Photography

Photography is made up of two words, Photo and graph. Photo means light or drawing in Greek. It is a process where pictures are created with the use of light. A camera is an instrument used to form pictures, while the photographic film is the material that records the picture. In digital photography, a digital storage device (such as a digital storage card) is used instead of film.

One event in the history of photography was the invention of the photographic process called the daguerreotype. It was named after inventor Louis Daguerre and introduced to the public in 1839. The daguerreotype allowed permanent pictures to be produced for the first time. Only one picture of an image could be produced and copies could not be made.

Another photography method, the calotype, was invented by William Fox Talbot. Using the calotype process, multiple photographs of the same picture could be produced from a single piece of photographic film. The principles of the calotype led to the development of the film photography process as it exists now.

Although it was not always so in the past, photography is in present times regarded as a form of art. There are different specialised branches of photography, including portrait photography, fashion photography, fine art photography, and photojournalism. As photographic processes and devices become increasingly simple, convenient and affordable, interest in photography — whether as a profession or hobby – is likely to grow. Digital photography is an especially popular method of photography today.

Some Interesting Facts:
1. A camera’s shutter speed is the time for which the camera’s shutter is held open when a photograph is taken. This affects the amount of light that reaches the film. In the late 19th century, shutter speeds were much slower than they are today, and people had to sit still for about a minute when their photographs were being taken.

2. The focal length of a lens is the distance between the lens and its focal point, the point at which light passing through the lens converges or appears to diverge from. Lenses that have a short focal length provide a wide angle of view, and such lenses are called “wide angle lenses”. Lenses with longer focal lengths, such as telephoto lenses, provide a narrower angle of view.

3. Most black and white films and prints are made from gelatin silver prints. Gelatin silver prints consist of a film or paper covered with a liquid layer of gelatin and silver salts, which is then allowed to dry. The result is a gelatin silver “dry plate” which is more stable and durable than the “wet plate” materials that were used before.

Photography And Arts
1. To break the monotony of a black and white photograph, a photo-artist would carefully paint certain parts of it in colour. Colour painting was a specialised art form that would take years for an apprentice, or beginner, to learn in a photo studio. Usually, items such as jewellery or flowers in the photograph, or parts of the cardboard picture frame, would be painted to make the photograph more attractive and unique.

2. Colour Photography became common in Singapore in the late 1970s. This was an exciting development because unlike black and white images, colour photographs showed what people actually saw and were therefore more realistic. Colour photographs were often used for documenting purposes, such as when it was necessary to give an accurate depiction of a certain object or event. It was also used to capture everyday scenes.

3. Since the 1990s, digital photography has become very popular worldwide. Instead of film, a digital camera uses electronic devices to capture images. Photographs are created using many tiny horizontal and vertical rows of light-sensitive elements called pixels. When pixels receive light, they convert it into electrical charges, which are then converted to numbers, or digital values. The digital values are then processed to form a digital image.

4. Photojournalistic photographs are often candid, with the person in the picture being unaware that he or she is being photographed. A photojournalist is not too concerned with how beautiful the picture is. Instead, the photographer focuses on whether the picture presents an accurate, objective and authentic image of the subject matter. Such photographs are typically used in newspaper, and nowadays you get to see them in blog post (such as mine!!)

5. Stereographs were very much in fashion from the 1850s to the early 20th century. It was the inspiration for the invention of the View-Master, a viewing device introduced to the public in 1939. The View-Master was very popular with children, and could be used to view a series of seven different 3D images from a flat circular reel with 14 filmslides. Many View-Master images were of tourist attractions or characters from movies or television shows.

6. In the late 1950s and 1960s, it was popular for photographers to take part in international photo competitions. Many countries such as France, the United Kingdom and the United States of America had one or more artistic galleries or organisations, called salons, which held annual photography competitions. Photographers from all over the world would enter their photographs in these salon-held competitions in the hope of winning an award.

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