Photography Industry

Photography today has changed in comparison to decades ago. Photographers are taking their talents and visions to all new levels while focusing in on targeted audiences and industries.

Many photographers unknowingly jump-start their careers from the first click of the button on their camera.

Breaking it Down – Photographic Specialities

 

Do you love photography and want to pursue a career in it? Let’s unpack what you can do with a camera!

 

Photojournalism

In our society, we use images to communicate. Back in the ancient times, man drew pictures on cave walls and rocks to communicate. Photojournalism adopts this principle using photos to tell a story or send a message to its audience.

 

Paparazzi:

This subgenre of Photojournalism is viewed as bloodsuckers trying to get the million dollar photo of a celebrity or prominent person. These pseudo-photojournalists generally take photos without permission and exploit them for money. Princess Diana fell victim to their hellish pursuit when the car she was riding in crashed and killed her.

Sports Photographers:

These men and women capture the explosive moments in the many sports we enjoy today. The images puts a name with the face giving us a little glimpse into our favorite sports figure’s life.

 

National Geographic:

This is the creme de la creme of photojournalism, and only the elite makes it as a photographer for this prestigious organization.

 

Photographers go on assignment whether it be in the deserts of the Middle East or the Amazon Rainforest. Traveling the world over, their heavy camera gear is toted through airports, on buses, cramped taxis and sometimes on foot. A Nat Geo photographer has the opportunity to experience various cultures, some welcoming and some dangerous.

 

Their subjects may be exotic animals or the hot zone of a war infested area. They know the exact place and moment in time to take the photo. This is what sets the big dogs apart from the little ones!

News Publication (newspaper, news media):

A news photojournalist is exposed to dangerous situations when trying to catch the perfect photo for newspaper publications worldwide.

 

Our society thrives on negative news thus causing the demand for photojournalists to pursue and produce images that tell about the bad things in our world.

 

War-torn countries most always have photojournalists embedded to travel right alongside the soldiers in battle. These photographers also conduct interviews with criminals telling their side of the story. These intense moments raise the hairs right up on the necks of the brave photographers.

 

Artistic Photography

 

Photography as an art form falls into subgenres according to the industry of work. Below are just a few.

 

Commercial:

These photographers are the people behind the images in that enhance promotional or marketing text such as brochures, catalogs, flyers, restaurant menus, etc. The marrying of the image and the text produces a polished product that gives us precise information on a subject or area.

 

Food:

When thumbing through a magazine or publication and an image of a juicy hamburger pops right out, the photographer has captured your attention with the picture he took. Food photographers bring an

inanimate food to life in a photo!

Fashion:

This is considered to be a precise art form requiring photographers to have an eye to see what we don’t see in a subject. Fashion images appear in popular publications such as Vogue magazine, Bride magazine, etc. Both model and couture are captured in a way that makes the overall image a beautiful piece of art!

 

Freelance Photography

Being your own boss is a trending concept for photographers. Many Event Photographers fall under this subgenre or specialty. There is no structured environment and assignments accepted are solely at the discretion of the freelancer.

 

Hobbyist

This is the largest genre of photographers. Capturing a moment in life or a beautiful scene is what fuels the hobbyist.

For some, having a photograph of a loved one that is gone provides a memory with a piece of time that we can remember and relive.

Photography has come a long way and with new innovations, it will continue to evolve.

Photography Shapes the World

Just as art has shaped our thinking, so too has photography. Photography has fought to find acceptance as an art form throughout history.

Is Photography a True Art Form?

 

Scholars of art over the centuries have argued over whether or not photography is or is not a true art form. Photography has been questioned as having the ability to create the style of expression ath art does.

 

Artists have been known to convey emotion, opinion, ideology, and religion which is evident in their artwork. Can this be achieved in a photograph? This is where the argument lies as to whether photography is, in fact, an art form.

 

The advancement photography has made through history has aroused popularity within society. Photographers have mastered the ability to capture the attention of people by translating human struggle throughout the world. One could gaze at a photograph and be engulfed with the striking honesty of an event or a subject.

 

The Message of a Photo

 

Nick Ut (Photographer) took a photo of a young girl in a Vietnamese village just after napalm overtook it. This image stirred emotions in those who peered at the photo. Anger, pity, sorrow, and compassion were only a few of the emotional reactions this photo brought out. The photo depicted a strong message of how useless this war was and the suffering that was inflicted on innocent people as a result of political prowess.

