The Beginnings of Photography



Reflecting back on the lecture on camera obscura and the history of photography, reminded me of a project I did last year for my photograpy class. We had to choose a photographer and attempt some of his work; I choose Man Ray, and this is an example of one of many attempts of a photogram or a"rayograph".

Camera Obscura was a new concept to me during that lecture, it was quite interestng to hear about how photography really came about, and the way it worked. How it went from a tent verson that you could fold up and take with you, to a smaller wodden box that was portable. It seems as though photography would have been very difficult back then, having to set up the lenses and mirrors to correct the projected image, and sharpen the focus.




View from the window at Gras”- Niepce – 1826 – It's fascinating to think that this is the oldest/ first photograph ever to be seen, and how from that point on photography and technology advanced quickly – It's interesting to see how the first photograph was created to now, it was a direct positive and had no negatives, it was called heliography - derived from the Greek word, "sun writing --to now where we have negatives.
I hope to learn more about the early beginnings of photography, and how the methods advanced through the ages. It's hard to imagine having an exposure time of eight hours like Niepce, where today we can instantly access our photos.