Just like any ingenious invention emerging to popularity, photography in its early days were loved by people and it is still loved and even more useful up to these present times. But the photography of today is quite relatively different than the ones back in the mid-1700’s where owning portraits of a painting or the more advanced of daguerreotype and calotype photographs are like owning top class vehicles. In fact with just a simple portrait, a person’s status in the society would be recognized as belonging to a level in the middle class. I’m not saying that paintings or photographs can change a person on how he/she should be viewed and treated in the society, although it might but it is rather more of a personal desire- something to boost someone’s self-esteem rather than gaining societal acceptance and going with the groove. Probably around those times, nothing could possible make a person happy than to see him/herself in a portrait with all the specifications that follow each feature and contour of his/her face for that main reason. Belongingness and “the feeling of being remembered” by a family member or a love one follows through.
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| Sample of a physionotrace photograph |
For me personally, I think paintings and miniature drawings of myself are not out of fashion; it still delivers a kind of sophistication and beauty that takes you back to the old times like travelling in a time machine. We can only imagine how exciting it must be get a first glimpse of you in a painting or a photograph. Whether it is done through physionotrace, daguerreotype, calotype or the modern day techniques, it is but exciting like a child opening his first Christmas gift and that is why I think (in my opinion) that is the reason why the world loved first photographs.
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| Sample of daguerreotype photograph |
Who were the first photographers? Is there any of them that inspire you?
Right now, I own three digital cameras and this has nothing to do with being inspired by those first photographers back in the 1700 and 1800’s. Needless to say, most of their names doesn’t ring a bell not until I read some information in wiki and articles from an excerpt by Lemagny & Rouille about its history. Having been into the modelling career, I have friends who are professional photographers and having learned their techniques and style is truly amazing for me to demonstrate it on my own with my own camera. I believe this is the reason why I love cameras and things that are related to photography. But learning about those people that invented the techniques in photography makes me appreciate the whole process rather than just taking pictures and editing it using softwares. From Louis Daguerre to Fox Talbot until the invention of a much modern version by Herbert Berkeley, none of them could have been made that step without its first discovery by Joseph Niepce. He is for me the “Charles Darwin” of photography. The person inspire me the most not only because of his brilliant invention, but because it had me thinking that maybe there is a lot to discover in photography than what we have learned today. The man should be an inspiration to anyone who owns a camera.
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| Modern Photography |
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