Reading Logs

mostly late night reading logs, which is why I chose coffee beans as my backgound. I am also Colombian, so I felt that coffee beans made a great fit.

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Chapter 10

Reading Log 10 - “Seizing the Light,” by Robert Hirsch

It is the final reading log of the session and I was very happy to find out that it will be concluded with discussing Modernism. I have found many of the topics for this class to be very enticing, I learned many names of many individual who have in some way impacted history and today’s world of art. 

Modernists of the early 20th century got rid of the ideas of Renaissance content in order to portray more contemporary and experimental events. 

One of the things that I found most interesting about this chapter is the section on High and Low Art. I actually discussed this same topic in my history of Walt Disney class (he had quite an interesting life). With art, wealthy people/business would have been able to afford to commission an artist to produce a piece of work for them. High arts were viewed as highly respected and elitist work. Low art was considered more appealing as a mass. Post cards were created to reach out to a larger mass of people, this was both profitable and accessible to anyone! This was a great definition of “low art.” 

The above image was taken by Alvin Langdon Coburn in 1912. “The Octopus” is actually an image of freshly fallen snow. Alvin was best known for his photographs of New York skyscrapers and he preferred to shoot his photos from a elevated  point of view. His photographs look flat and abstract. From afar, The Octopus did not look like an overhead view of a snowy park. He did this purposely, he wanted his spectators to view his work in an abstract and beautiful way, there was no room for identifying its subject matter. Alvin paved his way toward Abstraction by utilizing his kaleidoscopic photos, also known was vortographs. 

These Vortographs are mesmerizing:

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Chapter 9

Reading Log 9 - Seizing the Light by Robert Hirsch

Last chapter, I read about the works of Muybridge and Marey and their contrasting works of photographically capturing human and animal movements. Chapter 8 also covered the introduction of color to photography. We have Levi L. Hill for discovering this, though it was accidentally. This theory of color photographs was later on tested by James Clerk Maxwell and Thomas Sutton, a photographer and scientist dynamic duo to the rescue! (Muybridge and Marey could have been so great together.)

Chapter 9 is all about the evolution of Pictorialism, Symbolism, and photography clubs. 

Terms to remember:

Symbolism: a revolt against realism and its minute descriptions of an objective. It’s the expression of the shifting, subtle state of the human psyche by using symbols and metaphors. 

-Pictorialism, according to Peter Henry Emerson, is the founded premise that camera images could engage the senses and emotions in a naturalistic manner. 

-Naturalism: all phenomena through natural forces rather than the supernatural and looks for causes instead of reason [p. 192]

- The Secession Movement: the reflection of disenchantment  of younger artists with practices and exhibition policies of established Western art societies.

- Halation: the luminous halo, with a diffused outer edge, that occurs when an exposure is made into a bright source of light, also known as backlighting. 

Some of the more intriguing parts about this chapter are the photography clubs. I never knew it was even a thing back in the late 1800s. To be exact, there were about ten clubs in the U.S. by 1895, there were over 150 groups. It must have been quite exclusive since the text mentions that the groups were largely populated by white upper-middle class amateur photographers. Women also didn’t exactly have a place in these groups either, some would say that a woman’s place was at home, which lead to women challenging these unequal opportunities inside the photography realm. The unequal treatment may even be present in today’s society, sadly. Although we have come a long way, in my opinion there is still unfairness and unequal treatment among minority groups and I’m only talking about artistic world. I have personal experience with this while I have worked. 

Getting back to the photography clubs and the unfair treatment of women in these clubs, there was one individual who took it upon herself to make a statement. Catherine Weed Barnes wrote an article, “Why Ladies Should be Admitted to Membership in Photographic Societies.” This is an article that I wish to find and read, just to have a glimpse of Catherine’s point of view and she stance on this issue. I think it’s an important part of this chapter to be placed in this shoes of someone who felt poorly treated due to their gender and how she treated the problem at hand. 

