SPECIFIC COURSE OBJECTIVES FOR THE WEEK:

Consider the history of as an always- changing technology with benefits and drawbacks that also change. PHOTOGRAPHY Consider who and what makes it into the visual record as a result of changes in imaging technology.

Contemplate the questions: What are the benefits and The Democratic Art drawbacks of today’s photo technologies? And Why bother studying the history of a medium?

life before photography... 01-01! 1st published illustration of (1544) – viewing solar eclipse 01-01! Illus. of camera obscura phenomenon with view of Florence

01-01! Abelardo Morrell. Camera obscura image of Houses Across the Street (1991) 01-01! large portable camera obscura 02-01! portrait silhouettes by Jacques Charles (on silver coated paper?) early 1800s

Kam = Curved or bent. The first English use of the The primary meaning word “camera” appeared as camera comes from the “the private office of a judge.” Aryan root “Kamera” - a vaulted chamber. http://brightbytes.com/cosite/portable.html

Thomas Wedgewood Late 1790’s

“Sun prints” on leather A technological dead-end

02-01! contact prints on leather with silver nitrate (Thomas Wedgwood form) Joseph Nicéphore Niépce 1827

“Heliographs” (sunwriting)

Nicéphore Niépce. [earliest surviving heliographic print (1825)] 02-01! Illus. of Niépce reading to Daguerre the descr. of his process for fixing images Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre 1839

The (a mirror with a memory)

Daguerre’s desire to fix an image stemmed from his profession of creating of enormous, larger than life-sized, .

02-01! Pen & ink sketch for by Louis Daguerre (c. 1836) 02-01! lithograph of audience viewing a Diorama (c. 1835) 02-01! lithograph of audience viewing a Diorama (c. 1835) 02-01! Louis J. Daguerre. [title page to “History & Descr of the Process of Dag…] 1839

The benefits of : • exceptionally detailed • beautiful renderings William • one of a kind

The drawbacks: 1840 •expensive •hard to make The •highly toxic •one of a kind

02-01! portrait of Wm. Henry Fox Talbot (c. 1844)

02-01! Talbot’s “mousetrap” camera (c. 1835) 02-02! [S. Front of Lacock Abbey, w/ oriel window of 1st ] 02-03! [view of 1st negative, looking out of window] 02-04! William Henry Fox Talbot. Latticed Window at Lacock Abbey. (1835) Ph. draw neg.

02-01! Talbot’s “mousetrap” camera (c. 1835) 02-01! Talbot’s “mousetrap” camera (c. 1835) 02-02! [S. Front of Lacock Abbey, w/ oriel window of 1st negative] 02-02! [S. Front of Lacock Abbey, w/ oriel window of 1st negative] 02-03! [view of 1st negative, looking out of window] 02-03! [view of 1st negative, looking out of window] 02-04! William Henry Fox Talbot. Latticed Window at Lacock Abbey. (1835) Ph. draw neg. 02-04! William Henry Fox Talbot. Latticed Window at Lacock Abbey. (1835) Ph. draw neg. 02-01! Talbot’s “mousetrap” camera (c. 1835) 02-02! [S. Front of Lacock Abbey, w/ oriel window of 1st negative] 02-03! [view of 1st negative, looking out of window] 02-04! William Henry Fox Talbot. Latticed Window at Lacock Abbey. (1835) Ph. draw neg. The benefits of : • cheap(er) • can make multiple, nearly identical copies

The drawbacks: •highly toxic •not especially sharp or detailed James Hajicek and Carol Panaro-Smith

Contemporary artists making Photogenic drawings

Carol Panaro-Smith and James Hajicek, c. 2006

Carol Panaro-Smith and James Hajicek, c. 2006 Carol Panaro-Smith and James Hajicek, c. 2006 Carol Panaro-Smith and James Hajicek, c. 2006 Carol Panaro-Smith and James Hajicek, c. 2006

http://www.josephbellows.com/artists/carol-panaro-smith-and-james-hajicek/

Carol Panaro-Smith and James Hajicek, c. 2006 Anna Atkins 1846

Cyanotypes of Flowering Plants and Ferns The benefits of cyanotypes: • very cheap • easy to make Jenn Daly • can make multiple prints Anthotypes

(digitally produced negatives - transparencies - that are The drawbacks: contact printed on papers using light sensitive plant dyes) • couldn’t make negatives to then convert into positive prints http://www.jldalyphotography.com/

Scott Archer 1851

The wet plate process

The benefits of wet plate negatives: • cheap • can make one glass negative, then multiple prints • just as sharp as daguerreotypes

The drawbacks: • highly toxic

Slaves, J. J. Smith's Plantation, South Carolina Timothy H. O'Sullivan American, Beaufort, South Carolina, 1862 Albumen print 8 7/16 x 10 3/4 in. 84.XM.484.39

A Harvest of Death Field Where General Reynolds Fell, Gettysburg Timothy H. O'Sullivan, photographer; printed by Alexander Gardner Timothy H. O'Sullivan, photographer; printed by Alexander Gardner American, negative July 4, 1863; print 1866 American, negative July 4, 1863; print 1866 Albumen print Albumen print 7 x 8 11/16 in. 7 x 8 11/16 in. 84.XO.1232.1.36 84.XO.1232.1.36 Ancient Ruins in the Cañon de Chelle, New Mexico Desert Sand Hills near Sink of Carson, Nevada Timothy H. O'Sullivan Timothy H. O'Sullivan American, Cañon de Chelle, New Mexico, 1873 American, Nevada, 1867 Albumen print Albumen print 10 7/8 x 7 9/16 in. 8 13/16 x 11 7/16 in. 84.XM.484.4 84.XM.484.42

The Process 1856

Also called the “poor man’s daguerreotype”.

It flourished during the Civil War.

http://www.robbkendrick.com/ The benefits of : • cheap • extraordinarily durable (unlike daguerreotypes) • sharp

The drawbacks: • fairly toxic • one of a kind

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8079411349144989883&q=matrix+pinG+PONG

What are the benefits and drawbacks of today’s photo technologies?

Why bother with looking at the history of a medium?