Category: History of Photography
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A Most Interesting Photographer
> _“I am going to make a name for myself. If I fail, you will never hear of me again.”_ Edward Muggeridge I love writing about great photographers. I’m sure there are some exceptions, but in general they tend to be among the oddest and most interesting groups of people on the planet. I thought the…
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Politicians, Pork, and Photographers
## How the Government Accidentaly Created the Golden Age of American Photography * “Corn Along a River” Marion Post Wolcott, 1940. Library of Congress. * _“Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.” —_ Mark Twain _“Politics is the art of looking for…
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The Man Who (Almost) Never Succeeded
## The Rather Sad Story of the Father of American Photography It’s been a long time since I did a photography history article. I generally prefer the early days of photography. People just were, I don’t know, _more_ back then. There was more lying, backstabbing, more drama, and more originality.…
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Exploding Photographers, Disappearing Clothes, and the Development of Film
It’s been a while since I wrote a history article and two or three people seemed to like them. Since I’m one of those two or three people, and it’s my blog, I figured it was about time to do another one. I’ve pretty much covered the development of early cameras and lenses so it’s time to consider…
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Serial Numbers, Circa 1870
I had a fun surprise today. We were cleaning a couple of old Petzval lenses, getting them ready to show off at Imaging USA next week. One of our Darlot lens from circa 1870 or so gave us quite a surprise. *A pair of Darlot Petzval lenses, circa 1870* When we removed the elements to clean them, we…
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The Most Important Developments in Photography
In my last article I listed the three most important developments in photography. Then someone pointed out that I’d made an error. I mean, I may have misspoken. Wait, I mean I was less correct than I might have been. I listed the invention of the camera first (that part is pretty hard to argue…
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Lens Genealogy – Part 2
For those who missed all the excitement, in Part 1 of this series I discussed that almost all modern SLR lenses derive from one of 6 types of lenses that were basically in use by the 1920s. Part 1 covered the first three lenses: the Symmetrical, Double Gauss, and Petzval lenses. Those three lenses…
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Lens Genealogy Part 1
### In which I begin to answer the question “Why Do You Put the Lens Diagrams on Your Website?” ### Where do new lens designs come from? I knew that today’s lenses are all designed using computer programs, but I was surprised to find new lenses aren’t designed from scratch. Designers start with an…
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1839 and the Frenzy that Followed
In our last article, we covered the invention of photography up until 1839 when Argo announced Daguerre’s invention and spoke of his accomplishment to the French Academy of Sciences. By the middle of January, news of Daguerre’s invention had spread around the world. The actual techniques used…
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The Showman, the Sheriff, and the First Cameras
## Enter the Showman In my last article, we discussed the first image makers, up until the late 1820s when Niepce had actually been able to make images using a camera obscura and silver plates coated with Bitumen of Judea. On his way to England, Niepce had been introduced to a most interesting man,…
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The Chemists, the Potter, and the Aristocrat: Imaging Before the Photograph
Since I started my articles on the early development of photographic lenses, I’ve been wanting to write an article on the development of the first cameras. The early days are so much more fun to write about, back when photographic advances were about people rather than corporations. Many of the…
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The Development of Wide-Angle Lenses
# Introduction When I started my series about the history of lens development, I had planned three articles ending at the turn of the 20th Century. By that time many modern, excellent lenses had already been developed and it seemed a natural stopping point. After my series of 3 articles, I planned…