The Role Of Photography In The Nineteenth Century
How did the work of the early pioneers of photography change people’s understanding of,
and relationship with, the world around them? You may, if you wish, concentrate on one
subject area - e.g. war photography, documentary photography, travel photography. (Please
note that this question requires you to consider early reactions – i.e. nineteenth century
material.)
The invention of photography in the nineteenth century exposed the unknown to the general
public. Suddenly, parts of the world were becoming more accessible to different classes and
generations through this new visual means of communication. Where people had previously
relied upon the drawings and descriptions of explorers, they could now view the world for …show more content…
detail, so much so that Nancy Anderson reiterates Walter Benjamin credit to the nineteenth-
century German photographer Carl Dauthenday, for stating “some observers of photographs
found the little faces in the images to be so real that they must be looking back at them” (2002,
p.203).
In an announcement in Paris’ Literary Gazette (1839,p.28), the Daguerreotype was described as
a revolution in the arts.
“We have much pleasure in announcing an important discover made by M. Daguerre, the celebrated painter of the Diorama. This discovery seems like a prodigy. It disconcerts all the theories of science in light and optics and, if born out, promises to make a revolution in the arts of design.”
In addition to this the British inventor, William Henry Fox Talbot developed another
photographic process that he named Calotype. Years previous in 1839 he exhibited his results
at the Royal Institution. His calotype was a way of making mass amounts of prints from a single
negative, an advantage over the daguerreotype, which could only produce one off images.
Megg’s notes Talbot as devising his invention through frustration with his limited drawing
ability. He is quoted as having
and relationship with, the world around them? You may, if you wish, concentrate on one
subject area - e.g. war photography, documentary photography, travel photography. (Please
note that this question requires you to consider early reactions – i.e. nineteenth century
material.)
The invention of photography in the nineteenth century exposed the unknown to the general
public. Suddenly, parts of the world were becoming more accessible to different classes and
generations through this new visual means of communication. Where people had previously
relied upon the drawings and descriptions of explorers, they could now view the world for …show more content…
detail, so much so that Nancy Anderson reiterates Walter Benjamin credit to the nineteenth-
century German photographer Carl Dauthenday, for stating “some observers of photographs
found the little faces in the images to be so real that they must be looking back at them” (2002,
p.203).
In an announcement in Paris’ Literary Gazette (1839,p.28), the Daguerreotype was described as
a revolution in the arts.
“We have much pleasure in announcing an important discover made by M. Daguerre, the celebrated painter of the Diorama. This discovery seems like a prodigy. It disconcerts all the theories of science in light and optics and, if born out, promises to make a revolution in the arts of design.”
In addition to this the British inventor, William Henry Fox Talbot developed another
photographic process that he named Calotype. Years previous in 1839 he exhibited his results
at the Royal Institution. His calotype was a way of making mass amounts of prints from a single
negative, an advantage over the daguerreotype, which could only produce one off images.
Megg’s notes Talbot as devising his invention through frustration with his limited drawing
ability. He is quoted as having