Research

1/03/2024 - Photography/Street Photography research

History of Photography

The birth of Camera

Although the concept of having a device or machine which captivates a image has been in concept since the Renaissance time where famous inventor and artist DaVinci got involved about the concept.

The "Camera Obscura" was the first method of capturing the reflection of an object using light, a light-proof room where there is a white sheet and a pin hole where the light would hit the object outside of the room and reflect it on the white canvas inside the wall. This was dominantly used in it's era to trace the silhouette of objects onto painting.

Later on, in the 18th century, the first photographic device was produced by French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce and was called the heliograph, the way this large machine device is very close to the concept of Camera Obscura, however, this time, the light hits a paper which has light reactive chemical that takes the reflection of light and paints out a image.

The first photo-ever taken with the heliograph, was called "View from the window at Le Glas" which was a landscape, black and white photo of the preview the inventor had from his balcony which features a small town and a village.

Although this is the first photo ever, If I was to trace lines inside I can come up with pretty interesting shape which depicts the location and the sight very good beside its rough and unclear nature. The angle also seems interesting as it seems that Joseph has used the building as a form of perimeter with a leading direction to the open field as to connotates it's role of main subject in this photo.

For its time the photographic composition really shines off in the photo, almost like is respecting or using a rule of third grill, which links to what most modern photographers do but with years of studying.

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With the innovation of something much better and portable, the market opens up more causing people curiosity to help give birth to many photographic genres. One of this genres that blew up was street photography due to easy and practical procedure which was to just take a camera and set it up for a long time of exposure. Although many bright minds were expressing their creativity, Charles Negre stand up as the father of street photography as Charles was the one which bought up of the concept of capturing and documenting so called street elements like: architecture, life and behaviour. Although his great influence in photography, Charles never labelled himself as a photographer because he started as painter however later on through out his artistic career, Charles street photography of Paris has started to influence  his painting.

This photograph is called " A street in Grasse"  which was made in 1853 by Charles Negre, I fine this image once again very impressive piece of art which represent what we have one in the current stage of street photography, in the primitive stage of photography.

One thing I really like in this image is that the angle chosen highlights a perfect and clear leading curved line. In the photo Charles's angle really showcases the use of line to convey a dynamic range ( aka distance) but also using the pathway as a guidance for the audience to know were to look.

Also another point I like in this image is the heavy emphasis on capturing the cluster and compactness of this rural city/village, this links a lot to what street photography really aims for, to capture a subject or sightseeing while keeping a urban/build up environment in the frame so the audience are aware of the street presence.

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Early in the 20th century, the next generation of Street Photographers, although they didn't entitle themselves like that, was the generation that street photography was used by the press to document an event or a location which was turned into news or a report. This movement into the press world was sparked by a  Austrian-Hungarian photojournalist  Andres Kertesz, which used the new innovation of cameras which made photography more popular and true to life, the Leica Cameras. just before the great wars, many photojournalists were starting slowly to begin their career and document more street stuff which gave a sign that the street photography particularly is going to blow up in the future.

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After WW2, the consecrated and acknowledge genre of street photography blew up, as famous photographers were aiming exactly to documents urban culture which is the main ethos of street photography. Famous photographer Robert Frank, as soon as the ww2 finished he grabbed the camera and documented American Culture in the urban environment, however although this was the bronze age of street photography therefore many of these photos had no composure nor aesthetic, it was raw and unfiltered, but later on this movement was taken to the studies and improved.

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Later in the 70s and 80s many street photographers still sticked to the Leica cameras and to also the traditional Black and White film, however in this period a new innovation in the world of photography has happened colour film, which many photographers pick up on it, such as street photographer Garry Winograd which was an influential street photographers due to his implication of taking part to the New York's modern art museum which both even more attention to the genre by future generations.

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In the 2000s, DSLR and digital cameras took over photography therefore leaving some film photographers feel obsolete for the market but fun for passion, with digital cameras and digital photo editing, street photography took a very huge turn as the possibilities of playing about and making your own look where infinite therefore many artists got into the beauty of street photography and posts their work to the massive social medias where it inspires further generations to hop on this trend. 

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Optical Wander is a Uk based photographer which creates a lot of content on social medias such as YouTube and Instagram where he vlogs his street photography process and editing, although there are many photographers out there on the market, Optical stands out with his high quality and clarity photos where his blue, high contrast and lowkey exposure photos match perfectly the shot and makes them standout from the others.

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