Photography has always been a controversial medium—is it an art or a science?
1826–c. 1870 C.E.
videos + essays
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Marey, Joinville Soldier Walking
The title of the photograph suggests that this image of lines and dots in wavy bands represents a walking soldier. But how?
David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson, Newhaven Fishwives
Hill and Adamson spent considerable time documenting the daily life and activity of the village of Newhaven, making upwards of 130 calotypes during their visits.
Honoré Daumier, Nadar Elevating Photography to the Height of an Art
Despite the medium’s infancy, Daumier’s lithograph leads the viewer to believe that 1862 Paris was teeming with photography studios.
Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, The Artist’s Studio / Still Life with Plaster Casts
Daguerre’s The Artist’s Studio shows off his new medium’s promise—photography—as an art form.
Eadweard Muybridge, The Horse in Motion
When the first eleven images of Sallie Gardner are seen in rapid succession at a speed of at least 24 frames per second, they allow us to re-experience her run.
Anna Atkins and the cyanotype process
Although today Atkins’s prints are sold and viewed as art, they were originally made as botanical illustrations.
Julia Margaret Cameron, Mrs. Herbert Duckworth
Cameron’s evocative portrait captures her young niece… before she became the mother of a literary giant.
Lady Clementina Hawarden, Clementina and Florence Elizabeth Maude
This pioneering woman used the new medium of photography to add dramatic flair to her domestic life.
Louis Daguerre, Paris Boulevard or View of the Boulevard du Temple
Daguerre’s groundbreaking technique turned Paris into a ghost town.
Early Photography: Niépce, Talbot and Muybridge
Photography emerged as a marvel of the modern world, but its early years were marked by technological obstacles.
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