The history of photography

timeline

Context is an important aspect of photography and this can be demonstrated though the history of photography itself. Pinning a timeline of historical images onto a wall and observing the changes in culture, belief, religion and race elegantly illustrates the journey photography has been through. Mass devastation courses through, joy, memories but most of all growth. In 1820/30 when photography was first founded the possibilities were limited to just metal plates with a substance lying on top that were exposed to light accidentally and from there, early photographers experimented to unlock other aspects of what photography could mean. More places and people were documented and there pictures will last forever as a mark of new direction. However photography did not alter alone but also painting. The way we see paintings is now in relation to photography, we look at the composure, exposure, colour balancing and the subjects themselves which may not have been the case because when I hear "art" I picture brush strokes, mixing palettes, acrylics, a large white canvas not the composition of subjects which has been manufactured by photography. I strongly believe that early photographs take on the language of painting in the same respect all creative arts take on other arts roles not just their own. You now see much of fashion is combined with photography or art. Pieces of clothing have particularly thought patterns sewn, stitched or bled onto them.