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Photograph

arts Maturity 7-9 Next article →

A photograph is a special kind of image. It is created when light falls on a surface. This surface might be a piece of film or an electronic sensor. People call the art of making these images photography.

Icelandic Landscape near Neskaupstaður July 2014
Icelandic Landscape near Neskaupstaður July 2014

Today, we use smartphones or cameras to take pictures. These tools use a lens to focus light. This helps the camera see what our eyes see. The word photograph has a beautiful meaning. It comes from Greek words that mean "drawing with light."

View from the Window at Le Gras colorized 2020 new
View from the Window at Le Gras colorized 2020 new

Making a photograph involves a few important steps. In the past, people used a chemical process. First, light-sensitive film captures a negative image. In a negative, the colors and lights are flipped. To get a normal picture, you must make a print. This means moving the image onto special photographic paper.

View from the Window at Le Gras, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, uncompressed UMN source
View from the Window at Le Gras, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, uncompressed UMN source

You can also make a positive transparency called a slide. Today, many photos are digital. They are stored as files like JPEGs. You can print these using inkjet or laser printers.

History shows how much photography has changed. In 1822, Nicéphore Niépce made the first permanent photo. He used a process called heliography. A few years later, he took a photo in France.

View from the Window at Le Gras, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, uncompressed UMN source
View from the Window at Le Gras, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, uncompressed UMN source

This photo required a very long exposure time. It could take hours or even days! Later, Niépce worked with Louis Daguerre to improve things. Daguerre created the daguerreotype process. This was the first practical way to use a camera. It used silver-plated copper sheets and iodine vapor.

There are many different kinds of photographic history. The daguerreotype was announced to the world in 1839. By the 1850s, people used ambrotypes and tintypes instead. These were cheaper and easier to see. Color photography also had a long journey. Early experiments happened in the 1840s and 1860s. However, color only became common much later. In the 1930s, films like Kodachrome arrived. These made it easy to use color.

Even today, some people still love black-and-white photos.

Photography connects to almost everything we do today. We use the web to share our images. Tim Berners-Lee published the first web photo in 1992.

Picture of Polaroid image
Picture of Polaroid image

Now, millions of people use sites like Flickr to share. We also take "selfies," which are self-portraits. Robert Cornelious took the first selfie in 1839! We must also learn to care for our old photos. It is best to store them in acid-free paper folders. You should always lay them flat so they do not bend. This helps keep the images safe for a long time.

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🖼️ Images & Media (6)
File:Picture of Polaroid image.jpg
Picture of Polaroid image.jpg
File:Icelandic Landscape near Neskaupstaður July 2014.JPG
Icelandic Landscape near Neskaupstaður...
File:View_from_the_Window_at_Le_Gras_colorized_2020_new.png
View_from_the_Window_at_Le_Gras_colorized_...
File:View from the Window at Le Gras, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, uncompressed UMN source.png
View from the Window at Le Gras, Joseph...
File:Kauppatori Kolera-altaan luona - G30718 - hkm.HKMS000005-km0000phjs.jpg
Kauppatori Kolera-altaan luona - G30718 -...
File:A Stream of Stars over Paranal.jpg
A Stream of Stars over Paranal.jpg
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