Progression of Photography Essay -- History of Photography

Photography is an affection, a craving and an addiction. It is impossible to explain why people love taking photos, but once people are engaged in photography professionally, nothing will stop them. It has always been a great magic and momentous secret which opens the world to the people, which makes us look at the things used to be taken for granted with special attitude, which makes us ponder over the existing problems. Photography can truly be considered a magical act – here is a little black box that can capture the images of people and wild animals, strange places, and loved ones on a rectangular piece of paper that can be viewed days and years later. This is a visual trick that never ceases to delight the members of the audience, the magician most of all (Watson 78). Photography not only depicts life but also reveals things which are usually hidden behind our indifference, business, and pursuit for money. The word photography comes from two ancient Greek words: photo, for "light," and graph, for "drawing"(The History of Photography). "Drawing with light" is an apt way of describing the artistic field of photography. According to a world-renowned photographer, Ansel Adams, â€Å"You don’t take a photograph, you create it.† Each time a photograph is made, light or some other form of radiant energy, such as x-rays, is used to record an image of an object or scene on a light-sensitive surface at a specific time point (Watson 79). In the infancy of photography these recorded images were called sun pictures or heliograph. This was because sunlight was used to create the image. Mankind has been recording images at since the cave paintings of some 20,000 years ago. With the invention of photography, a realistic image that would have ta... ...ain — thereby giving you the ability to experiment with your photos in a way which was never possible with the film camera. So now most of the processing is electronic in the form of 0s and 1s as opposed to the mechanical and chemical operation in the traditional cameras. The cameras that operate based on this principle are known as digital cameras and the art of making digital images is called digital photography. Works Cited "Digital Photography." Digital - Photography - Tips. Web. 18 Feb. 2011. http://www.digital-photography-tips.net/history-of-digital-phtography-early-days.html. "History of Photography." About Inventors. About.com, Web. 17 Feb. 2011. http://inventors.about.com/od/pstartinventionsa/stillphotography.html. "What is Digital Photography." Make Use Of. Web. 16 Feb. 2011. www.makeuseof.com/tag/technology-explained-digital-photography/.