Photography: Form of Expression and Communication

Wikipedia: Photography/3rd essay
Sumaira Khan
IADT Orlando

Abstract

Photography is a medium form of expression and communication. It offers an enduring variety of approach, interpretation and execution. It is also about creativity and art and as well as capturing the moment in order to accomplish a desired shot or goal. This paper will cover specifically what photography is and the types that are out there, what the uses are, how and where photography started and the science behind it. It will also be covering what has not been mentioned in the Wikipedia article itself and why it should be added. For example: Street photography, the control of light. Keywords: history and evolution, types of photography, digital photography, early camera development, color/black and white photography, street photography, the control of light.

Cause/effect

Cause: Street photography- from reading the original Wikipedia article of photography, I had noticed that mostly every form/style of photography had been mentioned (black and white, digital, color photography) but street photography was not mentioned. Suppose a beginner in photography is interested in wanting to know what and how it is done, the Wikipedia article should have some reliable information about it just like there is for color photography and black and white photography. effect: Every style of photography has its own method and form. If other styles and forms are mentioned then why not street photography. A street photographer does not need expensive lighting, tripods, or a shot list. The main motivation for street is to just go out and capture what the world gives you regardless of the location, the lighting, or the circumstance. The street photographer’s domain is not necessarily the street. It could be anything outside. The street photographer will work with what has been given to him. There are ideal conditions but the street photographer would not let those circumstances hinder his vision. All that the street photographer needed is an impassioned eye, an unobtrusive camera loaded with film, and good shoes. Cause: The control of light: Just like a car needs gas to run, photography needs lighting on regular basis to work. And the key is the formation of it. Not much was mentioned in the original Wikipedia article about lighting in regards to photography. Effect: The use of light in a photograph can be the deciding factor of whether that picture will be spectacular or terrible. Unless you are outside with natural light, there are plenty of ways to bring good lighting into your subject and it cant be flash all the time. Sometimes that is not the best way to add light to a subject. Reflectors are often used to create dramatic lighting effects outdoors or in situations when flash cannot be used. Reflectors can be professionally made or can be simple items such as aluminum foil-covered cardboard. As long as the object will reliably reflect light back towards a subject, it is a reflector.

What photography is

The word photography was adopted from the Greek photos-for “light” and- graphos for “drawing”. Photography is the imitation of art and practice of originating durable images by reserving light, either by light sensitive matter such as a photographic film (a strip or sheet of transparent plastic film base also known as negatives) or electronically reserving by way of an image sensor (a device that converts and optical image into and electronic signal used mostly in digital cameras, camera modules and other imaging devices). Its lenses are used to target the light reflected from object into an image inside a camera during a time of exposure (the amount of light allowed to fall on each area during the process of taking a photograph). The outcome is a photograph. (http://akvis.com/en/articles/photo-history/beginning.php).

History and evolution

Photography is the development of accumulating several discoveries. For example, in the fifth and fourth BC centuries, Mo Di a Chinese philosopher described a pinhole camera (a lightproof box with a small hole inside, a simple camera without a lens). In the sixth century a mathematician Anthemius of Trailes used a type of camera known as obscura (an optical device that projects an image of its surroundings on a screen/projector. Of course centuries later this was also used for drawing and for entertainment and led to the invention of photography itself and early years of the camera and photography development. The very first “photograph” to be specific was made in 1820. This method was called chemical photography. Inventor Nicephore Niepce produced the first image in 1822. Then in 1825, he made the first enduring photograph relative to nature with a camera obscura. In 1839, John Heschel invented the cyanotype process (a photographic printing process that gives a cyan-blue print; popular in engineering circles). He was one of the first to use the terms; photography, negative and positive. In March 1851, Frederick Scott Archer invented the wet plate collodion process (a film paper flammable solution of pyroxylin/which forms a flexible layer for print photography. Between 1852 and the late 1860s this method was used widely when photography developed. As slight advances were made through the 19th century, the concept of developing images remained the same. In 1908 George Eastman developed the technology of photographic film (a strip of sheet of transparent plastic film base used to develop photographs in the 1900s). Eastman developed this method to replace photographic plates- (a method used in the 1800s, which consists of emulsion of silver salts that were applied to a glass plate and then formed into photographs. The replacement led to the technology used still by film cameras today. Photography. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography).