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Chapter 8

Reading Log 8

Seizing the Light by Robert Hirsh

We are on the final week of class and it seems unbelievable to me. I feel as though I just started this last last week, but I also feel like I learned SO much in these last few weeks of class. My main goal for the summer is to be able to read more, write more, and most importantly learn more. It’s great brain food! I’m glad that I enrolled in this course and I can appreciate photography even more now that I have learned its significance in our history. 

Tonight, I want to discuss the work of Eadweard J. Muybridge. Looks like “eed weird.” 

I remember hearing his name in Intermediate Photography, it’s a shame that we did not follow up on more of his work. Mr. Muybridge was a interesting person to read about. He was put on trial for killing his wife’s lover and was aquitted by the jury in 1875. Muybridge then moved the Central America, where he spent most of his time photographing. Tracing back to 1872, he was asked by horse enthusiast Leland Standford to photographically show the movement of a galloping horse. Why was this so important? For one, horses are awesome. Two, Muybridge wanted to use photographs to capture the sensation that still photos while viewed in a rapid succession can depict motion [p. 166]. This was known as “Persistence of Vision.” 

There was one individual who contrasted Muybridge in his work. His name is Etienne-Jules Marey and he was a scientist. His goal was to make an unseen world visible to people in an objective way. In other words, he wanted to combine photography and measurable facts/data in order to analyze both human and animal movement. He didn’t want people to only rely on timed photographs, he needed to know HOW it worked. Muybridge’s work focused on HOW animal and human motion looked. 

Marey used photography to depict “all at oneness.” 

All at Oneness means to picture time as a progression of events in which patterns blend and circulate together and can simultaneously observed. 

We have one person who focuses on how the motion of humans and animals look and then we have the other person who uses science and art to show how the motion of humans and animals work. I am surprised that Muybridge and Marey didn’t actually work together to become a supreme team! They probably could have gone much further in their work as a team, rather than be depicted as “contrasts” in each other’s work. So, why didn’t they? I’m curious. 

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Chapter 7

Seizing the Light by Robert Hirsch

The image above was captured by Herbert G. Ponting. It was a grotto in an iceberg during the Terra Nova expedition. 

I chose the photo mainly because it really caught my attention, of all of the photographs labeled in this chapter. It’s intriguing because it looks as if it were a portal into another realm. I can imagine myself (freezing of course) standing in this grotto and viewing the splendorous colors of the ice around me. It’s a beautiful point of view. Herbert actually called himself the “camera artist,” and for good reason too! He was both a photographer and a cinematographer as well. The Expedition to Terra Nova, however, was a disastrous one, as it posed highly dangerous conditions for every crew member involved. 

The practice of commercial photography was established in the mid-1850s, leading the way for architectural beauty, works of engineering, and scenic views. This required skilled photographers to have a good sense of accuracy in detail and sharpness of the photos. 

Another fascinating photographer is Maxime Du Camp, who took photos of Egypt and most of the Middle East. The photograph that was featured in this chapter is breathtaking, titled “Westernmost Colossus, The Great Temple.”

Francis Frith 

I look at these travel photographs from the mid 1800s and how different it must be now to travel around the world and photograph the same scenery. We have way to enhance the photos we take, like the brightness and contrast, the sharpness and focus on the photos. It was quite a process before whereas now, it’s just a tap of the screen away from taking a photo and posting it on social media. Not only is technology changing, but the environment around us as well and I think that is a major concern for photographers who are trying to capture the very essence of our world. 

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Chapter 6

Seizing the Light by Robert Hirsch

Photography as an art or industry

It was a challenge for many photographer at this time to gain the respect that they deserved when it came to their work. Many did not view photography as an art form. It wasn’t until 1861, when the French studio of Mayer and Pierson who accused another studio of unauthorized copying of celebrity photos. The worst part about this, is in order to be covered under a particular French copyright law, photography had to be recognized first as an art. It wasn’t and the court did not rule in favor of the Mayer and Pierson Studio. Later on, there was an appeal and photography won the title of being an art and the protection laws that came with it. 

