A Brief History of Light & Photography

by Rick Doble
Copyright 2013 Rick Doble
All rights resere!
"o# $ay %#ote #p to 200 &or!s &itho#t per$issio' as lo'g as the a#thor & this article is cre!ite!(
)*+R,D-C+),*
The word photography comes from the Greek and means "light writing" (photo = light,
graphy = writing). We photographers are light artists. Drawing with light is very different than
drawing with a pen. t re!"ires light sensitive material, optics, dark enclos"res and the a#ility
to fi$ an image so that it does not fade. The history of how all this came to #e is intertwined
with o"r "nderstanding of o"r place in the solar system and the "niverse. s there any story
more epic, more fascinating%
The modern scientific "nderstanding of light evolved along with the development of the
camera and photography && making photography a "ni!"e art form that has always #een
insepara#le from science. Digital photography, for e$ample, came a#o"t as a res"lt of the
discovery of !"ant"m physics, specifically the insights of 'l#ert (instein. )y mentor, *oss
+croggs who ran the ,-.&./ photo la# and who had worked at 0odak for decades, "sed to
call photography that "odd hy#rid discipline that com#ined optics, physics and chemistry."
Today we might say1 that com#ines optics, physics and comp"ters.
The development of optics2photography is closely related to astronomy with Galileo, 0epler,
-ewton, )a$well, (instein and /"##le making significant contri#"tions in #oth fields. n fact,
0epler coined the term "camera o#sc"ra" which has #een shortened today to "camera." The
words come from 3atin in which "camera" means "va"lted cham#er2room" and "o#sc"ra" is
translated "dark" so a camera is a "dark cham#er2room" && and the early camera o#sc"ras
were !"ite large, room si4e in fact && so a dark room was an acc"rate description. n addition,
starting as early as 5678, cameras were designed to take photographs with astronomical
telescopes. 'fter 5988 large telescopes were optimi4ed for photography rather than for
o#servation && making them essentially telephoto cameras.
n this timeline, co"ld not help mentioning how often int"ition, imagination, accident, spirit"al
feelings and even poetry played key roles in the scientific "nderstanding of light. While these
are more often associated with art, this timeline shows that science and art are often closely
related.
#elieve this timeline also shows that since the very #eginning photography has evolved
and will contin"e to evolve. 'nd as o"r "nderstanding of light itself improves, this will change
photography as well.
PR.H)/+,R"
:"r feelings a#o"t light "ndo"#tedly go #ack millions of years && to the changing light of the
seasons and the discovery and "se of fire. 3ight is f"ndamental to e$istence. 'nd #eca"se of
this it has always had important religio"s significance. )any of the ;light scientists; held a
deeply spirit"al feeling for the s"#<ect.
== n .hristianity in the third line of the Bible, "God said, ;3et there #e light;= and there was
light. 'nd God saw that the light was good." (Genesis, 51>&7) 3ight is a key element in the
cele#ration of .hristmas.
*ick Do#le, A Brief History of Light & Photography ?age 5
== The @estival of 3ights, known as Diwali, is a ma<or event cele#rated #y /ind"s and many
others in +o"th 'sia and other places aro"nd the world. @or the /ind"s it marks the tri"mph
of the ret"rn of the good deity *ama and the death of the evil demon -arakas"ra.
Aeginning aro"nd B88 '.D.and for the ne$t 5788 years the geocentric astronomy of ?tolemae"s was the
accepted view of the "niverse. This pict"re is a drawing of the ?tolemaic +ystem which fairly acc"rately
descri#ed the movement of the s"n and planets as circles that or#ited the (arth, altho"gh the f"ll e$planation
involved many epicycles within each or#it. t was the first scientific view of the "niverse. The (arth was in the
middle && s"rro"nded #y circles of water, air and fire then followed #y the moon, s"n, planets and finally the stars.
De Sphaera Mundi #y Cohannes De +acro#osco, 5B>8.
(commons.wikimedia.org2wiki2.ategory1DeDsphaeraDm"ndi)
+H. D)/C,0.R" ,1 +H. CA2.RA
'ccording to legend, the discovery of the camera may have #eg"n tho"sands of years ago
with desert nomads who saw scenes o"tside their tents pro<ected "pside down on the #ack
wall when a tiny hole in their dark tent let in light d"ring the #right day. This phenomena was
known even to the ancient Greeks, s"ch as 'ristotle, and others.
