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When thinking about revolutionary technological advances, it is impossible to ignore the development of photography as it has completely transformed the way society consumes and produces media. From photographs in newspapers to major motion pictures, the importance of this technology is evident. During the nineteenth century, photography emerged and became a more widespread form of expression, greatly impacting the trajectory of American culture.
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To start, the first photograph was taken in 1827 by Joseph Nicephore Niepce, a French inventor who utilized the strategy of heliography, which is a photography strategy which uses sunlight reflected on a mirror. The photo was taken from a second-floor window in his home that on-looked his courtyard. It was exposed for eight hours, allowing the sun to appear to be shining on both sides of the building. -
The daguerreotype, which was invented by Louis Daguerre in 1839, was the first widely and publicly available photographic device. It worked by creating the image on a sheet of copper which was covered by a layer of silver. The sheets were then exposed to iodine to make them sensitive to light. -
At the same time as the daguerreotype was being developed, William Henry Fox Talbot was working on a technique that allowed him to take photographs of his scientific observations as he struggled to draw them. He used chemical means to achieve this goal by experimenting with soaking the paper in different solutions. His discovery allowed photographic negatives to be developed within a minute as opposed to over multiple hours. -
Frederick Douglass highly valued the invention of photography and equated its importance to other progressive technological advances, such as the steamboat. He believed that Louis Daguerre should get the same attention and respect as all other distinguished inventors of the nineteenth century. Douglass utilized photography by taking self-portraits of himself and combatting typical racist stereotypes of how black people were usually portrayed. -
Photojournalism began to arise across the globe in the nineteenth century. One significant example in the United States was Jacob Riis’ documentation of the living conditions in New York, published in 1889. Photojournalism tended to focus on human suffering, and was used to raise awareness– such as with Riis’ work. The ‘Golden Age’ of photojournalism was the mid 1930s when magazines such as LIFE, Look and Regards, that focused almost exclusively on photography were in print. -
Although there are photos of the civil war, the Spanish-American War is considered the first war where photography was widespread in documenting the conflict. During this time many newspapers published photos of the war, and they were also used for propaganda in justifying the war and increasing nationalistic attitudes. Publications that included images from the war typically sold well, as it gave ordinary citizens an insight to the fighting abroad. -
Throughout the mid-late 19th century, photography became much more widespread and accessible. Photography was a new art form that expanded art in the form of realism at the time. Photography also allowed for a new era of journalism and news reporting to emerge, as news became constantly accompanied by photos.
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