That still didn’t change how people viewed photographs. They were often considered “more artistic when they looked less photographic,” yet, a painting was seen more artistic when it had more photographic details added to it. It seems like a vicious cycle. Photographers learned to use allegories in their work. Other artists, like Lady Filmer, went on a different route and created collages of photos. Lady Filmer opened doors to photographers as it invited artists to explore the cut-and-paste method which allowed them to take every day events and recreated time and space in a single image. 

Some interesting facts that I learned from this chapter:

- in 1841, the census didn’t list photography as a profession. After 10 years, there were 51 photographers and 10 years after that, there were 2,879! 

- In 1851, there was only one recorded photographer and by 1861, there were 204 women in the profession. 

- one of the first medical books to be illustrated with over 100 tipped-in albumen prints was Guillaume-Benjamin Duchenne de Boulogne’s “The Mechanism of Human Facial Expression.”

- Oscar G. Rejlander produced an allegorical photomontage called, “ The Two Ways of Life.” However, it didn’t sell very well and stirred up some controversy in regards to the ethics of combining negatives to manufacture a scene that didn’t exist. 

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Chapter 5

“Seizing the Light” by Robert Hirsch

This week’s discussion was based around photojournalism and its important throughout history of war. From the Crimean war to the war in Afghanistan, Photographers have gone through lengths to capture the realism and horror of war. They choose to capture moments that audiences further interpret for themselves. The earliest record of war photos were from the Mexican War. Sadly, the Daguerrotypist responsible for these images is unknown. 

After the Mexican War came the first war to be covered by newspaper reporters, artists, and photographers, the Crimean War. Roger Fenton was sent to document the Crimean War. A Manchester editor wanted to profit from selling pictures to upper class people. The main reason, besides profit, was to boost public support for the war campaign. 

During the American Civil War had many photographers, such as Alexander Gardner, John Reekie, Timothy O’Sullivan. The photographs that they produced were all powerful in content, but I think that the lack of technology limited these photographers in being able to mass produce photos which in modern day is a piece of cake for photographers to show the world what war is like in its true and raw form. Modern day war photojournalists are able to have their own personal impressions shown through their photographs.The question is, does the photographer only take war photos of what we should see or do they portray just what is in front of them so we may draw our own interpretations? Are photos manipulated by the way photographers “stage” their photos?

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Chapter 4

THi“Seizing the Light” by Robert Hirsch

The main spot light of this chapter is the Collodian procress. Collodion ( call-oh-dee-un?) became known as the “wet plate process. It was referred as the wet plate process because the plate had to be damp throughout every process since the ether dried quickly. The way that this process was first discovered was by Frederick Scott Archer who learned that he could substitute paper for collodion. He coated the glass plate with iodized collodion and exposed the wet plate. This became a success for Archer! This process provided a detailed and reproducible negative, which also required less exposure time compared to Niepce’s method.

Another interesting method is the Albumen process. Claude Felix Abel Niepce de Saint-Victor (what’s with the long names?) had discovered that albumen, which is literally egg whites, provided a great and reliable binder of silver salt onto glass plates. He had achieve an efficient way to use glass plate processes. 

The most interesting and crazy fact the I read in this chapter is the Dresden Albumenizing Company’s 180 employees cracked 60,000 eggs EACH DAY. This was just for the production of double-albumenized paper, which the collodion process had a high demand for. The advantage of this paper was the way it provided precise detail than the salted paper ever did. 

another collodion-based method was the Ferrotype. This type was well known for using iron-compound developer. The ferrotype was described as being a black or brown-black plate, which was coated with collodion and then sensitized just before exposure. Similarly made was the ambrotype. The ambrotype (meaning imperishable) was also known as “daguerrotypes on glass.” I wondered if the creator of the ambrotype was ever slightly offended for having ambrotype referred to as that. But then again, he was a daguerrotypist, so I’m sure he was fine with this comparison. 

