#1 A Cat Named Buffins, Photographed After Winning The Award For "Most Attractive Expression" At A National Cat Club Contest, In Washington, 1958
#2 They Are The Carter Family Of Toronto, Ontario In 1936. Louise And John William Carter, Immigrants From Barbados, Went On To Have 9 Children Over A 10 Year Period
While photography as an art and a practicality would come about later, a device commonly referred to as a camera obscura was used to project “images” onto walls in a darkened room. Han Chinese philosopher Mozi describes the physics behind this phenomenon in roughly the 4th century BCE.
It can be thought of more like a projector, than a camera, creating a temporary image on a flat surface. The only way to preserve or replicate it, would be to manually trace the image, which is why they were commonly used as drawing tools for architects and designers.
#3 Sigourney Weaver’s High School Yearbook Photo And Quote In 1967. “Please, God, Please, Don’t Let Me Be Normal.”
#5 The International Sweethearts Of Rhythm, The Pioneering All-Girl Jazz-Swing Group, With Bandleader Anna Mae Winburn, 1940s
The first image from a camera was created in 1826 by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, a French inventor. He managed to capture the view from his window, although the process did require eight hours of exposure on pewter coated with bitumen. Nevertheless, he achieved an image that wasn’t just some light on a wall. Over time, inventors would, bit by bit, reduce the time needed to capture something.
#6 Aboriginal Boy With Kangaroo Pet, Australia National Geographic | October 1955
#8 Marlon Brando, A Cat Lover, Once Declared, “I Live In My Cat's House"
The first camera that could be effectively manufactured was invented in 1839 by another Frenchman, Alphonse Giroux. His device cost around 400 francs, a solid chunk of change at the time, and would only take between half an hour to an hour to “create” an image. Unfortunately for Alphonse, others took his idea and quickly upgraded it, creating more popular products.
#10 12-Year-Old Freddie Mercury At St Peter’s Boys School - Panchgani, India, 1958
#11 Ms Nora Washington With Catfish She Caught----With A Cane Pole, No Less----In The Colorado River, Bastrop, Texas 1950's
Despite the venerable age of some of these cameras, they were still a highly niche product, expensive, unwieldy, and annoying to use. Drawing and painting were considerably easier solutions if you wanted to depict a portrait, plus then you could easily “improve” the image of yourself, which no doubt many rich folk did.
#13 La Policemen Disguise Themselves As Women To Catch A Purse-Snatcher In The 1960s
#14 Audrey Hepburn Photographed By Art Zelin On The Streets Of New York, 1990
Another issue was the need for a specialist to handle the camera and the materials to produce the picture. At best, most people of the time saw cameras as a weird niche machine that made blurry, black-and-white images, which tended to not be particularly durable or strong compared to most alternative visual mediums of the time.
#17 1940s.....i Would Love To Know What's Going On.....her Joy Is Infectiou
A major breakthrough was the invention of mass-produced film and 35mm film in particular. Multiple brands and inventors based cameras around this film, allowing for “regular people” to more easily take and process photos. While not dirt cheap, an average working person could buy a camera and supply it with film if they really wanted to.
Soon photographs were no longer a novelty, but a staple, as newspapers began to print images. Just a few decades ago, Polaroid came out with the very first instant image cameras, cutting out the wait period between taking photos and the negatives being developed. While the quality was not amazing, it’s a far cry from the multi-hour waits associated with cameras in a previous era.