Before hand held cameras, photography was really for the wealthy. It required lots of expensive equpiment and many hours of labor and patience were needed to produce the image. But, in 1879 the dry plate was invented. It was a glass plate, negatively charged, with dried emulsion on it. The camera could now contain the film by itself and be stored for longer periods of time. The dry process also absorbed light rapidly so the picture no longer took minutes to take.
Just two years after that, George Eastman invented flexible film. The film could now roll up inside the camera and, with the help of the dry plates, stay inside for an extended period of time. Developing pictures was no longer expensive or lengthy so more and more less-wealthy people could get their hands on a camera.
How cool is that? In two years a camera goes from being expensive and bulky to inexpensive and hand held. The things people invent! What do you think would have happened if this hadn't happened? Would photography have evolved later, or not at all?
1 comment:
Megan, you’ve researched (and presented) some very interesting information on the history of photography. I’ll never forget when I was a kid (in the olden days!), my family had a Polaroid camera where the picture would process within a few minutes (around 5) after the picture was taken. The quality was kind of bad (and there was no way to make a duplicate copy), but it was always so exciting to see the image develop right before our eyes. Many cameras later, I love, love, love, my digital camera. The quality is great, it’s easy to use and making copies is easy and not very expensive. Do you take photographs on occasion or is photography a hobby of yours? Mrs. A.
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