Another collodion method is the carte de visite, also known as the visiting card. This was a 2 1/4″ x 3 1/2″ sized portrait used for various documents, such as licenses, passports, permits, and visiting cards. The person responsible for this method is Andre-Adolphe-Eugene Disderi. He patented this process and later introduced it to the public in Paris.

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Chapter 3

Reading Log 3 - Seizing the Light by Robert Hirsch

The man photogaphed above is none other than the creator of the Calotype himself; William Henry Fox Talbot ( try to say that five times in a row.)

Despite the fact that Talbot’s patents were unprofitable nor did he have a pension and honors for his discovery (ouch), he still managed to discover something that later on in his time became quite the “talk of the century.” 

Some of the positives about the Calotype:

- it excelled in effect, the emotional atmosphere generated by the photographer, whereas the Daggereotype did not.

- there was a flexibility with Calotypes, which allowed photographers to manipulate the photo before they made the print. They achieved this by retouching with pencil, graphite, watercolor, and India ink. 

- it was cheaper to make, easier to use, and provided numerous prints, something that Daguerre couldn’t do. 

Despite some of its advantages (including the most important one, creating multiple prints), the Calotype was not so popular in America. Americans heavily favored the Daguerreotypes, since the singular print created so much detail that the Calotype could not replicate. They apparently didn’t like the idea of paying a commercial licensing fee. 

Nonetheless, Talbot’s extraordinary creation helped shaped the photography realm across multiple disciplines, to name a few: 

 - delineation of detail

- expanded tonal range

- print permanence

-Retouching

- and mass production

- power of chiaroscuro 

Reading through chapters 2-3 made me realize how spoiled we are to have made such huge strides in our technology development. retouching a post-exposed photo of yourself? We have editing software for that ( some of us may pay too much to use). We have the capability of snapping a photo of the gulf coast sunset, right at the tips of our fingers. It was considered a luxury for wealthy people to even have photographs! All I have to say is, we got it pretty good. Also, I miss my flip phone...those were the good old days.

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Chapter 2

Reading log 2

“ Seizing the Light” 3rd Edition, by Robert Hirsch

The Daguerreotype: the Image and Object

Have I ever heard of this term before? Maybe once or twice during one of my classes.

Starting in 1839 and through the 1850s, the daguerreotype’s greatest ability was to render incredible detail. So, how did this contraption come about in the 1930s? This American artist and inventor named, Samuel F.B. Morse was in Paris to meet with Daguerre so Morse could demonstrate his invention, electric telegraph.

Why was the Daguerreotype so significant during this time? Before the Daguerreotype was invented, it was highly unusual to see servants and tradespeople to have some sort of way to commemorate themselves. Having your portrait taken was a luxury, that many common people could not experience. The invention of the Daguerreotype allowed for everyday people to now make “their own visual history,” [pg. 27].

I think of the most troubling and yet interesting thing about the rising popularity of the Daguerreotype, is the process between the photographer and the sitter. I read about a photographer even going to the lengths of threatening his clients to sit still or he’d blow their brains out [pg. 32]. Yiiiikes. Can you imagine how that be in today’s photography realm? I know a couple of people who are wedding photographers who I’m sure would get so frustrated with parties who don’t listen to them when they attempt to gather family and friends together for formals. But to threaten them? Probably not. I’m sure it was extremely tiring and painful to sit still as the (sometimes inexperienced) photographers would attempt to do an exposure for their photo. some would last as long as 8 minutes. It might feel like forever for someone who must sit still during this process. Nonetheless, the Daguerreotype was a huge step forward for many reasons and non-wealthy people of that time were ecstatic to be able to commemorate themselves.

The positives of the Daguerreotype:

- This device has the properties and information of a two-dimensional AND three-dimensional object. This was not created on a contemporary piece of paper and it was definitely not made like a paper photograph. 

