Capturing and viewing still images has changed the way humans look at and understand the world around them for centuries. Paintings and drawings took hours to create but could be transported to bring whole new worlds and perspectives to people who couldn’t easily travel. The still life paintings of Northern Europe from the 17th and 18th centuries introduced an appreciation of beauty in the mundanity of everyday life. This was a new way of thinking for many people. In the same way, the ability to capture a fleeting moment in time with a camera has allowed us to expand our understanding of, and impact on, reality.
Humble Beginnings
The science of photography was created in 1839 when Louis Daguerre announced the invention of the daguerreotype process at the French Academy of Science in Paris in 1839. At its earliest conception, the daguerreotype could capture an image in about 15 minutes. The images were produced by introducing light to a sensitized, silver-coated copper plate using a camera and a skilled photographer. Because of the process’s long exposure and sensitivity to movement, the subject was required to hold as still as possible throughout the duration of the exposure.
Overcoming Fear
Like any new, life-changing technology, with great excitement came great hesitation. The daguerreotype’s almost alchemic ability to capture an image was a frighteningly foreign concept to a generation who relied on their own senses to understand the realities around them. Although the initial news of this process and its ability to capture an image was approached with reluctance by some, the technology immediately sparked a period of portrait photography among social elites in America and Europe throughout the 1850s. Engraved and lithographed copies of these daguerreotyped portraits began to make their way into popular newspapers and photography journals, diminishing much of the initial fear of photography. In a current age surrounded by photojournalism and abstract visual art, this may seem trivial or even archaic, but imagine how novel and even magical it was to people of the mid-19th century.
Our Brains on Photographs
We have come a long way from the days of the ten-minute exposure. Standard digital cameras capture images in less than one second, and our phones can now take bursts of 10 pictures in one second flat. With each picture we view, neuroscience has proven that our memory and understanding of what, where and when is expanded. Furthermore, the visual arts physiologically cause us to experience conflicting emotions at the same time, allowing us to explore the world and attempt to understand it the only way humans know how, by imperfectly attempting to interpret the often conflicting emotions our experiences solicit.
Capturing the Human Condition
Initially, daguerreotypes were a great opportunity to circulate portraits to the media for posterity, and to family for nostalgia. As time went on however, exposures became shorter, cameras more transportable, and skilled photographers could often be in the right place at the right time to capture a story. President Roosevelt sent photographers out into the world as part of his “New Deal” program (1935-1945). The New Deal photographs brought the American Depression and poverty to life, both while it was happening and for generations to come. Photo journalists of the last several decades have taken “iconic photographs” that embody movements and have helped us connect viscerally to any person living their story — anywhere in the world.
High Speed and Everywhere
The days of the minutes-long exposure are gone. Today anyone can take a picture on their smart phones, choose a filter, and post it to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat instantly. Speed, ease, and ubiquity allows us all to potentially impact the world in a way unimaginable to Louis Daguerre and the New Deal photographers of the 1930s. With high-speed images, pictures of beauty, disaster, injustice, and poverty can be transformed into action and intervention through social media campaigns in just minutes and hours.
Sources Used
- America’s First Look into the Camera: Daguerreotype Portraits and Views, 1839-1862.Library of Congress website.
- Memories, Photographs, and the Human Brain. PetaPixel website.
- Our Brains on Art. Patricia Leavy. Huffington Post website.