?ersonal note1 e$perienced this #y accident myself, when stayed in a room on the
)editerranean with two sh"tters that when closed completely darkened the room. awoke
one morning to see crashing waves in #right s"nlight pro<ected on the #ack wall, as a tiny
hole #etween the sh"tters created a pinhole camera in my room
*ick Do#le, A Brief History of Light & Photography ?age B
1000 ".AR/ A3,
n 58B5 'ra# scientist 'lha4en defined the #asic nat"re of light and optics scientifically in his
seven vol"me Aook of :ptics && considered the most important #ook on the s"#<ect for the
ne$t E88 years.
'lha4en was the first to "se e$perimental methods and logical reasoning to define the
essential aspects of light1 that it emanated from an o"tside light so"rce, that light traveled in
rays, and that the rays traveled in straight lines. 'ltho"gh not the first to "se a camera
o#sc"ra, he was the first to descri#e how to constr"ct one= in addition he descri#ed how to
magnify an o#<ect with a lens and to make a sharper pro<ected image with a pinhole #y
red"cing the si4e of the pinhole.
?age of ill"stration from the 3atin translation of 'lha4en;s Book of Optics, p"#lished in 5FGB. (-iels Aohr
nstit"te)
*ick Do#le, A Brief History of Light & Photography ?age >
' #"ilding with a pinhole, "sed to watch an eclipse, #ased on ideas from 'lha4en;s Book of Optics. This is
the first ill"stration of s"ch a room.
'De adio Astrono!ico "t #eo!etric Liber; Ay Gemma @risi"s,5F7F. (marygrove.ed")
R,3.R BAC,* A*D +H. )*0.*+),* ,1 .".3LA//./
n 5BEG @riar *oger Aacon of (ngland #ro"ght 'lha4en;s discoveries to the west in his #ook
Opus Ma$us. *eading a translation from 'ra#ic to 3atin of 'lha4en;s Book of Optics, he was
the first in the west to f"lly descri#e a magnifying glass. This led to the creation of eyeglasses
in taly aro"nd 5B6E. *oger Aacon also made ma<or contri#"tions to the science of optics, the
camera o#sc"ra and "foc"ssed on the spirit"al !"ality of light as the f"ndamental "nit of all
creation." (http122hBgB.com2dna2hBgB2'B6GF7>8).
*ick Do#le, A Brief History of Light & Photography ?age 7
' page from *oger Aacon;s #ook, ;:p"s )a<"s; in 5BEG && relating to his e$ploration
of the properties of optics. (commons.wikimedia.org)
D"ring the *enaissance pinhole imagery and the camera o#sc"ra was disc"ssed #y1
3eonardo da Hinci in his %ode& Atlanticus (5F8B), Gemma @risi"s in his #ook De adio
Astrono!ico "t #eo!etric Liber, 5F7F (see ill"stration earlier) and Giovanni Aattista della
?orta in Magiae 'aturalis, 5FF6. ?l"s optical and viewing refinements to the camera o#sc"ra
were s"ggested #y Girolama .ardano in 5FF8 and Daniel Aar#aro in 5FE9. D"ring this time
the camera o#sc"ra #ecame widely "sed for #oth scientific and artistic p"rposes.
*ick Do#le, A Brief History of Light & Photography ?age F
' modern #"ilding "sed as a camera o#sc"ra at ,-.&.hapel /ill, my alma mater. Io" can see the pinhole
a#o"t half way "p the second panel, left of the door. (en.wikipedia.org, gradschool."nc.ed")
+H. CA2.RA B.C,2./ P,R+ABL.
4epler5 6oha''es
== .ontri#"tions To :ptics and ?hotography1
n 5E87 0epler p"#lished the first modern western #ook on optics in (he Optical Part of
Astrono!y )Astrono!iae Pars Optica*, designed the first porta#le camera o#sc"ra with a
rotating lens and mirror to pro<ect the image onto a drawing #oard in 5EB8 and coined the
term ;camera o#sc"ra; which has today evolved into the modern word ;camera;.
*ick Do#le, A Brief History of Light & Photography ?age E
' drawing of a 0epler mova#le tent&type camera o#sc"ra
&& the type designed #y 0epler in 5EB8. (commons.wikimedia.org)
== .ontri#"tions To 'stronomy1
A"ilding on the .opernican theory of a heliocentric solar system a#o"t E8 years earlier,
Cohannes 0epler was the first to acc"rately descri#e the or#its of the planets.
== '#o"t /is nsights1
'ltho"gh a scientist who spent decades making caref"l meas"rements, o#servations and
calc"lations, his inspiration was spirit"al= he wanted to discover a harmony of the spheres, a
medieval idea that descri#ed the harmonio"s relationships #etween earthly and heavenly
realms. n his #ook Har!onices Mundi in 5E59 ((he Har!ony of the +orld), 0epler laid o"t
the third law of planetary motion along with an assertion that the movement of the planets
related to each other in m"sical harmony. 0epler;s three laws of planetary motion were
f"ndamental to -ewton;s discovery of gravity.
