The Primitives of Photography, 1850-1860

Your Playlist:

Description

With an overview of its pioneers - called "the primitives of photography" by Felix Nadar - this program explores the brief golden era between the time that photography was invented and the time it became an industry. The transformation of the camera from mere recording device to new artistic medium is seen in works that feature deliberate composition as well as in staged photos and composite prints. The technical processes by which photographers enhanced their works is also explained, especially in the creation of Oscar Rejlander's precursor of Photoshop, "The Two Ways of Life." Among others, the video covers Henry Fox Talbot, Hippolyte Bayard, Édouard Baldus, Gustave Le Gray, and Henry Peach Robinson, focusing on "Open Door," "Self Portrait as a Drowned Man," "Cloister at St. Triomphe in Arles," and "Fading Away." A part of the series Photo.