Photography has not only helped document history, it has also changed human culture. It allows us to store memories of family and friends, capture life’s highlights and share them with others. Photos have become an integral part of our home albums and social networks. 24 Channels explains how photography started and how it has affected our culture.

Photographic art: a mold of the age

Since its inception, photography has provided humanity with a new way of expressing emotions and conveying ideas through images. Many photographers have become famous for their unique style and ability to express their thoughts through photography. Among them are Annie Leibovitz, Edward Steichen, Alfred Stiglitz and others. They created photographs that influenced society and culture, helping to change people’s perceptions of various aspects of life.

“The Golden Gate”, 1977 / Photograph by Annie Leibovitz

Flat Iron Building, 1904 / Photograph by Edward Steichen

New York, 1932 / Photograph: Alfred Stiglitz

Photography has also changed the way we perceive the world. It allows us to see beauty that we may have overlooked, ignored or forgotten before. Nature, city and human photographs have become not only aesthetic images, but also a means of learning and exploring a new world.

“Pale blue dot” / NASA photo

Photography is now available to anyone with a smartphone or camera. This has become possible thanks to the rapid development of technology and the Internet. This is why photography has become one of the most common forms of expression on the internet. People post their own pictures on social networks, share them with their friends and family, use them as a tool to express their thoughts and ideas – to create a collective album of humanity that forms the mold of an entire era.

Brief history of photography and how it changed humanity

The history of photography begins with the invention of the camera obscura, built in the early 16th century. At first it was a completely dark room with a small hole in the wall through which light entered. Images passing through this hole appeared on the back opposite wall of the room. This was a milestone – because the principle of the pinhole camera became the basis for the first cameras that appeared much later.

It was used to correct the image, essentially redrawing everything displayed on the opposite wall. Even portraits and landscapes were painted this way.

A camera obscura was used to create the Images/Photo Wikipedia

first photo

The first successful attempt at photographing took place in 1826, when French inventor Joseph Nicephore Niépce took the photograph from the window of his house. He used a sheet covered with sunscreen that reacts to light and stays dark where light can’t reach it.
Heliography involves the process of creating an impression familiar with engraving, the “view from the window at Le Gras”. However, the cliché was made by processing the plate with special chemistry.

“View from the window at Le Gras” recorded in 1826

development of photography

A real breakthrough in photography became possible thanks to the invention of the daguerreotype by the French artist Louis Daguerre. This device used a metal plate coated with a photosensitive material that remained bright in the areas hit by the beam. The plate was then treated with a chemical solution to make the photosensitive material more stable.

Louis Daguerre Workshop, 1837 / Photo Wikipedia

Daguerre’s modification consisted of the processed photosensitive silver plate becoming the carrier of the image. Daguerre became famous for his dioramas. Wanting to improve his work, he began working with Nicephorus Niéps on the technology of stabilizing an image from a camera obscura – they signed a cooperation agreement in 1829. Daguerreotypes made it possible to capture clear, detailed images, but these were difficult and expensive to manufacture.

mass photography

In 1888, the American company Kodak presented the first simple camera, called the Kodak. This camera had a simple mechanism and provided a convenient process for photographing and processing images.

It had a fixed focus and made it possible to obtain circular images with a diameter of 6.4 centimeters. The film loaded in the camera made it possible to take exactly 100 pictures. All this cost $25 – pretty expensive for the time. However, it made the photo reach more people, which was one of the steps taken towards the mass use of the photo.

A real collective camera appeared more than 10 years later. The Kodak Brownie came out in 1900 and cost $1, and the movie cost 6 frames and cost 15 cents.

The Kodak Brownie was released in 1900 / Photo Wikipedia

collective memory of humanity

In the 20th century, photography became a powerful tool for documenting the world and preserving historical events and monuments. It was used to record events during wars, scientific expeditions, and medicine. For example, war photographs were used as a propaganda tool and to document horrific events. Photography also helped science and medicine keep archives, study anatomy, and examine many other points that became incredibly important to later research.

But photography not only helped make scientific discoveries, it also contributed to the cultural evolution of humanity. For example, photographs of Jay Smith capture the 1955 murder of a young African-American, Emmett Till, a major step in the civil rights struggle.

Therefore, the history of photography is rich in innovations, technological discoveries and unforgettable historical events. Photography has helped us preserve memories, document history, and change human culture. Photography is an art that allows you to express your thoughts and feelings as well as change people’s worldview. At the same time, photography remains a reliable tool in helping humanity find new worlds in space, and it all started with the desire to better remember the view from the window at Le Gras.