Photography
First Flight of the Wright Brothers, Library of Congress
Site revised July 9, 2003
History
Photo History by R. Leggat
Renae Miller
Photography is a medium that has always embraced many
traditions.
Historically the methodology behind photography developed slowly despite the
availability of technology. Once interest was sparked from the earliest
inventions developments within the field of photography were rapid and
numerous. The author is Robert Leggat, who holds several educational
degrees such as an MA, M.ED and Ph.D. He is an advocate for the Royal
Photographic Society and is a respected member.
The site does not offer a traditional timeline. The
unique organization
offers insight to events that shaped the beginnings of photographic history,
and dates jump by relativity and not order. Some of the events included
are
as early as Leonardo da Vinci's drawings of the Camera Obscura dated 1519 and
are dated as late as Frederick Boissona's use of a large camera to photograph
the Acropolis in Athens in 1913. One feature is the highlighting of
individual words which are linked to more information on the subject, such as
William Henry Fox Talbot and the invention of his Colotype.
The last feature I really enjoyed was the listing of famous photographers
and relative inventors.
GE Museum Timeline of Photo History
http://www.eastman.org/5_timeline/5_index.html
A must-see detailed photo-illustrated chronology.
The George Eastman House International Museum of Photography
Probably the largest photo museum, with an extensive website, and searchable catalog with photographers biographies; online exhibits, and the Timeline of Photography
The Eastman Photography Collections
http://www.eastman.org/9_colphoto/9_index.html#anchor1537254
URL introduces the key areas of photo history and some images
Corbis
This site has over three and half million images online, including historic
photography from UPI, the widely revered Bettmann collection, and contemporary
work by some of the hottest shooters in the world. Corbis is designed for
advertising agencies and editors. Advertising agencies or corporate
marketing people look for
images they can incorporate into everything from newsletters to
international print campaigns. Editorial photo researchers find shots
that support the story or feature to which they've been assigned. Corbis also
presents fine art, illustration and even cartoons. The site is truly
international.
Photography Museum
http://www.photographymuseum.com/
Jesse Leonard
This site shows the beginnings of the photojournalism industry. It
explains
early camera techniques and tricks used to capture certain shots. Early
cameras were extremely crude compared with today’s cameras. It was very
interesting reading about early development processes and the types of
cameras used by early journalists. This site is full of early photos and
also contains many visuals to describe certain processes.
Masters of Photography
http://www.masters-of-photography.com/
Wow, what a great resource – lotsa images, well-organized, with articles and images.
NY Public Library collection
http://digital.nypl.org/mmpco/
ArtCyclopedia
http://www.artcyclopedia.com/media/Photographer.html
Online art, organized by genre and date of birth; great resource, although narrowing to certain artists can be awkward.
Photo Business
Digital Journalist
Jesse Leonard
This website is unique in that is shows the merging industry of digital
photojournalism. The site discusses the advantages and disadvantages of
using digital instead of film cameras. Images taken from digital cameras
can be quickly uploaded to editors but the image quality is not yet up to
that of traditional film. Some of the writers here also critique the
photos
and photo essays printed in other publications. It is interesting to hear
an insider’s perspective on images that are chosen to be published. This
site is a very good place to learn about the digital photo industry. It
also discusses photography in general in great depth.
Photo.Net
http://
Renae Miller
Photography as a way of life is not easy and any professional would
agree. I found many resources and a strong photographic
community. The sites creator is Philip Greenspan who initially had it as his
own homepage. There was a tremendous need for a community and the company
grew.
He now takes a passive role in the company as one of its board of
directors but he authored several portions of the site. One article by
Greenspan is the historical timeline. It offers a business history with
specific references to the advancement in materials and the earliest
photography parlors ever opened. It is a member-based site but everyone is
encouraged to use it despite membership status. As of 2000 the
organization
was over 135,000 members strong and offers more than 3300 pages of
educational and professional information. They also claim that they have
over 34 million pages opened a month. There are over 400,000 images on the
site and another interesting feature is the ability for members to post work
and receive constructive criticism and tips.
The sites diversity ranges from simplicity for the novice,
and technical
issues for the expert. Information is readily available in every area in the
site. There is a standard posting area, and a section where professionals
can post favored techniques. I found a feature offered on this website
that
I rarely see on others. On every page their is a comment and criticism
area
where people are allowed to discuss techniques or errors within the site.
For example at the bottom of the timeline several people have made postings
with information that was left out or inaccurate. People are encouraged to
participate with the sites information. There are also many links
available
for reference and members are also allowed to post links. The page is
frequently cleaned up to prevent unauthorized "advertisers" from
posting
here. Workshops are also offered for things such as proper handling of
paper, exposure times, and the proper use of apertures. Reviews are
another
highlight that keep photographers up-to-date on new equipment and ideas.
