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A SHORT HISTORY
A studio photograph is not merely an picture of a person or persons, an
image fixed on some form of paper and glued onto a piece of cardboard, but is
importantly a record of a particular
moment in the historic past. This stands in contrast to the creation of an
oil painting, e.g. a portrait, where the subject would pose for
an extended period of time over many sittings. During this time, the
artist would have the opportunity to learn more about the subject, i.e.
their personality, work, and life experiences. This in turn would aid the
artist in determining what kind of image of the sitter he or she
wished to portray. These photographs, especially in the early years of
photography, were generally the only permanent, visual images that most of
the world would ever be able to afford and have of their family members,
and each was proudly held by the person of whom the photograph was taken.
Often these photographs would be taken with someone who had emigrated as a
memory of the family and life they left behind. Perhaps they would be sent
by mail to relatives both
domestically and abroad, or perhaps they were passed down from one generation
to the
next as a family heirloom.
When photography was initially invented, photographs could not be reproduced unless additional photographs were taken
and prints were made from these.
Such was the case in the mid-nineteenth century with the
development of the daguerreotype, ambrotype, and tintype. Other techniques, such
as the use of the calotype and the collodion-glass method of
photography, made it possible to produce multiple copies of the same
image. The ability to have a negative on glass that could be
used to
reproduce original copies was, of course, a boon to photographers.
This ability provided
an opportunity for greater financial gain and commercial success
for the both the photographer and his studio.
With the invention of photography, more people could now have
their images preserved for posterity, including a great many who previously could
not have afforded to have their portrait painted onto a canvas.
Importantly, with the newfound ability to make multiple copies of photographs,
images could be produced en masse and sent around the world to be sold to
the curious. These images could now describe the world in a way never
before seen by man. Before the invention of photography, people would most
often hear the news of the world by word-of-mouth or by reading a written
account in a local newspaper. Now people could actually have a visual
account of what was going on in the world ("A picture is worth a thousand
words"), e.g. images of wars, poverty, and the human condition. This
imagery was very powerful. Now real images of battlefields and the horrors
of war could be seen by the masses. A person who might look at these
photographs could assign their own words and descriptions to such
emotionally evocative scenes.
next...
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Above: Son of Brana and Mordecai Trakhtenberg
of Kishinev, Bessarabia, date unknown. |
