DECLARATION FORM

BA(Hons) IN FINE ARTS

MCNALLY SCHOOL OF FINE ARTS
LASALLE COLLEGE OF THE ARTS, SINGAPORE

Course Title: Studio Elective - History of Photography

Module Code: B-FA222

Essay title: History for Photography

Student Name : Pearl Lam Zi Yi

Student ID : 15039

Lecturers Name : Gilles Massot

Declaration

I have read and understood the LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore guidelines on academic
honesty, and declare that this assignment is my own work and does not involve plagiarism or collusion.
The sources of other peoples work have been appropriately referenced.

I have not submitted any part of this assignment for another module.

Students Signature :

Date : 28 October 2017

Note:

Please ensure the declaration form has been completed with a respective students signature. If

respective student do not sign this form, the grade for the module will be forfeited
My perception on photography has changed since the very first lesson on History of
Photography. I remember it was out of curiosity that resulted me in placing this course in
one of my top choices. Little did I know that history could be so fun, learning how every
single action being made in contributions to the discoveries and developments of
photography over the centuries.

It started out from humans' desire to capture a moment. The projection of an image was
simple as compared to the preservation of light to form the image. The journey of
preserving the light started from 1800, when Wedgwood achieved the first image using
silver nitrate on leather, without fixative.

Over the years, many series of methods and experiments made by scientists and inventors
then resulted in what we have today, digital single-lens reflex cameras also known as
DSLR cameras. I have learnt that humans have always had the desire to capture an image
of themselves. They called it likeness" which is also known as the slang, selfie" now.

Above is a photograph titled "Boulevard du Temple, Paris by Louis Jacques Mand

Daguerre in 1839. There are so many factors contributed to this photograph. The captured
image of a hustling bustling street looks very empty and calm. This was the result of the
long exposure of 8 to 10 minutes. At the same time, also resulted in having the first person
ever photographed because that man happened to remain at the same place for (at least)
the amount of time taken for the image to be captured.

Louis Jacques Mand Daguerre has been experimenting ways to capture images he had
seen in the camera obscura. He collaborated with Nicphore Nipce to tackle the issue of
having to capture the image with the use of light and chemistry. A scientist named Franois
Arago secured Daguerre a lifetime pension for the rights to his process. Arago then
demonstrated the daguerreotype process to the world. It is around the 1839 to 1850s, that
to be a photographer meant to be an artist, an inventor, as well as a scientist. At that time,
there were still a wide range of experimentations to best capture and preserve the images.
That is why being a photographer at that time is not the same as the definition of a
photographer today. I have learnt the struggles and overcomes from the discovery of
photography, to the different uses of photography and finally, to photography being
accepted in fine arts.
Five years later, on July 1844, Jules Itier had taken a daguerreotype in Singapore. It is
known as the oldest photograph of Singapore. The above slide is an image is the oldest
dated photo in Itier's journal on the left. On the right, it projects how Gilles Massot was
involved in the discovery, learning journey, reflection on history and being in Jules Itiers
shoes. Itier has made many primitive photographs in other countries within Asia as well.
An American daguerreotypist, named Eliphalet Brown Jr. had influenced and introduced
photography to Japan. The first daguerreotype in Japan was taken in 1857 by a
photographer named Ichiki Shiro.

Then came along another one of my favourite photographers, Julia Margaret Cameron.
She took up photography at 48 when she received the camera as a present. She creates
a focal point by incorporating the use of soft focus in her photographs. The image above
is a work of Julia Margaret Cameron done in 1865, titled Wist Yet Not That Your Father
and I Sought Thee Sorrowing?

She took on an approach to photography in a art and science way by manipulating the
wet collodion process. This caused her works to be viewed as "slovenly", mistakes" or
bad photography. During her time, people deemed good photography as sharp and good
balance in the photographs composition.


In 1880, Charles Bennett had already discovered and perfected the "dry plate process.
This process was able to shorten the exposure time to a percentage of one second. This
resulted in the capturing of movements. Take a look at Auguste Lumires self-portrait
taken in 1900, for instance. He is able to jump off a chair and pose at the same time. The
sensitivity of the gelatin silver paper allows a much shorter amount of time to seize the
moment. Thus, resulting in Lumire looking like he is sitting in the air. The ability to
capture fast pace movements enabled the study of animal and human anatomy.

