As a woman, I naturally celebrate a little when I look back in the history of photography and see other women who have made significant contributions to my craft. In a field that perceptually (even to this day) seems to be dominated by males, it’s nice to remember that women
National Photography month was, officially recognized by Congress in 1987. Let’s take this month to celebrate photography as an art form, the history of photography, and learn what and how we can improve our own work. Here are five ways you can celebrate National Photography Month. Schedule a regular time
Steve Glynn makes portraits using the tintype process (learn more about tintypes in this article) and a large format camera. This combination is striking — it yields a very shallow depth of field and a unique and irreplicable photograph. The picture is recorded directly onto a metal sheet, and I’m struck
The Stieglitz Group was an essential number of photographers who pioneered then promoted the pictorial style of photography. (Check out my article on pictorialism here!) Through the efforts of these photographers, photography was ultimately elevated and appreciated culturally to an art form. Through their new techniques and relentless quest to
Camera Work In 1902 Stieglitz, along with Joseph T. Kelley launched Camera Work, a quarterly publication that supported the ideals of the Photo-Secession movement with the purpose of to “loosely hold together those Americans devoted to pictorial photography in their endeavor to compel its recognition, not as a handmaiden of
In the late 1800’s photography was still basically like a baby giraffe learning how to get up and walk for the first time. Photography didn’t really know what it was, processes were still being invented and refined and there was still great debate between it’s uses for amateurs, scientists/engineers, and
Since the beginning, everyone wanted color photographs. Images being black and white only was a chief complaint about photography. Initially, there were a few “successes”; Sir John Herschel was able to record blue, green and red on paper coated with a silver chloride solution, but he was unable to “fix”
Photography moves from wet plates to dry There’s no denying that the wet plate process was not easy. It took considerable time, planning, effort, money, supplies, and proper logistics to execute and to top it off, the chemicals and fumes from the alcohols and ethers were health hazards. In 1860,
The introduction of the Kodak camera and it’s ensuing popularity started an entirely new school of thought in photography; the snapshot. Previously, “snapshot” was used by hunters as a term that meant to shoot instinctively without taking aim. Soon the term became quite appropriate for photography as well. The increasing
In the early life of photography, cameras (and all the gear that came with them) were large, heavy, and cumbersome. The wet plate processes, the only one available, required the photographer (or an assistant) to do the development. This added considerably to the time, expense, and skill level required to
In the late 1800’s the world was beginning to take shape into something more of what it looks like today. Industrialization was coming to cities and taking them, literally, to the next level. Ships were being built larger and larger. Railroad systems were being expanded into uncharted territory. Industrialization brought
As long as photography remained chained to any sort of wet plate process, photographers found themselves encumbered by massive hardships in order to “take the show on the road”. However, as transportation networks grew, architectural technology advanced, and people began exploring the world more, there was increasing demand for images
