Camera Obscura Demonstration
In our first meeting we went through the camera history from the camera obscura, view cameras, the speed graphic, Kodak's Brownie and the importance of amateur photographers, the breakthrough 35 mm Leica rangefinder used by Magnum founders Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa and George Rodger (Chim was the fourth founding member), to modern day SLRs, digital and cell phone cameras. We spoke about the now famous iPhone photo of a U.S. Airways jet on the Hudson by Janis Krums remembering the fact that is the person, not the camera that is taking the photograph.
Some of the significant people from photography history we discussed were Joseph Niépce who made the first photograph, Louis Daguerre and Henry Fox Talbot. We looked at work from the "first photojournalist" United States Civil War photographer Matthew Brady, and also viewed pictures from American Ansel Adams including his project on a Japanese Concentration Camp. Other photographers mentioned were Weegee and Gordon Parks.
Links for Lesson One:
Top 10 Incredible Firsts in Photography
The First Photograph Discussed (radio story)
Photography History Timeline
Shutter Speed & F-Stop/Aperture Video (2 minutes) We closed in a discussion about exposure, light metering, f-stops/apertures, shutter speed, and depth of field.
An Educational Resource for Photographic Enlightenment and Inspiration