Black and white Photography “Despite the best color cameras capable of capturing dreamy shots in color, the Black and White photography is still very popular. (Http/groups/black-and-white/discuss/75669783). During the 1900s and even late 1900s black and white photography was dominant. Even right after color film was readily available, black and white photography maintained its power for decades, Mostly because of its lower cost and having a “classic touch on photographs. The black and white of photography is the essence of the natural form of photography. It is how it all began. Our brain prefers colors over black and white when colors are shown. When they are missing we will look and concentrate more on figures, lines, composition. By removing the "disturbance” of colors. (http://www.ehow.com/about_4566139_black-white-photography.html).

Color Photography The mid 19th century is when color photography became more broadly known. The principle first circulated in 1855 with James Clark Maxwell. His main idea was to take three black and white photographs through red, green, and blue filters (a camera accessory for the lens in which images are modified; basically absorbing part of the light available). This provided any photographer with three elements required to recreate a color image. (Color photography (n.d.). In Wikipedia. from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography). Color playing part in evoking emotions is not a new idea, if you look into other fields – interior decorators for example put great emphasis on color, if you watch most high production movies carefully, you’ll notice that a lot of them have stylized scenes, the color in those scenes is of a certain tint that’s very evocative of emotions and moods. (http://generalphotography.com/2011/03/importance-of-color-in-photography.html).

Street photography Street photography was made in the era spanning the end of the 19th Century through to the late 1970s; a period which saw the emergence of portable cameras. Street photography simply includes any photograph made anywhere in public places. Some people narrow it down to urban settings and some people think there must be people present in these kinds of photos. But the bottom line is that each street photographer will find their own meaning and approach therefore whatever definition they might arrive at will work just as well.
The purpose of street photography will again vary from one street photographer to another. Some photographers are interested in simply and honestly documenting life as they see it, at times adding their own interpretation to the scene. Some want to make artistic photographs of available street scenes and others basically enjoy taking pictures and do it purely for the pleasure of it. And if there is one thing that truly defines street photography is that it is one style of photography that is difficult, if not impossible, to pre plan or stage in any manner.
And so clearly street photography has no need for any set of rules and guidelines on how it should be done, and better be independently created and elaborated by the photographer. (http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/street.shtml)

Lighting Lighting is the essence off photography. It can be used to symbolize or emphasis something, and creates meaning Light forms not only the technical basis of photography but also serves as its primary descriptive element. The metaphor of light as a language element has been explored in visual imagery throughout history. In fact it would be possible to consider five hundred years of the aesthetic of western art, from the beginning of the renaissance to the late eighteen hundreds, as a progression of more accurate styles of representing the play of light on surfaces. Photography was in some ways a culmination of this evolution, and the accurate description of light on surfaces is endemic to the photographic process. (http://photo.net/making-photographs/light).

In conclusion, photography has gained the interest of many people in our social world to even our scientists and of course artists from its formation. Many have used photography to record and study movements. Artists and designers are also equally drawn to it. Photography these days is also used by the military for surveillance purposes. It is used by police forces and many more. Most of all because it is a form of art it is used in that same perspective by amateurs to show some form of expertise, preserve memories, to tell stories, to send messages, and as an origin of entertainment. Most of all capturing moments for a lifetime.

References
Photography. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved October 14, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography.
Black and white Photography. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved January 2, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/black.
Color photography (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved December 16, 2012 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography.
Camera development /Photography. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved April 12, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography.
Uses of Photography. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved April, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography. (http://generalphotography.com/2011/03/importance-of-color-in-photography.html).
(http://www.ehow.com/about_4566139_black-white-photography.html).
(http://akvis.com/en/articles/photo-history/beginning.php).

References: Photography. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved October 14, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography. Black and white Photography. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved January 2, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/black. Color photography (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved December 16, 2012 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography. Camera development /Photography. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved April 12, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography. Uses of Photography. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved April, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography. (http://generalphotography.com/2011/03/importance-of-color-in-photography.html). (http://www.ehow.com/about_4566139_black-white-photography.html). (http://akvis.com/en/articles/photo-history/beginning.php).