Annie Liebovitz
Bette Midler in promotional photo for the movie "The Rose"
1979
Engraving of the first illustration of a camera obscura, published in 1544.
Joseph Niepce
View From His Window at Le Gras
1837
Heliograph
The oldest surviving photograph made with a camera. Niepce's exposure time is assumed to be about 8 hours, however recent research showed it may have taken over 40 hours of summer daylight to make this image.
William Henry Fox Talbot, Latticed Window, Photogenic Drawing, 1835
This is the first evidence of using a camera with light-sensitive materials. Uses the negative to positive process with a paper negative.
William Henry Fox Talbot
The Open Door, 1844
Calotype. This is a photo that appeared in the book The Pencil of Nature which was one of the first books illustrated with actual photographs. This is a calotype and the other popular invention of the time was the daguerreotype. How did these two processes compare and how did they influence the appearance of the image?
Louis Daguerre
Avenue du Temple, Paris
ca. 1838
Daguerreotype
One of Daguerre's earliest works. Notice the man getting his shoe shined is the only person in the image. Why?
Daguerreotype of Jacksonville, Oregon
The daguerreotype images were also called "mirror image" because of their high reflectance. They were presented in elaborate cases often with dark velvet on the opposite side so the dark tone would reflect off the mirror-like surface and the picture would appear more clearly.
The process was "invented" in 1839. How long was the process popular?
Hippolyte Bayard
Self-Portrait as a Drowned Man
1840
Why was this photograph titled as such?
Anonymous
Confederate Soldier, ca 1864
Tintype
Anonymous
Post-mortem photographs
1850-1860's
Daguerrotypes
Post-mortem photography flourished in the first decades of photography among clients who preferred to capture an image of a deceased loved one rather than have no photograph at all.
Southworth and Hawes
Daniel Webster, ca. 1851
Daguerreotype
Albert Sands Southworth
Self-portrait, 1848
Daguerreotype
Very unique type of portrait for the time; dramatically lit, unclothed, and a romantic pose. The image attests to the artistic approach of Sandworth and Hawes in their commericial portrait work.
David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson
3 Fisherman Onshore (in the fishing village of New Haven)
ca. 1845
This work was part of the earliest documentary photographs.
Ambrotype (collodian on glass), patented in 1854
Image on left is shown without black backing; right side has black backing applied to make the collodion look like a positive when it is actually a negative image on the glass.
Stereo Card Viewer
Oliver Wendel Holmes Invented this improved version in 1854 that made it convenient and helped popularize the stereo photographic views which were often sold by subscription and were still popular into the 1920's.
Mathew Brady
"Abraham Lincoln," 1860
Carte d'visite. These small photographs could be mass produced cheaply and were used as promotional materials for Lincoln's campaign for president. Brady directed light onto Lincoln's face to distract attention from his extremely elongated body. This photo was reproduced in newspapers and magazines across the nation and Lincoln credited it as a major factor in his being elected U.S. President.
Sally Mann
Emmett, Jessie, and Virginia, 1989
from Mann's "Immediate Family" project
An uncut print from a carte d'visite photograph. The print would be cut into multiple photographs and mounted on small cards, about 4 x 2 1/2 inches. The carte d'visite was patented in 1854 by a Frenchman, Andre Disderi.
Nadar
Sarah Bernhardt, ca. 1864
Print from Wet-plate Collodian Negative
Nadar
Self-portrait of Nadar as an Aeronaut
Circa 1863
Carte d'visite
What unique things did Nadar accomplish during his career as a photographer in Paris?
Adam Fuss
1992
Photogram on Ilfochrome
Timothy O'Sullivan
Harvest of Death, Gettysburg, PA
Albumen silver print
1863
