Photography is a method of picture making

based on principles of light, optics, and

chemistry. The word “photography” comes

from the Greek words photos meaning “light”

and graphein meaning “to draw.”

History

The scientist Sir John F. W. Herschel was the

first to use the word in 1839. The first fixed

image was obtained by Joseph Nicephore

Niepce in 1827. At about the same time, Louis

Jacques Mande Daguerre

was experimenting with

methods for capturing

an image. Approximately

twelve years later,

Daguerre was able to

reduce the exposure

time to less than 30

minutes, ushering in the

age of modern photography.

In 1889, George Eastman saw the potential for

mass marketing and produced a newly invented

film with a flexible and unbreakable base that

could be rolled. Eastman sold simple cameras

that contained factory-installed film. The

photographer pushed a button to produce a

negative and then, when the film was used up,

mailed the camera back to the Kodak factory. At

the factory, the film was removed from the

camera and then processed and printed. The

camera was reloaded with film and then

returned to the owner.

Camera Basics

Photographs are taken by letting light into a

light-sensitive medium, which records the

image. A camera consists of a light-tight box

that stores a light-sensitive device and a lens

that magnifies and focuses the image onto the

light-sensitive device through a hole in the box

called the aperture. A

shutter opens and closes

when the user presses

the shutter release,

exposing the film to the

light. Cameras share

some of the common

features such as light-

tight body, lens, light-

sensitive medium to capture the image, lens

aperture, shutter, and viewfinder or screen.

Some additional camera features include a

tripod screw of standard size to fit any tripod, a

method for setting the distance, and a method

for setting the film speed. Cameras vary in the

amount of control a user has over the aperture,

shutter, and distance settings, and whether

these can be set automatically.

“Photography can never grow up if it imitates some other medium. It has to

walk alone; it has to be itself.” Berenice Abbott

“Photography, as a powerful medium of

expression and communication, offers an

infinite variety of perception, interpretation,

and execution.” Ansel Adams