The Japanese had developed their ways of using photography as well. They had a
photography unit for documenting their war in 1894. From then, the styles of
documentation have developed further. One of my favourite slides shown above, depicts
the street life of the Japanese. Taken by Japanese photographer Kuwabara Kineo. We
can see what they were influenced by looking at how they dress at that time compared to
now. The little girl in the foreground looks like she's wearing westernised clothing while
the man next to her is dressed in traditional Japanese clothing. Japan is known for being
very rich in culture till this day. You can still find many people dressed in traditional
clothes in small villages in Japan. In the cities, they wear traditional costumes during
summer festivals and other special occasions.

The idea of pictorial photography then started developing. Pictorial photographers started
focusing more on scenic visuals and qualities rather than the narratives or facts of the
subjects. In 1902, the favoured Alfred Stieglitz, a pictorialist, formed a group called
Photo-Secession. Anne Brigman was one of the photographers in the Photo-Secession.
Her photographs expressed an exotic freedom in pictures that often intertwines female
nudes with barren coastal rocks and trees. The image above is my favourite work on
Anne Brigman. I feel strongly for this work as it helps me feel at ease. The composition
and the atmosphere in this picture is quiet and soothing. There is something very
interesting, mystical, mysterious and whimsical about this photograph. The lady on
sitting on the tree reminds me of a flora-nurturing nymph in a poetic fairytale.

During the 1910s to 1930s, the concept of Modernist photography began. It was a new
and impactful movement in art which contributed to many changes in the environment,
the society and public affairs of the country. Because of this, there were acute amounts
of experiments and bringing back what was forgotten along the journey of photography
in many ways.

The untitled photograph from the slide above was taken by Otto Umbehr also known as
Umbo, was a self-taught German photographer. He was keen on experimenting with
unconventional methods. It took me awhile to properly grasp an understanding of this
photograph because of the perspectives. The top view and the shadows of this location.
Very nice. Took away the line between reality and a puppetry. Puppetry because this
photograph itself reminds me so much of a puppetry because of the shadows. His
photographs have a very special modernist and twist of his own style incorporated to the
everyday objects and people he photograph.
With the further development of modernist photography in the 1960s. Photographers
started taking on the conceptual development in their works rather than just pretty
images.

The work shown above is a perfect example. It is also very interesting and uncommon to
have input the probability of achieving something symmetrical, through chance. Even
then, after 36 tries (a complete roll of film), so what if it has been achieved? It is not just
achieving it, for this case, it is also photographing it! Documenting it, capturing that
moment. It is not simple at all. Having to multi-task throwing and capturing it with a
camera, making sure the balls are in frame.

It has definitely made me think about the technical aspect to make the photographs
happen. It also shows how much photography has developed over the centuries. In this
photograph, it shows the development of the camera. It is able to capture a moment in a
fraction of a second.

In history of photography class, we also learnt about Lytro and a gist of how it works. It
was first released about 5 years ago. It is still not commonly used yet. Finally, in history
class, we have learnt about something that might carry into the future and become more
commonly used in the photography world. I have learnt so much from how photography
started and the many different stages of inventions that were created and developed.
 I began to appreciate photography and cameras more each week. Every single invention
had its purpose and many photographers and art movements have contributed to the
development of photography. All of these has brought us to where we are now. Through
these past weeks, I look at photography as not just taking photos with a photographic
eye but also, looking at it with its history and how amazing the invention of a camera is,
of course, not forgetting the people behind these inventions. It has truly been a wonderful
journey.

Link to the blog for History of Photography Elective:

https://thepresentofyesterday.weebly.com

Bibliography

Baxley, George C. "Eliphalet M. Brown, Jr.- Daguerreotypist, Perry Expedition To Japan

1852-4." Baxleystamps.Com, http://www.baxleystamps.com/litho/brown.shtml.

Daniel, Malcolm. "Daguerre (17871851) And The Invention Of Photography | Essay |

Heilbrunn Timeline Of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum Of Art." The MetS Heilbrunn
Timeline Of Art History, 2004, https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dagu/hd_dagu.htm.

"Kodak (Original)1888." Kodaksefke.Nl, http://www.kodaksefke.nl/kodak-

original-1888.html.

Massot, Gilles. "PHOTOHISTORY ELECTIVE 2017." PHOTOHISTORY ELECTIVE 2017,

2017, http://photohistoryelective.weebly.com.

Tolmachev, Ivan. "A History Of Photography Part 1: The Beginning." Photo & Video Envato
Tuts+, 2010, https://photography.tutsplus.com/articles/a-history-of-photography-part-1-the-
beginning--photo-1908.

"Umbo (Otto Umbehr): Photography, History." Theredlist.Com, https://theredlist.com/

wiki-2-16-601-807-view-avant-gardism-experimentation-profile-umbo-otto-umbehr.html.