Steve McCurry (Photographer) shot what’s probably the most quintessential photo ever of a young Afghan girl. Her gaze into the camera not only penetrated the lens but Steve’s heart as well.

 

The camera caught the image of a twelve-year-old orphan girl at a refugee camp in Afghanistan. Steve saw the girl amidst the swirling dust sitting all alone conveying her plight ever so silently. Little did he know this photograph would appear in magazines and be the center of news.

More Than an Art Form

 

Photography has served as the agent for change bringing awareness of human experiences as well as the need for social progress. Photographs speak the truth of the condition of humanity in our world.

 

Photography has undoubtedly left a footprint within the art culture and has found its place of acceptance among those that disputed its credibility as a true form of art.

contact

About

Important Contributions in the History of Photography

The modern convenience and innovations of cameras today are evident from the ingenuity of inventors and contributors throughout history. Dating back to the ancient times, there was a multitude of those whose experimentations contributed to the succession of photography.

The nineteenth century realized the harmonious joining of all of the elemental ideas and inventions of the camera, processes, and materials. Photography had entered the modern world through the wormhole!

 

Important Moments in History

 

1

Camera Obscura

Created Around the Fifth Century B.C.

Before photography came into being, many understood the principles behind the successful art of capturing images. Not having a method to print or develop a photograph, the art of preserving the image could be projected onto a wall or a piece of paper. The instrument they used to capture and to project the images was referred to as a “camera obscura.”

2

Photochemistry

Created throughout both eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Several centuries after the invention of the camera obscura, the method to preserve and process a photo was brought forth. In 1725, it was discovered that silver salts darkened when it was exposed to light. As time passed, others built upon this discovery perfecting the chemicals needed to produce the perfect photograph.

3

Daguerreotype

In 1837, it was discovered that a faint image could be produced by exposing iodized silver plates to light. Using mercury fumes, the image could be developed into a photograph. This technique not only cut down the exposure time but helped to sharpen the image. Daguerre named his newly found method to process, “Daguerreotype.” His ingenuity traveled the world quickly causing the explosive presence of the photography industry and giving way to photography as an art form!

4

Calotype

A British inventor presented his discovery of processing photos in 1841 with calotype. Sheets of photosensitive paper were exposed to light producing an inferred image that became a photograph when rinsing with hyposulphite. Although the results were not as clear as Daguerreotyping, this method was found by photographers to be an easy process and have the ability to make numerous copies from one negative.

5

Wet Collodion Process

In 1851 the Daguerreotypes and Calotypes were discarded after a new method was brought forward by a sculptor. This method yielded a crisper image with negatives that could be reused. Collodion (a chemical used in medical dressing) was used to coat light-sensitive liquids onto plates made of glass. These plates had to be exposed and then processed before applying the collodion otherwise the collodion would dry and harden. This process was used in producing the photos of the Civil War.

6

Dry Plates

A new photographic plate containing preserved silver salts in gelatin became the choice of use by photographers. Quick exposure time using these plates allowed cameras to capture moving objects. A series of studies on humans and animals in motion was done using these plates. These plates paved the way for the cinema industry.

7

Flexible Roll Film

The mid-1880s saw the birth of rolls of film which was lightweight and much more easy to use. This enabled photographers to take a succession of photos. The Eastman Kodak camera brought the world of photography to the hands of the consumers.

8

Autochrome

Color photography arrived in 1907 by adding dyed potato starch grains to an emulsion.

Reigning as the most popular film until 1935 when Eastman Kodak introduced Kodachrome film!

9

Digital Photography

1975 was the year Eastman Kodak introduced the first digital camera.

10

Smartphone Cameras

Photography continues to evolve as it reaches further into the future. Smartphones brought photography to the forefront of the modern age with the world’s first camera phone. Samsung presented the first smartphone camera in 2000 with a flip phone.

We have seen more innovations arise making the smartphone far more high tech savvy with photographic capabilities.

 One can only wonder what the future brings in the world of photography!

Photography History

Birth of Photography

 

Photography has come a long way through the decades from a box version of a camera all the way to smartphones.

We use our cameras to catch particular moments in time as well as an expressionistic approach to art and how we perceive the world. It also helps with capturing evidence for cases that need to be proven, not just for art. Photography has come in handy in all sorts of situations. My buddy Paul Plumber West Palm Beach had to prove a case to an insurance company about some rotted pipes underneath the house and the fact that we were able to snap photos and send it as proof of the plumbing work that needed to be done was wonderful and covered his you know what.

