Episode 1: The Evolution of Photography
In this episode of 'It Started Somewhere,' host Shaimond, explores the fascinating journey of photography from its inception to current advancements. Starting with Nicéphore Niépce's first permanent photograph in 1826, the episode traces key developments such as Louis Daguerre's daguerreotype, William Henry Talbot's calotype, and Frederick Scott Archer's wet plate collodion process. It highlights George Eastman's influential Kodak company and innovations like Kodachrome and instant photography by Polaroid. The episode concludes with the dramatic shift brought by the digital age and the integration of photography into smartphones, showcasing how the medium continues to revolutionize visual storytelling and memory preservation.
Contact me at itstartedsomewhere@gmail.com
Transcript
We take it for granted now, but a few generations
2
:ago, photographs were uncommon.
3
:And a few generations before
that, they didn't even exist.
4
:Imagine the only way we could visually
remember a past event or a loved one
5
:who passed on was from our memory.
6
:Now we take pictures whenever we want to,
with the phones we have in our pockets.
7
:My name is Shaimond, and you're
listening to It Started Somewhere,
8
:a podcast about popular products,
places, and things we know about, but
9
:may not know the story behind them.
10
:Today we'll explore the evolution
of photography, from its humble
11
:beginnings to the present day
innovations that are shaping the
12
:future of the medium as we know it.
13
:In 1826, after days of exposure,
a French inventor named Nicéphore
14
:Niépce changed the world by creating
the first permanent photograph.
15
:This heliograph, as he called it,
laid the foundations for photography,
16
:which through many innovations will
go on to shape how we capture society.
17
:However, taking days of exposure time
for a photograph to be ready wasn't
18
:ideal, and these early photographs
were blurry and difficult to make out.
19
:But let's rewind a bit.
20
:The concept of the camera wasn't new.
21
:In fact, the camera obscura had
been known since ancient times.
22
:It was a simple device.
23
:A dark room with a small hole
that projected an inverted
24
:image onto a surface.
25
:Artists use it as a drawing
aid, but fixing that image
26
:permanently was impossible.
27
:Fast forward to 1839, Louis
Daguerre developed the daguerreotype
28
:process that reduced exposure
time from days to minutes.
29
:The detailed mirror-like images
he produced were on silver-plated
30
:copper, and took the world by storm.
31
:For the first time, people could have
realistic portraits of their loved ones.
32
:This was great.
33
:However, each daguerreotype
type was unique.
34
:You couldn't make copies.
35
:Enter william Henry Talbot and
his calotype process in:
36
:This negative positive system
laid the groundwork for modern
37
:photography, allowing multiple
prints from a single negative.
38
:Photography development system is a
process in traditional photography
39
:that involves creating a negative
image first, which then is used
40
:to produce positive prints.
41
:The next decades saw a
flurry of inventions.
42
:In 1851, Frederick Scott Archer introduce
the wet plate collodion process.
43
:Cutting exposure time to mere seconds.
44
:But photographers still had to
lug around portable dark rooms to
45
:develop their plates on the spot.
46
:Relief came in 1870 with
Richard Maddox dry plates.
47
:Now photographers could prepare
their plates in advance.
48
:But the real revolution came in
:
49
:flexible paper based film.
50
:This was the birth of Kodak, a name
that would become synonymous with
51
:photography for over a century.
52
:In 1900, Kodak introduced the Brownie
camera, which sold for a dollar.
53
:While that wasn't cheap at the time,
it was attainable to the middle
54
:class and over 100, 000 of them
were purchased the first year alone.
55
:Suddenly, almost anyone
could be a photographer.
56
:"You press the button, we do
the rest," was Kodak's slogan,
57
:and it changed everything.
58
:For decades, photography
was black and white.
59
:But in 1935 Kodak introduced Kodachrome
bringing color pintroduced hotos
60
:to the masses, and photographs
would never look the same again.
61
:In 1948, Edward Lands,
Polaroid camera hit the market.
62
:Now you could develop photos instantly.
63
:It was magic in a box, and it captured
the public's imagination for decades.
64
:The digital revolution was
another huge step in photography.
65
:And in December 1975, Stephen
Sasson, an electrical engineer at
66
:Eastman Kodak, invented the first
self contained digital camera.
67
:It weighed 8 pounds, recorded black
and white images to a cassette
68
:tape, had a resolution of 0.
69
:01 megapixels, or 10, 000 pixels and took
23 seconds to capture its first image.
70
:It was a prototype camera that
was a technical exercise and
71
:not intended for production.
72
:In 1981, Sony demonstrated the first
Filmless, SLR camera, the Mavica.
73
:The first widely commercially available
digital camera was released in
74
:1990 and it was the Dycam Model 1.
75
:In 1992, the JPEG image
standard was introduced, which
76
:greatly reduced file sizes.
77
:The first commercial camera phone was
the Kyocera Visual Phone VP-210, which
78
:was released in Japan in May 1999.
79
:Now we all carry high quality
cameras in our pockets.
80
:Our phones use computational photography
and AI to produce images that will
81
:be impossible just a few years ago.
82
:Virtual and augmented reality are
pushing the boundaries even further.
83
:From Niépce's heliograph to
today's smartphones, photography
84
:has come an incredibly long way.
85
:It's transformed how we see the
world, how we remember our lives,
86
:and how we share our experiences.
87
:As we look to the future, one thing
is clear, the art and science of
88
:capturing light will continue to
evolve, surprising and delighting
89
:us in ways we can't imagine.
90
:Thanks for joining me today.
91
:And I'll catch you on the next
episode of It started somewhere.
