Pre-Digital Photographic Technology
The dry plate collodion was introduced in 1871 by Richard L. Maddox. It was when a glass plate was coated with a gelatin emulsion of sliver bromide. It has to be stored and when exposed it will be brought to darkroom for development. Many say that this process had its advantages over the wet collodion process. One advantage was that the plate could be prepared and developed immediately after exposure. It became so popular that in 1879 the first dry plate factory was established.
Being that with the dry plate method the photos could be developed at a later date, it means the photos could be stored longer. This affected photojournalist because they could take photos and have them last longer than before since they didn’t have to develop them right away. This probably aided in keeping the photos at high quality for years to come. Another way this process affected photojournalist was that it allowed the images to have cleaner edges and overall a clear photo compared to other processes.
There is a substantial difference between the dry plate collodion and my experience taking a digital photograph. The dry plate collodion was a process that involved coating of glass photographic plates with light sensitive gelatin emulsion and allows them to dry before use. The biggest difference is the time because taking a photo today is quick and effortless. While the dry plate method took time to dry and set. There isn’t any true hard work when taking a photo today compared to the 1800s. An image can be taken and printed out within minutes nowadays.
The evolution of cameras, film, and different photographic technologies have definitely impacted photojournalism over time. Focusing on the amount of time it took to take a decent picture compared to now is a huge difference. In the video, Before There Were Pixels-Part 1, Professor Nordell stated “… because they were trying to stay still for many minutes. Sometimes they would even have a brace behind their head to hold them still for that long and exposure.” This supports the idea that since they couldn’t take motion pictures without them being blurry, it was really important for those in the photo to stay still. They didn’t have the advance technology that allowed them to take pictures while the person or object was in motion.
Even though quality of the photo were not the best, the cameras available during the civil war days still managed to capture the essence of the war. There were many limits to photojournalism during the civil war but these photos are still looked at years later. In the article, Photography that changed the way we view war, it stated that “You could take photos before the battle, and after the battle, but not during the battle, because of the long exposure required.” This was another piece of evidence that backed up how it was very difficult to capture great images since they weren’t able to take photos while in motion.
Another image I found interesting was of Roger Fenton’s assistant. Just to imagine these wagons riding around for the sole purpose to take photos of the war. This just proves how dedicated photojournalist are because they possibly were put in dangerous situations many times and had to lug all of that equipment around. They probably set up to take a large number of photos but only were able to capture a few decent ones since they only could photograph objects that weren’t moving during a war zone.
Another piece of evidence to show how photojournalist put themselves in harm’s way was a quote by Robert Capa made in the article The Magnificent Eleven: The D-day Photographs of Robert Capa. He was known for saying “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough.” He is basically saying that in order to get a great image, you need to be as close as possible. I agree that usually getting closer to what your main focus is, does capture a better image. You are able to actually capture the essence and feeling in the photo.
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| Image By: Burke and James Press Camera |
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| Image by: Ariyon Mickle |
The evolution of cameras, film, and different photographic technologies have definitely impacted photojournalism over time. Focusing on the amount of time it took to take a decent picture compared to now is a huge difference. In the video, Before There Were Pixels-Part 1, Professor Nordell stated “… because they were trying to stay still for many minutes. Sometimes they would even have a brace behind their head to hold them still for that long and exposure.” This supports the idea that since they couldn’t take motion pictures without them being blurry, it was really important for those in the photo to stay still. They didn’t have the advance technology that allowed them to take pictures while the person or object was in motion.
Even though quality of the photo were not the best, the cameras available during the civil war days still managed to capture the essence of the war. There were many limits to photojournalism during the civil war but these photos are still looked at years later. In the article, Photography that changed the way we view war, it stated that “You could take photos before the battle, and after the battle, but not during the battle, because of the long exposure required.” This was another piece of evidence that backed up how it was very difficult to capture great images since they weren’t able to take photos while in motion.
Another image I found interesting was of Roger Fenton’s assistant. Just to imagine these wagons riding around for the sole purpose to take photos of the war. This just proves how dedicated photojournalist are because they possibly were put in dangerous situations many times and had to lug all of that equipment around. They probably set up to take a large number of photos but only were able to capture a few decent ones since they only could photograph objects that weren’t moving during a war zone.
Another piece of evidence to show how photojournalist put themselves in harm’s way was a quote by Robert Capa made in the article The Magnificent Eleven: The D-day Photographs of Robert Capa. He was known for saying “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough.” He is basically saying that in order to get a great image, you need to be as close as possible. I agree that usually getting closer to what your main focus is, does capture a better image. You are able to actually capture the essence and feeling in the photo.
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