The Camera

 

Before photography came into being, many understood the principles behind the successful art of capturing images. Not having a method to print or develop a photograph, the art of preserving the image could be projected onto a wall or a piece of paper. The instrument they used to capture and to project the images was referred to as a “camera obscura.”

The camera obscura was invented sometime during the thirteenth or fourteenth century. This simple little instrument was a box with a hole located on one side of it. The light passed through a pinhole on the box creating an image on the inside wall of the box. This image was in mirror form appearing upside down and then projected out from the box.

 

With today’s camera, we can vaguely see a prototype of the camera obscura. Although the camera obscura is useless in today’s world, some find it amusingly useful for artistic purposes.

 

Camera Obscura, Art, and Sorcery

 

Photography was not recognized as an art form until the 1830’s. Many perceived photography as a somewhat non-conformative form of art, however, famous artists such as Michelangelo and DaVinci used the camera obscura to project images to aid the process of drawing.

 

One such artist (Giovanni Battista) attempted to use the camera obscura method; however, it was perceived by many as strange, scary and powered by sorcery. He was arrested and imprisoned on sorcery charges.

 

The World’s First Photograph

 

In 1825, a French inventor (Joseph Niepce) took the first photograph.  He placed his camera in front of a window and ever so slowly captured the view from the window looking out. The exposure lasted for eight hours as the sun had to move east to west. Unfortunately, his photograph lacked any artistic merit but was instead viewed as technical innovation.

Niepce’s ingenuity of using bitumen of Judea (a derivative of petroleum) while exposing it to sunlight, caused it to harden. The bitumen was placed on a metal plate. Once the eight hours had passed, he washed away the unhardened bitumen and then polished it to expose a rendering of a negative. Coating it with ink afterward, he was able to produce a print. This process was extremely costly to do and was labor intensive.

 

Later in 1839, Sir John Herschel took Niepce’s innovation a step further replacing the metal plate with glass. Not only were the results better, but much easier to process.

 

With time, photography has evolved as it has claimed its rightful place in the world of art. All thanks to the simple little box known as the camera!

Photography – The Living Art Form

The camera lens captures a unique interpretation of beauty to which the naked eye cannot see.

Art Form or Not?

 

Many will question whether photography is, in fact, an art form or not. Objectively, a photograph can be interpreted in several ways. The skill in this art form requires the ability to translate what the lens of the camera sees. A skilled photographer can produce a piece that provokes us to feel an emotion, whether good or bad while gazing at the photograph. This is of itself is an art form.

 

The Photographer has his own unique art style which can be compared to a Painter. Instead of a brush, the photographer uses a camera and his canvas can be likened to the actual finished photograph.

 

The Skills of a Photographer

 

Photography requires both technical and artistic skills. The ability to capture what the mind envisions is what sets an amateur photographer apart from a master photographer!

 

Technical Skills

 

  • Exposure: This is the basic elemental foundation of photography and refers to the brightness or darkness of a photo.
  • Aperture: The setting on the lens that controls the amount of light the enters the camera.
  • Speed: This setting controls the rate at which the lens opens and closes to allow light to enter.
  • Lighting: Having the right amount of illumination on your subject is crucial. Sometimes it may involve being the in the right place at the right time to capture a sunrise or sunset.
  • Depth of Field: The setting a photographer uses to sharpen objects within a field.
  • Perspective: Photographers get creative with this technique where the space between objects in the field of vision is used to create depth.
  • Overall Composition: This is the photographer’s “stage” so to speak where the subject is centered, and details addressed to ensure that everything as a “whole” is cohesive. At this point of photography, the photographer utilizes his artistic skills to produce the composition he envisions.
  • Method of Processing: Photographers process the negatives into a photo using either digital software or the old-fashioned darkroom method.

Artistic Skills

 

A skilled photographer takes the mundane things we see in our everyday life and gives life to it through a photograph. It is not uncommon for a photographer to carry his camera everywhere in the event the opportunity arises to produce a creative masterpiece.

When taking a photograph, the overall picture is taken into consideration. Perhaps a photo of a beautiful bride in the forefront captures the innocent nature of a child in the background playing with the bride’s train.

 

The art of photography lies within the eyes and mind of the photographer.

 

So…do we consider photography a true art medium?

 

A photograph captures time with the moment something occurs. Life is current and active in a photo. However, a canvas can only capture a rendering of what the painter’s mind holds and is passive.

 

Both are valid art forms and is appreciated and valued with equal love and attention throughout the world.