National Camera Day 2021

June 29th is National Camera Day! Our work here at Atlantic Exposure would not be possible without cameras. We wanted to celebrate by sharing a bit of the extensive history of the camera and photography along with a fun project we did in the spirit of the day.

Cameras have come a long way since the camera obscura (“dark chamber” in Latin) used for art and entertainment as early as the 4th century BC. It is controversially thought that some master painters of the Renaissance era used camera obscuras to trace scenes prior to painting them.

The camera obscura principle as illustrated in James Ayscough's A short account of the eye and nature of vision (1755 fourth edition). Source: Wikimedia Commons

Camera obscura in Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers. 18th century. Source: Wikimedia Commons

A camera obscura drawing aid tent in an illustration for an 1858 book on physics. Source: Wikimedia Commons

It was not until the early 1800’s that photography cameras came into existence. Inventor Nicéphore Niépce invented heliography, his name for what is now known as photography. With his invention he created what is credited as the first fixed permanent photograph. Niépce would place an engraving and various chemicals onto different materials, expose it to light, and the light reacted to the chemicals on the plate. The chemical reaction created an image on the plate. The process took 8 hours and was not permanent as the photographs would eventually fade away depending on the materials used. Niépce tried for many years to reduce his exposure times, but ultimately died without seeing any further advances.

The oldest heliographic engraving known in the world. It is a reproduction of a 17th century Flemish engraving, showing a man leading a horse. It was made by the French inventor Nicéphore Niépce in 1825, with an heliography technical process. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Enhanced version by the Swiss Helmut Gersheim (1913–1995), performed ca. 1952, View from the Window at Le Gras, the first successful permanent photograph created by Nicéphore Niépce in 1827. Captured on 20×25 cm oil-treated bitumen. Due to the 8-hour exposure, the buildings are illuminated by the sun from both right and left. Source: Wikimedia Commons

After Niépce’s death, his partner Louis Daguerre continued their work, and was successful at reducing exposure time. In 1833, he invented the daguerreotype process using silver plated sheets of copper to produce highly detailed permanent photographs. The daguerreotype is the first successful form of photography as we know it today.

Still-Life of Casts. The earliest surviving daguerreotype by Daguerre, 1837. Source: Encyclopedia Britannica

Boulevard du Temple, Paris, 3rd arrondissement. Daguerreotype made in 1838 by inventor Louis Daguerre, this is believed to be the earliest photograph showing a living person. It is a view of a busy street, but because the exposure lasted for several minutes the moving traffic left no trace. Only the two men near the bottom left corner, one apparently having his boots polished by the other, stayed in one place long enough to be visible. As with most daguerreotypes, the image is a mirror image. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Daguerreotype by Louis Daguerre ca. 1850, Shells and Fossils. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Still life with statue of Jupiter Tonans, whole-plate daguerreotype by Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre. One of the specimens exhibited to the French Chamber of Deputies in July 1839 when it was considering the award of pensions to Daguerre and Isidore Niépce in exchange for the rights to Daguerre's still-secret process. Later in 1839 Daguerre made a gift of it to the Austrian Chancellor Metternich. Source: Wikimedia Commons

With a successful process in place, the evolution of the camera took off. Panoramic cameras with wide angle lenses made from glass spheres filled with water, stereoscope viewers, and the game changing Kodak celluloid film camera invented by George Eastman all came out in the 50 years after the daguerreotype. In 1900, Eastman took it a step further and introduced the first mass-marketed camera in the world. The small and affordable Brownie camera was incredibly popular and was available for sale until the 1960’s.

Sutton Panoramic Camera (c.1861) Source: Museums Victoria

The first successful roll-film hand camera, the Kodak by George Eastman, was launched publicly in the summer of 1888. Source: Eastman Museum

Tartan Ribbon, photograph taken by James Clerk Maxwell in 1861. Considered the first durable colour photographic image, and the very first made by the three-colour method Maxwell first suggested in 1855. Maxwell had the photographer Thomas Sutton photograph a tartan ribbon three times, each time with a different colour filter (red, green, or blue-violet) over the lens. The three photographs were developed, printed on glass, then projected onto a screen with three different projectors, each equipped with the same colour filter used to photograph it. When superimposed on the screen, the three images formed a full-colour image. Maxwell's three-colour approach underlies nearly all forms of colour photography, whether film-based, analogue video, or digital. The three photographic plates now reside in a small museum at 14 India Street, Edinburgh, the house where Maxwell was born. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Cameras have evolved with technology to the point where almost everyone now has one in their pocket. There are cities with one on every corner. It has become a staple feature in phones, computers, cars, medical technology, and so much more. You name it, someone has probably put a camera on or in one. Cameras enable us to see the smile on a loved ones face in real time. We can tell stories, share moments, preserve memories, avoid accidents, and explore places we cannot safely go. In its time, the camera has gone from the size of a room to something the size of a grain of sand and able to fit in the smallest of veins. It is an impressive journey that deserves some celebration!

The Guinness record holder for “Worlds Smallest Camera” was created by OmniVision for disposable medical applications. Source: OmniVision

The paperclip and ruler demonstrate the scale of the image sensor. Source: Wikimedia Commons

In the spirit of National Camera Day, some of us decided to have some fun with a vintage Brownie camera we have in the office!

Krista

“I decided to have fun and do three different edits of the same photo. The first one is done without any special editing techniques. I love the look of high contrast editing in images that are black and white or with low color, so I chose that for my second edit. Last, it is always fun to see an inverted color version of an image and I think this one looks great that way.”

— Krista

Maris

“While trying to figure out how I wanted to place the camera strap, I noticed a slight heart shape. This idea popped into my head and with a bit of crafty creativity, came to life! Showing my love for cameras with a picture featuring both seemed very fitting for the project.”

— Maris

We hope you enjoyed learning more about cameras and celebrating them with us! It was nice having the chance to play around and be creative with cameras, but it is time to get back to what we love to do. Giving the BEST exposure possible to our clients and their properties!