Pre-Digital Photographic Technology
The evolution of cameras and photography is beyond fascinating. Back in the 1800’s there wasn’t a way to publish photography. Whereas, today every second a photograph is being shared through social media accounts with a touch of button. As professor Nordell explains in his video Before There Were Pixels, “an artist would draw up an interpretation of an event and then someone would carve the image into a piece of wood. The finished product would then be pressed into soft clay to make a cast with molten tight metal. This would allow the image to be pressed into newspapers or magazines.” As years went on, the photographic process continued to blossom at its finest and photojournalism was born during the Civil War.
According to the Wet Collodion Process video, "Between 1851 and 1880 Scott Archer’s invention of the wet collodion process of making negatives to produce detailed images was the dominant method throughout North America and Europe.” This process needed to be done quickly or the chemical would dry up and the image would be ruined. The process required photographers to have a dark portable room and eight critical steps. In addition, for a photojournalist to take a photograph during the war, it would be a before and after because the camera could not capture movement.
During the 1900s and 1950s the Graflex Speed Graphic camera invented by Folmer Schwing Company of Rochester, New York produced 4- by 5-inch negatives was popularly known by many photojournalists. Its boxy, leather strap sides allowed it to be extremely functional. John Durniak states, “It could be used as a hand-held camera for news, a sports camera that froze action at an incredible 1/1000 second, and as a studio camera that allowed a photographer to study an image against a sheet of ground glass.” This camera was widely known to be used by Weegee a newspaper photojournalist capturing images of crime scenes in New York City. He also was a photographer for celebrities, and political figures. Many of his pieces can be viewed at the International Center of Photography Collection in New York.
Today, the world of photography and photojournalism can be captured with the tiny devices that are always in peoples hands, a cell phone. As with cameras, cell phones have also evolved over time. For an example, an iPhone 8 plus has many features to capture a great photograph. They have a 2x optical zoom and a 10x digital zoom portrait mode, video mode, square mode, live features and panorama mode. In addition to many filters to alter a photograph, from lighting, crop features and so much more. In addition, it doesn’t matter the time of day to take a photograph. Nor does it require a dark room to print these photographs like it would with the wet collodion process. Taking a photograph with an iPhone has similar features to the Graflex Speed camera such as handheld features and they are extremely functional to capture a photograph anywhere you could imagine. Moreover, each camera can freeze action in seconds. However, a Graflex Speed Camera required film to produce negative images. Whereas, an iPhone has pixels and storage to keep an image on a phone or to print from a machine at home or at a local store within a few minutes.
Photograph by: Mechealea Giordano
Sources:
https://www.icp.org/browse/archive/constituents/weegee?all/all/all/all/1
https://www.nytimes.com/1986/06/15/arts/camera-the-old-speed-graphic-is-alive-and-clicking.html
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/hands-on-review/graflex-super-speed-graphic-the-press-camera-that-made-an-era
https://www.apple.com/iphone-8/specs/
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