*ick Do#le, A Brief History of Light & Photography ?age G
0epler;s m"sical notations for the known planets, showing the notes he associated with them from his #ook
;/armonices )"ndi;.
+H. )*0.*+),* ,1 +H. +.L./C,P.
n 5E86 /ans 3ippershey, an eyeglass maker, invented the telescope.
== 'ccident ?layed ' 0ey *ole1
'ccording to legend, two children were playing with spectacle lenses in an eye glass shop
owned #y 3ippershey in the -etherlands. They happened to line "p two lenses so that a
highly magnified image of a weather vane on top of a ch"rch appeared. This chance
discovery lead to the telescope. 3ippershey "sed a t"#e to position and sec"re the lenses
which he called the "looker" in 5E86= it was the first telescope.
3alileo 3alilei
== .ontri#"tions To :ptics1
+tarting in 5E58 Galileo increased the magnifying power of the telescope "p to >8J.
== .ontri#"tions To 'stronomy1
While Galileo did not invent the telescope, he made a marked improvement on what was
#eing made at the time. When he t"rned this instr"ment to look at C"piter, he discovered fo"r
moons circling the large planet. This o#servation lead him to reali4e that .opernic"s was
correct, and that like the moons of C"piter, the (arth and the other planets were circling the
large +"n. .onfirmation of this over the ne$t h"ndred years or so, lead to a completely new
"nderstanding && as h"mans were no longer at the center of the "niverse as had #een
previo"sly tho"ght in the ?tolemaic +ystem (see ?art 5 of this series of articles). n addition it
lead to scientific o#servation and meas"rement #ecoming the primary way that the world was
e$plored and that tr"th was esta#lished.
*e&to'5 )saac
== .ontri#"tions To :ptics and The ,nderstanding of 3ight1 n 5G87 saac -ewton defined
light as particles in his #ook, :pticks, and also did e$tensive e$perimentation with white light
and prisms in addition to creating the first reflecting telescope.
*ick Do#le, A Brief History of Light & Photography ?age 6
== .ontri#"tions To 'stronomy1
-ewton discovered gravity and then was a#le to calc"late with precision this force that
ca"sed apples to fall to the gro"nd and the planets to circle the s"n, creating the first great
"nified theory. /is three #ooks, Philosophi, 'aturalis Principia Mathe!atica (often shortened
to the Principia), are considered perhaps the most important #ooks in science.
== '#o"t /is nsights1
'fter Cohn )aynard 0eynes st"died -ewton;s papers on alchemy and other s"#<ects, he said
"-ewton was not the first of the age of reason. /e was the last of the magicians.. fancy his
pre&eminence is d"e to his m"scles of int"ition #eing the strongest and most end"ring with
which a man has ever #een gifted....ertainly there can #e no do"#t that the pec"liar
geometrical form in which the e$position of the Principia is dressed "p #ears no resem#lance
at all to the mental processes #y which -ewton act"ally arrived at his concl"sions."
This is a replica of -ewton;s reflecting telescope. -ewton;s redesign of the telescope #ecame the #asis for
the space&#ased /"##le telescope and most other large modern telescopes #oth on the gro"nd and in space.
(commons.wikimedia.org)
*ick Do#le, A Brief History of Light & Photography ?age 9
' sophisticated camera o#sc"ra design from the #ook A (reatise on Optics #y +ir David Arewster.
(commons.wikimedia.org)
Ay the 56th cent"ry the camera o#sc"ra had shr"nk down to a fairly small ta#letop design pointing the way to
st"dio cameras a h"ndred years later. (commons.wikimedia.org)
*ick Do#le, A Brief History of Light & Photography ?age 58

PH,+,3RAPH" )/ B,R*
+he Discoery ,f Light /e'sitie 2aterial
n 5GBG Cohann /einrich +ch"l4e noticed that silver nitrate t"rned dark when e$posed to light.
+ilver halides #ecame the #asis for camera plates and film a#o"t 588 year later.
