Monday, October 21, 2019

Technology Timeline

Wet plates - 1851

The collodion process was said to be invented in 1851, and first came the wet plates. The wet plates were a complicated process. The process began with glass plates getting put into chemicals, and while the plates were still wet, they would be put into the camera to take photographs. After the picture was taken the plates were put back into the chemical to get processed and develop a photograph. Now this was a very time consuming process, and it took some effort. It affected the world of photojournalism in the way that photojournalists had a way to take the camera and supplies to places needed to be seen by the public. Like for example wet plates were used in the Civil War. Even though the supplies had to be taken in large carriages, the job still got done nicely for that time period.


Dry plates -1870

In the late 1870’s, dry plates were invented by George Eastman. Dry plates were similar to the wet plates in the way that the picture was taken but they differed in a big aspect. Dry plates did not need all those chemicals and solutions to process and develop the picture. This was big for photojournalists because it saved so much time and so much less supplies were needed to take a photograph. This was a big change in the way that it saved time, money, and photojournalists didn't need to put all that effort into a picture. The photographs developed faster and it was a much more efficient process than when compared to the wet plates.


Leica camera - 1925

The Leica camera was invented in 1925 and it was an immediate success. The Leica camera was the first small camera that was easily brought almost anywhere. It was the change from big cameras that weren't so easy for photojournalist to bring with them to smaller cameras that were easily carried and portable. It was the first to make 35mm truly viable. That being said, the Leica camera was also easier to perceive than previous cameras. This affected photojournalism in many ways. Photojournalist could take more pictures, they could bring this portable camera with them to events, and this camera in general was a lot more efficient for taking photographs. The leica camera was a big change in the photojournalism industry.


Single lens reflex camera - 1950

In 1950 the single lens reflex camera was invented. This camera was also a big change in the way that what you saw looking through the camera is what your photograph would be, when before that wasn't the case. So there was a viewfinder in the camera, which had a prism and a mirror and through that viewfinder was what the final picture would look like. This changed things for photojournalists because now their photographs would be more precise. The pictures would be just how the photojournalists wanted it to be, when before they would take pictures and some parts of the pictures might have been cut off or might have shown too much. Now with the single lens reflex it was made it possible for that not to happen. Another change that this camera had was it’s different lenses. So the lens could be either smaller or bigger, and it could focus closer or further. So if the photojournalist could not get close to the thing they wanted to take a picture of, then the different lenses would aide in that aspect.


Colored presses - 1980

Colored presses came to be in 1980. The technology for colored photographs has already been out but this was a big change in the printing technology. Now newspapers could print colored photographs. They went from printing only black-and-white photographs to printing colored photographs. Now with the pictures being colored it showed their true, and extraordinary meaning. Photographs have a huge impact when presented with color versus just black and white. Now that they were presented in color, photojournalistic pictures printed in newspapers were shown in their raw form and that was a big step in photojournalism and getting their pictures out to the world.


Blogs - 2000

Blogs became a trend in the 2000’s. Their initial purpose was for college students but once seen it’s potential it became so much more than that. Blogs are posted on social media or the Internet and presented to the world. Blogs are online so anyone with internet access can see it. People slowly started losing interest in newspapers and magazines and started paying more attention to online resources, mostly because it's easier. So photojournalists can make a blog and post their photographs while also getting a chance to explain their work. This is a way for them to get the world to see their work and make a name for themselves. Not every photograph that a photojournalist takes gets published and for those photographs that don't get published, this is the place they can post them and get the attention those photographs deserve.


Wireless transmitters - 2007

Wireless transmitters made a huge impact to photojournalism. A wireless transmitter is a device that gets connected to the camera through Bluetooth or another wireless connection. With this connection, the camera sends photographs straight to the phone or other people within seconds. So instead of photojournalist having to take pictures, edit them, go somewhere with a connection and give it to their publisher, wireless transmitters had this so much more efficient. Photographs could be sent to four other people almost right after they're taken. This became every beneficial to photojournalists because now the photographs would be sent to their phone, to their editor, and to their publisher at the same time. This made it easy for photos that needed to be posted right away. The wireless transmitter made this possible.


Canon 5D 2 - 2008

The Canon 5D 2 came out in 2008. Now this was a very high class camera. This camera took photographs, as well as high definition videos, so it took stills and it took videos. This camera had 20 megapixels so the photographs had lots of details and were very high-quality. For photojournalism, this meant much better pictures. Photographs would be more clear and more detailed, expressing everything that was in the photo. If it was an event that was being portrayed in the photo, then the people in the picture and the place was clear to see. If it was someone's emotions, then the camera captured that facial expression. This made photojournalism more intimate and helped show more emotion through pictures. This camera had different lenses, different focuses, different lighting, and all that made the picture that much better.








Wet plates - 1851
Image source : http://www.wetplatewagon.com
Photo by : Alexander Gardner
Image source : https://www.seeker.com/civil-war-photography-slide-show-1766136631.html
Photo by : Hunter Leone
Image source : https://www.greaterthangatsby.com/the-wet-plate-collection/

Dry plates - 1870
Image source : http://www.piercevaubel.com/cam/amopt/aodp18.htm
Photo by : Henri Cartier-Bresson
Image source : http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/photographers.htm
Photo by : Marion Post Wolcott
Image source : https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/jul/24/a-vision-shared-book-review-great-depression-photographers


Single lens reflex camera - 1950
Image source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_single-lens_reflex_camera
Photo by : Vivian Maier
Image source : http://www.vivianmaier.com/gallery/street-2/
Photo by : Vivian Maier
Image source : http://www.vivianmaier.com/gallery/street-2/#slide-42


Colored presses - 1980
Image source : https://www.afka.net/Mags/Circus.htm
Image source : https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:India-newspapers.jpg


Blogs - 2000
Image source : https://colorlib.com/wp/wordpress-photography-blog-themes/
Image source : https://www.pixpa.com/blog/photography-blogs
Image source : https://answersafrica.com/blogs-kenya.html


Wireless transmitters - 2007
Image source : https://ikancorp.com/shop/wireless-video/blitz-600-3g-sdi-hdmi-wireless-transmitter-and-receiver-set/
Photo by : Jeff Sonderman
Image source : https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2012/photojournalism-in-2012-a-year-of-excellence-ethical-challenges-and-errors/
Photo by : Carol Guzy
Image source : https://www.adorama.com/alc/meet-a-pro-pulitzer-prize-winning-photojournalist-carol-guzy


Canon 5D 2 - 2008
Image source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_EOS_5D_Mark_II
Photo by : Jay Cassario
Image source : https://shotkit.com/canon-5d-mark-iv-review/
Photo by :Delil Souleiman

No comments:

Post a Comment