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Although
the mind is very complex, one rarely has the capacity to remember
the details of a blooming rose, a smile on grandma's face
when you come to visit, or the vivid colors of a violet-orange
sunset. From the time of hieroglyphics to present, we've had
the need to remember a particular day, a long-established
tradition, a special person, an event in our lives. . .by
capturing that moment in time.
The
word photography is credited to Sir John Herschel,
who first used the term in 1839, when the photographic
process became public. The direct translation of the
word is from the Greek language Photos — meaning
light, and Graphos — meaning written.
The
first successful photograph was produced in June or
July of 1827 by a Frenchman named Joseph Nicephoré
Niépce. Eventually working with Louis Daguerre,
Niépce passed without realizing the merits
of his works. From 1840-1855 “Daguerreotypes”
which were encased in metal and cloth display cases
and usually hand-colored, were the overwhelmingly
dominant form of photographic reproduction.
(Leggat,
Robert. The Beginning of Photography,11 January1999.
31 January1999.
<http://www.rleggat.com/photohistory>).
In
1948 a cousin of Niépce, Abel Niépce
de Saint-Victor perfected a process of coating a glass
plate with egg white which had been sensitized with
potassium iodide and washed with an acid solution
of nitrate. This process of photograph printing called
albumen, dominated the industry from 1855-1895.
It offered very fine detail and much higher quality
than the previously popular method of the Daguerrotype.
A
newer and more cost-effective process was being developed
and exper-imented with from 1870 by Frederick Scott
Archer. It was called the collodion process.
Concurrently, Dr. Richard Maddox discovered a way
of using gelatin instead of glass as a basis
for the photographic plate. The collodion and gelatin
processes were the preferred technique of printing
from 1890-1920.
Born
on July 12, 1854, another great contributor was George
Eastman, founder of Kodak. He began his early career
in banking while tinkering with a new-found hobby
— photography. Within two years, his moonlighting
as selling photographic equipment, which included
his newly-patented dry-plate coating machine, took
precedence over his day job. He is also credited for
introducing celluloid film, which is flexible and
could be rolled. This, with the invention of the box
camera, further increased the popularity of photography.
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| Flowchart
for Identification Guide, KODAK Publication NO.
G-2Sa © Eastman Kodak Company, 1993. |
In
1888 Eastman patented the little roll holder breast
camera, the first usage of the name “Kodak.”
Consumers were encouraged to use Kodak to develop the
film, consequently bringing them to the top of the industry
market. In 1900 Kodak introduced the Brownie
and sold it for $1.00 with an additional 15¢ for
the roll of film. This truly brought photography to
the masses. Also, many people remember the Polaroid
camera from the late sixties, but the invention of the
one-step photograph was actually announced at a meeting
of the Optical Society of America on February 21, 1947.
(The Polaroid Time Machine 1.) Because Polaroid had
the where-with-all to patent the one-step process, Kodak,
the leader in photograph equipment, film and film processing
products, has never been able to infringe on this type
of camera, film or photography.
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