Birth of Modern Europe
The Invention and Evolution of Photography
While the optic principles used in cameras were known for hundreds of years, the ability to make permanent photographic images did not occur until the mid eighteenth century. In 1727 Johann Schulze made a breakthrough discovery when he found that silver nitrate darkened when exposed to light. Joseph Niepce furthered this development when he made the first negative in 1816. In 1839 a French painter, Louis Daguerre, announced he had found a way to make a positive on a copper plate covered in silver nitrate. Daguerre's invention captured the public's imagination, spurred interest in photography, and prompted technological advances in photographic processes and equipment.
Nineteenth century France provided an ideal climate for the evolution of this new medium. At this time photography developed into an art form and also became an important social and political force.
PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESSES
THE DAGUERREOTYPE
A daguerreotype was made by covering a copper plate with silver nitrate and exposing it to light. The areas on the plate exposed to the light darkened to create a fairly precise recreation of the original image. The use of the daguerreotype process was limited since it created only a positive that could not be reproduced. The daguerreotype was thus well suited for portraiture where reproduction was not needed. Why The Daguerreotype Was Popular
The Daguerreotype Camera[2]
THE CALOTYPE
The calotype, invented in the 1830s by the English scientist William Talbot, was not perfected until 1847. Talbot with his calotype process found a way to make a paper negative that allowed an image to be reproduced. The potential of the calotype was not immediately realized because public enthusiasm for the daguerreotype overshadowed Talbot's later announced invention. In addition, the calotype's reproductive quality lacked the fine detail of a daguerreotype.
Nonetheless, the calotype was superior to the daguerreotype in several significant ways. The calotype's two step process of developing a positive from a negative allowed the photographer to change the contrast and color of the images to create different effects. This was unlike the daguerreotype process which produced a single unalterable image. The calotype was much less cumbersome than the daguerreotype camera. It thus enabled the photographer the freedom to use the camera outside the studio. Also, since sheets of calotype paper could be prepared in advance, the photographer was able to take photos spontaneously without the laborious preparation required for the daguerreotype. Why The Calotype Was Popular
THE COLLODION PROCESS
The collodion process was invented by Frederick Archer in 1851. It combined the best of the calotype and the daguerreotype because it could produce multiple images that retained the sharp detailed quality of the daguerreotype. The collodion process was instrumental in the takeoff of photography as an industry. Archer devised the collodion on glass negative by coating a glass plate with collodion (gun cotton, alcohol, and ether) and iodine and dipping it into a solution of silver nitrate. This negative was then printed onto coated printing paper to produce glossy, finely detailed positives. Why The Collodion Process Was Popular (Link to why the processes were popular page)
[2] Carter, Bob. The Photographic Historical Society of Canada. 2000, <http://www.phsc.ca/matt.html>