Mathew Brady: The Father of Photojournalism Essay

Eadward Muybridge and Cornelius Jabez Hughes, two photographers of the 19th century, introduced revolutionary ideas impacting the way photographs could be taken, categorized, and used. Muybridge, better known as the ‘father of the motion picture,’ studied landscape photos and invented a device that drastically improved their quality. In addition, he helped to pioneer work in the studies of motion and motion-picture projection. Hughes developed new technology related to photography and helped to guide many other amateur photographers into producing better forms of photography. The two had lasting impacts on the growth and importance of photography in the art, science, and everyday realms.

During 1892, Lewis Hines graduated from high school and worked in an upholstery factory and in the next several years Hine worked several jobs while he was studying stenography, drawing, and sculpture. Hine eventually earned a Master’s degree in education from the University of Chicago. Hine’s first passion was not photography rather it was teaching. His first job was as a teacher at the Ethical Culture School in New York City. Hine’s had a friend named Frank Manny who was the one that convinced Lewis Hine to become the school photographer at the Ethical Culture School, where he gained technical skills (Hine, 11). Lewis Hine started off with a ten-dollar box camera and soon after set up a dark room at school that lead him to start an after school camera club, where he learned about art photography along the students (Freedman, 9). According to the book “Crusade for the Children,” by 1908 Hine spent several years as an amateur, photographing immigrants, Bowery inhabitants, and Lower Eastside hovel children. Soon after Hine quit teaching because he was interested in portraying the difficulty of the poor (Trattner, 105). Hine spent some time working for The survey magazine but later was hired by the National Child Labor Committee by 1906 Hine started work on a freelance basis (105). According to the book “Kids at work,” by 1908, by the time he left the Ethical Culture School,

Another significant reason that has played a vital role in photojournalism of recent times is the emergence of imaging technologies. Imaging technologies has undoubtedly played a major part in the works of a photojournalist today. Based on earlier accounts on how photography itself is an inherent manipulation, the question is no longer directed on ‘how has imaging technologies manipulate photojournalism' but ‘how much more has imaging

While emotions were extremely high in the sense of angst for a better life, photography provided a new sense of reality to Americans and for others around the World. Photography all around the World is unlike anything else of its kind. People are able to tell stories and elicit emotions that bring the audience to that desired response. Throughout the 1930’s, photography from governmental institutions or advancements alone brought a new beginning to the end of a terrible time that Americans all around the nation

Among all of the great Hollywood portrait photographers, George Hurrell is arguably the most famous and is considered by collectors and historians to be the best in the business. It was his photos that actually inspired the term “glamour photography.” In 1936, Esquire magazine claimed, “A Hurrell portrait is to the ordinary publicity still what a Rolls Royce is to a roller skate.” George Hurrell said, “As long as I can remember I wanted to be an artist. As a boy, I was drawing all the time, in school and out.” As an art student in Chicago he started to work with a camera, as it was common for art students to photograph inspirational locations as well as their finished work. While at school he held a series of jobs, including acting as a colorist for Chicago portrait photographer Eugene Hutchinson who taught him valuable tricks of the trade, including negative retouching, darkroom developing and airbrushing. He moved to Laguna Beach, California where there was a thriving fine arts community. His many connections led him to meeting the famed photographer Edward Steichen, who saw in his work a natural talent for photography. Our childhood desire to create is nurtured into a talent by those who possess the gift. Following Steichen advice and encouraged by his friend and patron, aviatrix Pancho Barnes, Hurrell opened a photography studio in Laguna Beach. George’s first celebrity client came from Pancho’s referral of her best friend, silent film star Ramon Novarro. Ramon felt his Latin

In PHOT 501, I learned about the beginning of war photography and about famous war photographers, among all war photographers, there are Mathew Brady and Alexander Gardener. Two days after the war had started, Alexander Gardener who used to be working for Mathew Brady at the time,

For some, a picture is just a beautiful work of art, but for Lewis Hine photography was a way to communicate a message to the world. When Hine was taught the photographic process, it was still being established. This being said, photojournalism was also just evolving as a method to visually communicate information. In an effort to better his photography skills, Hine began to photograph the immigrants of Ellis Island. He was very adamant about social reform and reflected this in his work. Lewis Hine’s captivating photos inspired social change in America for the less fortunate.