56BG1 -icephore -iepce shot the first permanent photograph taken with a camera. The e$pos"re re!"ired
eight ho"rs. The photo is known as ;Hiew from the Window at 3e Gras;. /is camera was placed in the "pper
story window of his ho"se and made a photo of the #"ildings #elow. ommons.wikimedia.org)
56>F1 3atticed window in 3acock '##ey #y /enry @o$ Tal#ot. The positive print on the right was made from
the oldest negative known to e$ist, left. Tal#ot;s negative process transformed photography as it allowed m"ltiple
copies to #e made from one negative and also allowed darkroom developing and e$posing techni!"es to #e
"sed to make the final print. (commons.wikimedia.org)
*ick Do#le, A Brief History of Light & Photography ?age 55
+he 1i7i'g Process
While -iepce and 3o"is Dag"erre, another pioneering photographer who colla#orated with
-iepce and invented the dag"erreotype, were a#le to ;fi$; their photographs so that they did
not fade && it was not "ntil 56>9 that sodi"m thios"lfate, known to photographers as ;hypo;,
#ecame the standard fi$ing chemical and has #een "sed for that p"rpose ever since with film
photography. Go to this site for a f"ll history and description of photographic chemistry.
' typical st"dio camera of the 59th cent"ry. Ay a#o"t 5678 photographic material was sensitive
eno"gh for e$pos"res #elow E8 seconds, which allowed for stiff #"t pop"lar portraits. (commons.wikimedia.org)
Astro'o$y 2erges 8ith Photography
+tarting as early as 5678, cameras were designed to take photographs with astronomical
telescopes. 'fter 5988 large telescopes were optimi4ed for photography rather than for
o#servation && making them essentially telephoto cameras.
2a7&ell5 6a$es Clerk
== .ontri#"tions To ' +cientific ,nderstanding of 3ight1
n 56EF )a$well wrote A Dyna!ical (heory of the "lectro!agnetic -ield, a #ook that "nited
light with other forces. /e coined the term ;electromagnetic spectr"m; and stated that light
was simply part of a contin""m from radio waves to $&rays. @inally he asserted that light,
therefore, had to #e considered a wave and not a particle as -ewton had said. (+tay t"ned &&
as (instein had the last word on this and what he said was cr"cial to the invention of digital
photography.)
*ick Do#le, A Brief History of Light & Photography ?age 5B
Diagram of the electromagnetic spectr"m. (commons.wikimedia.org)
== )a$well;s .ontri#"tions To ?hotography
n 56FF )a$well ded"ced that if an o#<ect were photographed three times on transparent
#lack and white film && each time with a different filter of red, green and violet && a f"ll color
image wo"ld res"lt from the com#ined photographs when pro<ected together "sing the
corresponding filters.
n 56E5 )a$well made the first color photograph "sing his method, and it has #ecome the
"the #asis of nearly all s"#se!"ent photochemical and electronic methods of colo"r
photography." (en.wikipedia.org2wiki2CamesD.lerkD)a$well)
56E51 The first color photograph && taken #y )a$well and proving what came to #e known as his ;principle of
three&colo"r analysis and synthesis;. (commons.wikimedia.org)
*ick Do#le, A Brief History of Light & Photography ?age 5>
== )a$well;s .ontri#"tions To 'stronomy1
nterested in a wide range of scientific !"estions, )a$well wrote a paper On the Stability of
Saturn's ings && which had #een a nagging !"estion to astronomers && and e$plained how
these rings were p"t together.
== '#o"t /is nsights1
'ltho"gh interested in a variety of scientific !"estions, )a$well also wrote poetry thro"gho"t
his lifetime.
Ay 56G6 photography had #ecome !"ite sophisticated allowing for m"ch shorter e$pos"res. @or e$ample,
(adweard )"y#ridge perfected a method for taking se!"ential photographs of a horse galloping && at a fast
sh"tter speed of 525888 second. (commons.wikimedia.org)
*ick Do#le, A Brief History of Light & Photography ?age 57
56971 The craft of photography had #ecome so commonplace that an impressionist painter s"ch as
To"lo"se&3a"trec painted a poster advertising the services of a photographic st"dio. +ome impressionists and
other painters even "sed photography in their work && s"ch as Degas and (akins. (commons.wikimedia.org)
PH,+,3RAPH" B.C,2./ A0A)LABL. +, +H. 3.*.RAL P-BL)C
4o!ak A'! +he Bro&'ie Ca$era
+tarting in 56G6 George (astman concentrated on making dry plates that were m"ch easier
to work with than the former wet plate process that re!"ired immediate e$pos"re and
development. n 5669 his company, 0odak, prod"ced the first man"fact"red fle$i#le
transparent roll film. n 5988 the company mass prod"ced the Arownie camera. t was easy to
"se d"e in part to the simplicity of roll film. )arketed as the everyman camera, it was a device
that anyone co"ld get decent snapshots with, as long as they followed 0odak;s rather odd
directions (see #elow). ?hotography then changed from the speciali4ed craft it had #een to an
activity that was availa#le to the general p"#lic.
