TECHNOLOGY TIMELINE

History of Photojournalism

By: Michael Bartolo

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Photojournalism over the years

Photojournalism has had a dramatic change due to 1 major advancement that has had developments over the year’s:

Technology

Technology

Let’s face it, we are in a technologically advanced world.

We have it at our fingertips, it’s but well worth the investment.

Technology has drastically changed our world for the better, but in some cases not so much.

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Pre-technology

Photo by : unknownhttp://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/date/2010/01

Imagine a moment that you wanted to capture and had to set up a camera like this ->

By time you set up that camera, the moment you wanted to capture is GONE!!!

WILSON SNOWFLAKE BENTLEY UNIT

WW2

John Morris said “A darkroom technician was almost as anxious to see the invasion images as Capa himself. In his haste, the technician dried the film too quickly. The excess heat melted the emulsion on all but 10 of the frames. Those that remained were blurred, surreal shots, which succinctly conveyed the chaos and confusion of the day.”

Famous D-Day photographer Robert Cappa faced a challenge trying to get photo’s he took developed.

Imagine if he had a satellite phone, a DSLR, SLR, Wi-Fi, or an SD Card.

Photo by: Robert Cappahttp://www.skylighters.org/photos/robertcapa.html

Leafax

1990 mobile computer system photographers could take with them

Transmission speeds werestill slow, and required 18 steps

Photo by unknownhttp://www.adorama.com/alc/0012375/article/How-Digital-Technology-Has-Changed-Photojournalism

Problems for the photojournalists:• Bulky to carry around• Slow transmission• Many steps to transmit photo

Imagine Standing on a battlefield after taking a photo and having to

transmit it to the editor can be dangerous and time consuming for the journalist.

Though photojournalists were able to submit work via satellite rather than having to develop photo’s and send them.

Photo by : Satellite Signals Limitedhttp://www.satsig.net/africa/spidersat-tanzania-satellite-communications.htm

Cheryl meyer said “some photojournalists struggled with smaller satellite phones, sometimes waiting for up to 3 hours for a photo move”

90’s to today

Technological advancement now

A photo can be taken and within second’s sent via Wi-Fi virtually anywhere

Photo by : unknownhttp://beautyhigh.com/how-to-take-perfect-prom-picture-gifs/

Though with advancements comes a price “A good digital SLR was upwards of $10,000 and didn’t have a quality level that matched film” according to Mark Lent

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Lent also said:“In the past 20 years, the abilities of the working photojournalist have changed almost as much as the technology.  What editors once considered a “low-tech” job has become one of the most technically demanding positions at any media outlet.”

So you can see that being a photojournalist you had to adapt to the change quickly to stay in the journalism business. I’m sure their were plenty of old-timers who liked their old ways.

According to Steve: “According Smaller, lighter and more powerful cameras and equipment have made the job of photojournalists easier.”

http://gizmodo.com/5326026/nikon-d3000-beginners-10mp-dslr-with-educational-menus-for-600/

“The modern photojournalist must be an IT manager, writer, videographer, video and photo editor, webmaster, and computer repair technician…and oh yeah, they have to be technically accomplished photographers, too. Since photographers often work alone and away from their offices, having all of these abilities becomes crucial because you can’t send for the publication’s IT staff 250 miles away when you’re having issues with your laptop, Internet, or workflow.” Lent stated

With technology

Photojournalist had to adjust to this

Wi-Fi

With the advancement of the internet and capablilties on devices, photojournalists are able to submit photo’s to their editors without hesitation.

Technological Advancement timeline1851Frederick Scott Archer invented the Collodion process - images required only two or three seconds of light exposure.

1871Richard Leach Maddox invented the gelatin dry plate silver bromide process - negatives no longer had to be developed immediately.

1888Eastman patents Kodak roll-film camera..

1948Edwin Land markets the Polaroid camera.

1913/1914First 35mm still camera developed.

Timeline of advancement continued

1990Eastman Kodak announces Photo CD as a digital image storage medium.

1999Secure Digital (SD) cards were launched

2005WiFi cameras, which first made an appearance in 2005

From film

With film gone, photojournalists no longer have to purchase film which is saving their company and themselves money.

Investing in a Wi-Fi enabled camera is beneficial in the long run, even tough the cost might be a bit high.

to Wi-Fi

The End…Here is a short iMovie I created with photo’s I had laying around in my house of family members and myself to show how picture taking has changed over the year’s and affected the quality of the photo’s