- The greatest technical advantage was the ability to create amazing detail! The image seems to “rise from the surface,” [pg. 28] which gave these photographs a sense of three dimensionality. 

- Daguerreotypes helped with preserving representations of scientific studies. The very first daguerreotype of the moon even won a medal at the Great Exhibition! It was internationally known for the detail and total accuracy of the moon, this occurred in the year, 1851. 

- Not only did Daguerreotypes help pave international recognition for science in most aspects, but as well as help photographers explore outside of portraitures by photographing landscapes. There were photos used for topographical evidence in 1842. 

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Chapter One

Reading Log #1

“ Seizing the Light” 3rd Edition, by Robert Hirsch

I think one of the reasons why I decided on taking this class during my Senior year at UCF, is because I never really paid much attention to this form of art. My father and my youngest sister were always the camera gurus and both shared and undying love for photography. Me? I always felt like I didn’t have an “eye” for photography. It made me so frustrated to watch my dad go out to his backyard and snap a few shots of some birds and other wild life, as I stood in behind the sliding glass door. When he returned back inside our home, he’d upload his photos, and to my surprise, he had produced the most beautiful photos of the backyard ducklings and doves. My sister, Valerie, always had her own particular and artistic way of displaying her props in her photos. She was very much aware of the lighting, positioning of her camera, and details that I may have overlooked myself. It was astonishing, yet very frustrating. 

I began to practice some more once I entered college. I took a class on traditional photography and then digital. But I still don’t quite “get it.” As I’m reading the first chapter of this assigned textbook, I realize that I never actually read about the first camera obscura, or the beginnings of photography in our history. Who would have thought that  a darkened box with a convex lens or aperture for projecting the image of an external object onto a screen inside would pave the way for something that is so important to the daily logs of our lives? It is historically important in the development of photography and I’m so ignorant of this piece of our history. 

Here are a few names that I felt are important to remember:

- Mo Ti; a Chinese philosopher who discovered that light reflecting from an illuminated object and passing through a pinhole into a darkened area would created an exact image of that object, offering a prototype of the pinhole camera.

- Leonardo da Vinci; In 1490, he wrote the earliest description of the camera obscura, a device that was designed to reproduce linear perspective. 

- Albrecht Durer; A German artist who, before Leonardo,  was one of the first artists to ingeniously adapt these camera-based principles of perspective and proportion to his drawings, and he called this, “ miracles of paintings.” 

- William Henry Fox Talbot; A wealthy Englishman, scientist, and scholar, who invented the salted paper print, which is a printing-out process that allowed him to make cameraless images. Most of these images were plants, but also included engravings and lace. He also used “photogenic drawing” as a term used to describe the early salted paper process.

- Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre; he took highly polished silver plates and sensitized them in the dark with heated iodine  crystal vapors, and immediately placing them in the camera and making one-hour exposures in bright sunlight. This created a very detailed negative image. Daguerre later made a breakthrough by developing the plates after the exposure with heated mercury vapor. 

- Sir Henry Herschel; In 1819, he discovered that hyposulphite of soda would dissolve silver salts. He started his own research into the light-sensitive properties of silver halides and other various chemicals. Herschel was the one who provide the missing link to many of the pioneers’ processes of how to make permanent images. He shaped the founding concepts of photography  and its terminology. He even introduced the terms, “negative” and “positive” and “emulsion.” 

These pioneers of photography all worked towards the founding and discovery of something so many of us take for granted. I never would have thought about Sir Henry Herschel as I took a photo of my Sunday morning breakfast or my cat, Amberly, as she snuggled up to me on the couch. So why should I care so much about these pioneers and their work? What impact does their findings have on my daily routine? Does anyone ever think about how we came to what we know today? I feel as though no one really truly thinks about the roots of many things that we know and use today and I think this is why I chose to take this class. To better understand these discoveries and our history.