This essay will investigate the work of contemporary photographer Tim Walker, and historical photographer Ansel Adams. This essay will examine the many changes of how photography has evolved through the decades from the photographer’s style, use of equipment, techniques and what photography is used for. These changes will be seen by looking at the contemporary photographer and comparing them to the historical photographer.

The oldest surviving photogravure taken by Niepce dates back to 1827. This photo, titled “View through a window in Gras” took over eight hours of exposure to create, and even then, the image that was created was blurry and monochrome. After Niepce’s death, his business partner, French painter Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre continued to work on improving image quality and reducing exposure time. Eventually, Daguerre discovered a method that involved exposing the metal plate to mercury fumes. This method became known as the “daguerreotype.” Over the next several decades photography continued to improve, bringing it closer and closer to the art and science we know today.

The name "Photography" comes from the Greek words for light and writing. Sir John Herschel, was the first to use the term photography in 1839, when he managed to fix images using hyposulphite of soda. He described photography as "The application of the chemical rays to the purpose of pictorial representation". Herschel also coined the terms "negative", "positive" and "snapshot".

“Eastman’s improvements had the effect of moving photography from the professional’s studio, where it had evolved from the realm of portraiture and art, to the world of the general consumer,”(Carlisle 247). Photography was a difficult hobby or profession to have in the mid- 1800s. It was difficult because it needed essential pieces of equipment in order to even come out with a decent picture. Cameras were normally five by eight inches, and all the equipment that was needed was a hassle to carry (Buckland and Lefer 250). It required a darkroom, a tripod, and lots of chemicals. In a darkroom, a photographer had to coat a glass plate with egg white, and then lay it on a solution of gun cotton and alcohol mixed with bromide salts. When this

Henry Peach Robinson, born on July 9th, 1830, was a British photographer and prominent author on photography. Known as “the King of Photographic Picture Making,” he began his life’s work as a painter but would become one of the most influential photographers of the late 19th century. He was a prolific advocate for photography as an art form and is well known for his role in “pictorialism,” which, according to Encyclopedia Britannica, is “an approach to photography that emphasizes beauty of subject matter, tonality, and composition rather than the documentation of reality.”

When going for a walk, a person takes in the beauty around them. On this particular day, the refulgent sun is extra bright, making the sky a perfect blue. White, puffy clouds fill the sky, slowing moving at their own pace. The wind is peacefully calm, making the trees stand tall and proud. There is no humidity in the air. As this person walks down the road, they see a deer with her two fawns. The moment is absolutely beautiful. Moments like this happen only once in a great while, making us wanting to stay in the particular moment forever. Unfortunately, time moves on, but only if there were some way to capture the day’s magnificence. Thanks to Joseph Niépce, we can now capture these moments and others that take our breath away. The

What is a photograph? The simplicity of taking a photograph leads many to ponder its artistic value. Yet, it is undeniable that there are some photos that cause an emotional reaction deeper than simply observing a recorded point in time. Surely, there are photographs that cause more reaction than some modern art pieces. There seems to be two types of photographs. The first classification is the ‘time capture’ photo – an image with the sole purpose of recording a particular event or point in time. The second nature of a photo carries a ‘deeper meaning,’ which has the ability to change the observer’s mood and cause a reaction. But what distinguishes these two varieties? There are a

Have you ever taken a picture or been looking through a photo album and felt a sudden rush of emotion? Do you wonder what caused that emotion? Many find themselves captivated by a photograph and overwhelmed by the emotions that the photograph arouses. Believe it or not the arousal of emotion from those photographs was not caused by the content of the picture but by certain elements within the photograph. When a photograph is viewed it is not only the subject that triggers the overwhelming emotional response, it is the length of time that the film was exposed to sunlight, the way lighting is used and played with, and the strong detail of colors or lack thereof. While many believe that the subject acts as the primary stimuli to emotions, the