World History of Photography and Photojournalism

World History of Photography and Photojournalism

Date	Events
384-322 BC	Aristotle (384-322 BC, Greece) discussed 'camera obscura'.
5th century AD	Chinese philosophers/scientists discuss optics (the science of light).
1519 AD	Lenardo da Vinci (1452-1519, Italy) outlines Aristotle's 'camera obscura'.
1550 AD	Gerolamo Cordano (1501-1576, Italy) used bi-convex lens in 'camera obscura'.
1558 AD	Giovanni Battista della Porta (1535-1615, Italy) first used the term 'camera obscura' meaning darkened room in Latin.
16th century	'Camera obscura' resized to portability.
1727 AD	Discovery that silver nitrate (AgNO3) changes from white to black with light, not heat.
1816 AD	Joseph Nicéphore Niépce (1765-1833, France) recorded the first image of the world with silver chloride (AgCl), but it could not last long.
1822 AD	Transparent images by Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre (1787-1851, France).
1826 AD	First permanent photograph of the world. A view from Niépce’s room.  Exposure time = 8 hours (continuous). Technique: heliography (writing with sunlight).  Now stored at Texas University, USA.
1831 AD	Daguerre discovered that iodine(I)-mixed silver (Ag) plate is sensitive to light.
1834 AD	Photogenic drawing by William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877, Britain) with silver nitrate (AgNO3).
1835 AD	Daguerre discovered clear image on silver-iodide (AgI) mixed copper (Cu) plate developed with mercury (Hg) vapor. (exposure time = 20 mins.) Talbot used silver chloride for making the image permanent.
1837 AD	Daguerre made the first permanent image with sodium chloride (NaCl).
9 January 1839 AD	Announcement of Daguerreotype.
1839 AD	Permanent image developed by Sir John Frederick William Herschel (1972-1871, England).  Herschel first used the term 'photography'. Also, Talbot first used negative-positive for developing photos. This process developed films within 30 minutes and multiple copies were made possible with an exposure to sunlight. He named it Collotype or Talbotype.
1840 AD	Daguerreotype exposure time was reduced to as little as 30 seconds. Alexander Walcott and John Johnson set up the world's first photo-studio in New York, USA.
23 March 1841 AD	Richard Beard set up the first photo studio in Europe.
1843 AD	Robert Adamson set up the first Collotype studio.
1850 AD	George N. Barnard (1819-1902, USA) clicked photo of a burning mill, probably the first news-photo of the world.
1852 AD	Frederick Scott Archer (1813-1857) and Peter Wickens Fry (1795-1860) developed wet-collodion technique. It took less processing time as compared to Daguerreotype and Collotype. Bronze plate exposed to ether [(C3H5)2O] + alcohol (C2H6O) + nitrocellulose (C18H21N11O38) would make a latent image; this would be made permanent by use of chemicals.
1854 AD	Roger Fenton's (1819-1861) photos of Crimean War (October 1853 - March 1856, Russian empire lost to alliance of France, Britain, Ottomon Empire and Sardinia) were published. This made the value of photojournalism more recognized and more accepted.
1863 AD	First photography in newspaper 'El Propagador de la Fotographics' (Spanish) and 'La Camera Obscura' (Italian).
4 March 1880 AD	First daily newspaper of the world with photos 'Daily Graphics' was published from New York, USA. It continued only until 23 September 1889 AD.
1884 AD	Negative rolls were invented.
1888 AD	KODAK’s first camera costing $ 25 used negative roll. Negative roll with emulsion, guillotine and silver halide. Slogan: “You Press the button, we do the rest.”
1889 AD	KODAK invented the first camera for children.
1900 AD	KODAK launched a small-box camera named Brownie costing 15 ₵.
1907 AD	First color photographs were printed with 'Legacy' in newspaper, magazines and web.
1914 AD	First photography school was set up.
1923 AD	First 16 mm slide film was invented.
1925 AD	A 35 mm film camera named 'Leica' was invented in Germany.
Mid 1920s AD	Photography magazine was published from Germany. Different experiments were made in photography and in developing photos.
1935 to 1975 AD	Golden age of photography.
23 November 1936 AD	Photojournalism started in the US with the launch of a new general interest magazine Life by Henry Luce.
Late 1930s (1939 AD)	Frank Luther Mott (1886-1964, USA), renowned media-historian and Dean of University of Missouri, School of Journalism first coined the term 'photojournalism'.
1930s and 1940s AD	Weegee (pseudonym of Arthur Usher Fellig), a legendary photojournalist known for his black-and-white street photography, shooted New York's crime scenes and emergency services showing the realistic underside of the city. See some of his best street photographs here.
1940s AD	Robert Capa (1913-1954, Hungary), William Eugene Smith (1918-1978, USA) took some memorable photos from the World War II (1939-1945). The former was killed in Vietnam, while the latter got injured in Japan during the war.
1947 AD	Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004, France), Robert Capa (1913-1954, Hungary), David Seymour (1911-1956, Poland), William Vandivert, Rita Vandivert, George Rodger (1908-1995, Britain) and Maria Eisner (1909-1981, Italy) founded Magnum Photos, an international photographic co-operative.
1972 AD	Other photography magazines Look, See, Photo, Picture and Click had already come up by this year.
1980s AD	Automatic exposure and focus was developed.  Crown Graphic camera introduced. It had high quality negative and simple exposure.
2000 AD	Digital photography age started.

Photograpy in Nepal - History

History of Photograpy in Nepal

·        Some claim photography started in 1850 during Jung Bahadur Rana’s Europe visit but it has not verified yet.

·        But we can photos of the first Rana Prime Minister in the British Library.

·        1910 B.S : English Visit for Clarence Comyn Taylor first clicked photos in Nepal.

·        1911 B.S : Many Foreign Photographer visited Nepal.

·        First Nepali Photographer Damber Samsher son of Dhir Samsher had his own studio at this palace.

·        Gehendra Samsher (first scientist of Nepal) also did experiments. Purnaman Chitrakar learnt photography with his support.

·        Dirghaman Chitrakar also learnt with him. He was later appointed by Chandra Samsher.

·        In his Europe visit, Prime Minister Chandra Samsher brought camera and other equipments.

·        Dirghaman Chitrakar’s Son Ganeshman Chitrakar also has photos to his credit.

·        Bal Krisha Sama’s father Sumar Samsher too had a private studio.

·        1966 B.S – Bishnu Dhwoj Joshi (the then General Manager of Gorkhapatra and private photographer of king Tribhuwan) clicked royal photographs &set up a commercial studio at Pyaphal, Kathmandu, which he later shifted to New Road in 1936 AD; it was closed in 1962 A.D .

·        Other photo studios : New Studio, Khichapokhari, Snapshot, Laxmi Studio

·        2043 B.S = “Photography Parichaya” book by Bhakta Bahadur Chitrakar.

·        1960 = Photo concern setup by D.B Thapa.

·        1984 Baishak 13 = First photo published in Gorkhapatra.

·        2023 B.S. = Photojournalists started to work in Gorkhapatra.

·        Formal appointment in Gorkhapatra as photojournalists in 2030 B.S Bindu Raj Singh Suwal and Gopal Chitrakar.

·        Private sector first photojournalists appointed in Kantipur Publication = Bikash Karki

Prof. Regmee on Press Freedom