INTRODUCTION

Light Projection, the starting point. The term photography literally means: writing with light. From old Greek: Phos = light Graphein = to write Photography is a technique that allows us to create (capture and save in the camera) images using light; the camera is just a tool. The starting point of this process can be found in light projection, a phenomenon known since the ancient times. The Greek philosopher Aristotle (4th century B.C.) wrote about it. Leonardo da Vinci improved this technique around 1490. The tool used to capture an image created by the light on a surface was named: CAMERA OBSCURA (Latin for darkroom) Through a light projection an image can be created on a surface The first wooden and transportable Camera Obscura were made in Italy in the 1600s and used by painters to draw views. To find materials sensitive to the light and good enough to capture and fix (stop the process) the picture was a matter of chemistry. The first attempts were made in Paris at the end of the 1700s. The first photos ever taken were destroyed, right after been created, by the light itself. The Birth of Photography Niépce, a French country gentleman, succeed in taking the first pictures in the 1820s. In 1839, at the Academy of Science in Paris, the process of capturing and keeping an image created by the light on a surface was presented officially. Daguerre, a businessman who owned a theatre in Paris got the credit for the invention. Pictures were taken on metal sheets; exposure was around 20 minutes long. During this time, an English gentleman, Fox-Talbot, developed the traditional black and white negative to positive process, taking pictures on a paper sheet with silver halides on it. Cameras were very big, heavy and difficult to operate; it was always necessary to use a tripod. In 1988 George Eastman, a bank employee who lived in Rochester N.Y., invented “roll film”, spool wound photographic film to be used in a small camera he had produced. He founded a company named Kodak to sell the cameras. Since then, taking a picture became easier and photography became very popular. The Kodak slogan was: You press the button we do the rest. Another big change for photography was the invention of the small 35mm camera. The first one was the Leica (Leitz Camera) made in Germany in 1925. Using fast shutter speeds to freeze motion, it allowed photographers to get close to subjects and take pictures in any conditions. With the Leica, modern photojournalism started in Berlin, around 1930. In the 1950’s color photography became more and more important. Around 1975 the first digital cameras were developed; twenty years later they became available for photojournalists. Photoshop: 1990; Camera-phone: 2000.