a result, other photographic processes, such as the wet plate collodion process, were developed in the 1850s, which were faster, more versatile, and produced multiple images, which led to the overall commercial failure of the daguerreotype, although it is still considered to be a key milestone in the development of modern-day photography.

What is the Calotype?

The Calotype is another early photographic process, invented by Henry Fox Talbot in the 1830s. It involved the use of paper negatives coated in silver iodide to create multiple positive prints. When the paper was exposed to light, it was then developed with a solution of gallic acid and silver nitrate, which could be used to produce multiple positive prints by placing the negatives over sheets of light-sensitive paper and exposing them to light.

The ability to make multiple prints was definitely an advantage of the calotype process, which made it a more practical method for creating photographic images, quickly making it very popular among photographers.

The invention of the calotype was a significant step in the development of photography, laying the foundation for the modern photographic industry.

Self-Portraiture

Robert Cornelius, best known for taking what is believed to be the first self-portrait ever produced in 1839, was an American pioneer of photography who used the photographic process of the daguerreotype for his images.

Cornelius discovered self-portraiture when experimenting with his camera in his family’s store in Philadelphia. He took a photograph of himself and after development, it shows Cornelius looking into the camera lens with a somewhat serious expression. It became a significant piece in the development of photography not just because it was the first self-portrait, but because it demonstrated the potential of the medium as a means for self-expression and self-exploration.

What is Pictorialism?

Pictorialism was a movement in photography that emerged in the late 19th Century and aimed to classify photography as a class of fine art. Photographers of this movement sought to create atmospheric, expressive, and visually appealing photographs, employing various techniques such as retouching, combination printing, and manipulation of their negatives to better achieve these effects.

One of the key figures in the Pictorialist movement was Julia Margaret Cameron, a British photographer who quickly became recognised for her poetic and deeply personal approach to portraiture. Her portraits were characterised by their soft focus, dramatic lighting, and emotional intensity, often using family members and friends as her subjects.

Cameron’s photos were often heavily praised for their sensitivity and beauty but were also criticised for their lack of attention to detail. Despite this, she continued to create these types of images over her career, which spanned just around a decade.

Carte-de-Visit

The Carte-de-Visite was a type of small photograph that was heavily popularised in the mid-19th Century. Invented by French photographer André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri in 1854, it was created for the purpose of making photography more accessible to the general public. He did this by printing multiple images on a singular plate and then cutting them apart into their own individual photographs, which allowed him to produce photographs quicker, and at a lower cost than before. The resulting images were small enough to fit in a wallet or pocket (around 2.5 x 4 inches) and were often used to commemorate important events such as weddings at the height of their popularity.

They were primarily popularised by American photographer Henry Mullins, one of the first photographers to commercially adopt the format, producing Carte-de-Visites of important politicians, famous actors and various other public figures, which he then sold from his studio via mail order. He marketed this nationwide with agents, newspaper and magazine advertisements, and travelling salesmen, even producing a special display album for storage of Carte-de-Visites.

Mullins’ commercial success with the Carte-de-Visite helped turn photography into a widely-used medium, with millions of people collecting and exchanging them. As new photographic processes such as the cabinet card and larger photographic print became more popularised, however, the popularity of the Carte-de-Visite started to decline throughout the 1880s, becoming essentially elite in the years that passed. Despite this, it still remains an integral part of photographic history, both as a format and cultural phenomenon.