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Wedgewood and Davy
Presenting their paper to the Royal Institution of Great Britain, Wedgewood and Davy discovered that silver nitrate was a key component of darkroom photography. They could make images, but couldn't stop them from over-exposing and eventually turning black. Therefore, they had to store their photos in a dark, obscure place, only showing the images for brief moments by candlelight. This was the first paper to publish the concept of capturing images through chemical reactions to light. -
The Congress of Vienna
After the Napoleonic Wars, Europe comes together to redraw the map of Europe so that old boundaries could be established but a balance of power could be created. -
View from the Study Window at Maison du Gras
The earliest surviving photography, View from the Study Window at Maison du Gras was made on a rectangular sheet of pewter coated with bitumen of Judea and attached to the back of a camera lucida. Joseph Nicephore Niepce’s image required at least an eight hour exposure time and created a direct positive. -
The Calotype
Created by Henry Fox Talbot through the calotype process, Latticed Window is one of the first photographs he took. However, Talbot did not announce his invention until 1839, so Daguerre became considered the first to invent the photographic process. -
Queen Victoria
Queen Victoria ascends the throne and the British Empire flourishes, reaching its apex. -
The Daguerreotype
Taken by Daguerre in Paris, Boulevard du Temple is considered to be the first photo of a person. Because he was getting his shoes shined, the man stood still long enough to be captured by the long exposure. -
Daguerreotype Patented
Daguerre applies for a patent so that he can gain financially from his invention. Talbot did not apply for a patent till 1941, causing Daguerre to be considered the inventor of photography, even though they were both working on their processes at the same time. -
Self Portrait as a Drowned Man
Created by Hippolyte Bayard, this photograph was the first example of political-protest photography. Responding to Daguerre getting claim to the invention of photography, he posed as a course of someone who had commited suicide through drowning. This was groundbreaking as people were not used to having the image manipulated to show something was wasn’t true. Bayard challenged this assumption and opened the door for photography to be used to show the picture wanted, not necessarily reality. -
Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions
Created by Anna Atkins, who is considered one of the first female photographer, this book is the first book to be illustrated by photographic images. Using the cyanotype process, she would lay the plant life on coated paper, allowing its exposure to sunlight to create a silhouette. -
The Pencil of Nature
Published in six sections, Henry Fox Talbot’s book was printed using silver gelatin photographs. The goal of the book was to establish photography as an art form and included the famous photograph “The Open Door,” which sought to copy seventeenth-century Dutch paintings. -
The Haystack
William Fox Talbot’s series of haystack photographs showed his ability to work with light and shadow and his understanding of the ability for photographs to work in a sequence of a whole. -
The Gold Rush
Gold is found in California by James Marshall, causing approximately 300,000 people to flood west, increasing California’s population to allow it to reach statehood and reinvigorating the American economy. -
The Great Exhibition
Hosted by Prince Albert and Queen Victoria in London, the Great Exhibition, held in the Crystal Palace, was the first international world fair. -
Crimean War
The Crimean War breaks out between France, the United Kingdom, the Ottoman Empire, and Russia, creating an easily accessible, Europe-wide conflict. -
The Valley of the Shadow of Death
One of the most famous Crimean War photographs, Roger Fenton took this photo at the site of one of the most major military blunders by British troops. This image is actually the second photograph taken. The first one had way fewer cannonballs on the road, but Fenton moved more into the scene to make it more photogenic. -
Study of Plants
Created by Francis Bedford, this picture was apart of the movement to try to elevate photography to an art form. Coming out of Britain, this movement tried to emulate the normal subjects of painting, such as still lifes. The goal of this movement was to instruct, purify, and ennoble humans through photography. -
Portrait of Abraham Lincoln
Brady had a huge influence during the Civil War and photographed many important people of that time. This photograph showed the great skills Brady had, with the photo carefully setup so that Lincoln’s large hands appeared smaller.Alos, the image was staged with his hand placed on a bible, to give him more gravitas. -
Civil War Photography
Matthew Brady is the best known Civil War photographer, but he actually did not take many photographs himself. He instead hired others to work for him. Alexander Gardner and Timothy O’Sullivan both made the majority of his work. Their work was shown in many galleries and exhibition, bringing the horrors of the Civil War into people’s homes. -
Home of a Rebel Sharpshooter
Taken by Alexander Gardner, this photograph was apart of the common practice of staging photos to create a desired effect or emotion. Gardner was very open about the fact that he altered the scene in order to create a storyline within his pictures. While it makes a very interesting narrative, it brings into question how photography is not always a depiction of the truth. -
The Telephone
Patented by Alexander Graham Bell, the telephone was the first device that could produce a clear, understandable replication of the human voice. It was now possible to communicate across long distances, transforming the way businesses, government, and households interacted with each other. -
The Incandescent Light Bulb
Beginning his research in 1878, Thomas Edison was not the first person to work on the subject of the light bulb. But, he was able to create a carbon filament that connected to platina contact wires that allowed him to patent his design a year later. Afterwards, he continued to improve his design till he found a solution and created a carbonized bamboo filament that could last more than 1200 hours. -
Poling the Marsh Hay
Poling the Marsh Hay, taken by Peter Henry Emerson, was a product of the pictorialism movement. Pictorialism wanted to further the definition of photography as art through trying to make photographs that looked more like paintings. This was to create more evocative and expressive images. They rejected sharp focus and instead would scratch negatives or smear Vaseline on the lenses of their camera. -
Kodak Camera
With the slogan of “You press the button, we do the rest,” Kodak spread photography to the common people. Started by George Eastman and William Hall Walker, Kodak was made possible through the creation of gelatin-based paper film which made cameras able to be smaller. You no longer needed knowledge of chemistry or special equipment. Instead, one could just take pictures and Kodak would develop them for you. -
Spanish-American War
The Spanish-American War breaks out as American interferes in the Cuban fight for independence. This ends with America gaining control of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. -
Abstractions, Porch Shadows, Connecticut
Taken by Paul Strand, Abstraction, Porch Shadows, Connecticut came after the pictorialism when the Photo-Secession Movement, created by Alfred Stieglitz, rose to prominence. Emphasizing American artistic expression, they focused on form rather than atmosphere. Their photos were straightforward urban realism with sharp focus, creating abstractions with the everyday.
