The Origins of Photography

Can you imagine a world without photography? Today, photography has grown to be an essential part of our everyday lives. Photography touches many aspects of our lives, from newspapers, books and magazines, images stored on computer, snapshots for holidays and much more. Photography has made great progress way ever since the mid 1800s.

Originally, the term Photography is derrived from to Greek words that mean “drawing with light”. Throughout time the visual story telling of photography has conveyed historical events, evidence for scientific discovery, records of family life and news and in many circles is considered to be artworks. Photography today is enjoyed by many many millions of individuals all over the world, both professionally and socially to capture images using light, optics film or digital.

A film camera catches pictures using chemicals on film. A digital camera captures the image electronically and stores it in memory or on a computer disk. The first popular photographs, called daguerreotypes, were captured on copper plates in the 1840s. Later, pictures were recorded on glass plates. Flexible film, much like we still use today, replaced glass plates in the late 1800s.

So, what is photography? Well, film photography is where it began using chemicals to create prints. Later electronics came into play using sensors to create images that are stores in memory or on a computer.

Photography changed the modern world as pictures became an obtainable media around 1840 bringing the world into people’s homes. Additionally it allowed people to have a visual record of their lives which was more accurate compared to the previous use of paintings. As photography grew in popularity public option became influence as the world become more visually accessible.

Photography had a profaned social effect as now original people could afford to acquire portraits prints made of themselves, family and friends which was once the preserve of rich wealth people using painters.

Today, photography is utilized by several people with a variety of cameras varying from point-and shoot cameras, SLR (Single Lens Reflex) cameras, mobile smart phones and disposable cameras.

So, what is photography? Well, it has become an important tool all sort of people, from Doctors taking images of cells for analysis, satellites taking surveillance pictures or images of weather patterns, images of galaxies and far of solar systems. Photography and picture taking is here to stay.