The site does have advertisers but the users give criticism
to whomever
they choose as do the reviewers. Another page feature is a stolen
equipment
section where you can check used equipment's serial numbers to see if they
are stolen. An owner of a used camera equipment shop would perhaps find
this
feature handy. There is also a classified section offering photographic
related equipment and material for sale and auction. The site covers tough
technical questions and information on where to begin. Photo.net has a
large
variety of topics that make it a useful site of photographers.
Occupational Outlook Handbook
http://
Renae Miller
The site is sponsored by the US Department of Labor and
its purpose is to reveal statistics recovered and to discuss job
requirements. This site takes you to the Occupational
Outlook Handbook and has information on thousands of careers. The site
offers a wide variety of addresses and links on places to go for work in the
field of photography.
When I opened the site the first page lists alphabetical
(A B C D) links
to different careers. By clicking P for photography I came up with
photographers/photojournalism, photo equipment repair, photographic
processor, and photographic retouching. I focused on
photographers/photojournalism but I was pleased that other areas of
photography were displayed. According to the site a person looking to make
a
career as a photographer must have a keen eye, technical expertise, and be
creative. They also stated that only the most skilled and talented who
have
good business sense are able to have a long lasting career in photography. It
also offered different types of jobs within the field of photography such as:
commercial/industrial, scientific, news, fine arts, and for the self
employed.
Photographers held 131,000 jobs in the year 2000. More
than half of them
are self-employed or freelance photographers. The median annual salary in
2000 was $22,300. The middle 50% earned between $16,790 and $33,000.
The
lowest earning 10% earned less than 13,760 and the highest earning 10% earned
over $47,000. The highest paid photographers are salaried photographers,
and the lowest paid are the self employed. This site included a business
history in the sense that it gave statistics from previous years. The site
did not offer specific information on internships although their were links to
that
information. A person seeking employment from a specific company would not
use this site because it only covers employment in specific fields as opposed
to specific companies. I do recommend this site to anyone considering
different fields of employment.
PhotoJournalism Careers
This site lists everything imaginable pertaining to the photojournalist
industry. It begins by describing the nature of the work. It then
explains
the different working conditions and the employment outlook. The field is
highly competitive and the outlook is about average when compared to all
fields. The site also discusses the training needed and lists the salaries
for the different areas. Not many make more than $30,000 a year.
This site
provides the greatest wealth of information on the photography industry I
could find in one place.
Online Photography Resources
A History of Photography
http://www.rleggat.com/photohistory/
Online illustrated history with links to articles on major players and technologies, from the beginning to the 1920s. Start here to put the other resources in perspective.
The George Eastman House Museum of Photography
http://www.eastman.org/9_colphoto/9_index.html
Contains extensive online photo resources and documentation. Here are images to make sense of the more detailed Leggat history.
The Media History Project
http://www.mediahistory.com/photo.html
Histories and resources of all media; here are the photo links
The American Museum of Photography
The primer on different types of photographs (calotype, ambrotype, etc.) is very helpful --
http://www.photographymuseum.com/primer.html#linksThe American Photographic Historical Society
Yahoo links to Education, History, and PhotoJournalism
http://dir.yahoo.com/Arts/Visual_Arts/Photography/History/
The Civil War Photography Centerhttp://www.civilwarphotography.com/aboutphoto/index.htm
provides the cultural, business, and technological setting to understand the photography of the era.
A Century of Photography
http://www.pbs.org/ktca/americanphotography/features/
Companion to the PBS documentary, with several themes, including art and stereotypes.
Jones Media History of Photography
http://www.digitalcentury.com/encyclo/update/photo_hd.html
Photo-seminars.com
http://www.photo-seminars.com/pscampus.htm
Here’s a professional online photography school, with articles, tips, and resources
I Photo Central
http://iphotocentral.com/index.shtml
You can use this resource to research and print photos for your portfolio reviews. It’s an online source of historic photos for sale, searchable, with downloadable and printable photos.The Photojournalists Coffee House
http://www.intac.com/~jdeck/index3.html
Photojournalism essays, from burlesque to politics.
Archive Photos
A commercial source for images, with 23,000 searchable pictures available online at
http://www.archivephotos.com/film/search/index.html
The PhotoForum Lists of Photo Web Siteshttp://www.rit.edu/~andpph/webpages.html
List of links with great breadth, including academic and professional sites.
Here is their list of Photojournalism sites
http://www.rit.edu/~andpph/web-04.html
Journal E,
Online magazine focused on photojournalism. Hot graphics, a good place to have fun while doing schoolwork at the same time.
Art in Context
Contains images from all media, organized by genre, with references to galleries. Strange organization makes this a hard site to navigate, but there are many great photos.
Library of Congress Collections