9#ote! 1ro$ The Brownie Manual:
+hen !aking snapshots...the sub$ect should be in broad/ open sunlight/ but the ca!era !ust
not. (he sun should be behind your back or o0er the shoulder. 'O("1 +hile these
instructions guaranteed a properly e&posed photo/ the bright sunlight also guaranteed the
lighting to be harsh and the people probably s2uinting because the sun 3as in their eyes.
4odak pro!oted the 3ord 'snapshot' to !arket its !essage of easy 2uick photography. And
snapshots ha0e been getting a bad rap e0er since.
*ick Do#le, A Brief History of Light & Photography ?age 5F
+imilar to the very first Arownie of 5988, this pict"re shows the Arownie B' that was availa#le starting in
598G. (commons.wikimedia.org)
+he C#lt#ral .ffect ,f +he Bro&'ie
The Wikipedia article on the Arownie incl"ded this fascinating comment1 "n 5986, the
'"strian architect"ral critic Coseph '"g"st 3"$ wrote a #ook called 45nstlerische
4odakgehei!nisse )Artistic Secrets of the 4odak* in which he championed the "se of the
camera for its c"lt"ral potential. ...he arg"ed that the accessi#ility the camera provided for the
amate"r meant that people co"ld photograph and doc"ment their s"rro"ndings and th"s
prod"ce a type of sta#ility in the e## and flow of the modern world."
56961 The first single lens refle$, the large format Grafle$ was #"lky and c"m#ersome, #"t nevertheless !"ite
porta#le and a work horse. t was the camera of choice for many professional and famo"s photographers s"ch
as Dorothea 3ange and 'lfred +tieglit4. (-aval Training .o"rse, Hol. 5)
*ick Do#le, A Brief History of Light & Photography ?age 5E
This pict"re shows Dorothea 3ange with her Grafle$ finding <"st the right angle for a shot in the 59>8s.
(loc.gov)
.i'stei'5 Albert
== .ontri#"tions To an ,nderstanding of 3ight which 3ead to Digital ?hotography1
n 598F 'l#ert (instein p"#lished a paper e$plaining the photoelectric effect= this happened
when light shown on certain metals ca"sing electrons to #e e<ected. /is e$planation #ecame
the #asis for digital photography and was an important finding that lead to !"ant"m
mechanics. n his paper :n a /e"ristic Hiewpoint .oncerning the ?rod"ction and
Transformation of 3ight, he wrote that light acted as #oth a wave and a particle && th"s
agreeing with and contradicting #oth )a$well and -ewton. When ;light !"anta; as he called
these wave&packet particles (now called photons) hit certain metals, electrons were e<ected
#ased on the intensity and fre!"ency of the light. (instein won the -o#el pri4e in part for this
e$planation which is at the heart of sensors in digital cameras today. +ee this article for a
good e$planation.
K"oted from Wikipedia1 ;The photoelectric effect. ncoming photons on the left strike a metal plate (#ottom),
and e<ect electrons, depicted as flying off to the right.; (en.wikipedia.org2wiki2'l#ertD(instein)
*ick Do#le, A Brief History of Light & Photography ?age 5G
== (instein;s .ontri#"tions to 'stronomy1
(instein redefined the "niverse as a space&time contin""m. 'nd he redefined gravity as a
warp in space. n addition he asserted that time itself was relative. n short he completely
changed the accepted views of the physical laws of nat"re. == '#o"t /is nsights1
When (instein was 5E he played an imagination game in which he was chasing a #eam of
light && other acco"nts say that he imagined riding a #eam of light && and that this game he had
played with himself had an important role in his development of his theory of relativity.
.onsidered a "tho"ght e$periment" it is now seen as one of the greatest imaginative
endeavors #y any scientist. This was only one of a n"m#er of tho"ght e$periments, in which
he was a#le to vis"ali4e and see a series of events d"e to the imaginative circ"mstances that
he had placed himself in. 3ike -ewton, it was (instein;s int"ition that g"ided him to the right
res"lts, not rigid scientific methodology.
-:T( 'A:,T G(-,+1 Aoth -ewton and (instein int"itively settled on light as an area of
fr"itf"l st"dy, not knowing where their investigations wo"ld take them. While their discoveries
re!"ired methodical and scientific in!"iry, the decision to concentrate on light was an int"itive
one. Geni"s often senses which areas are the most promising. n a modern day e$ample,
+tephen /awking foc"sed on #lack holes which were not tho"ght to #e important and
considered <"st an oddity in the "niverse. Decades later it was discovered that s"per massive
#lack holes are at the center of most gala$ies and are what, in fact, holds them together.
(he intuiti0e !ind is a sacred gift and the rational !ind is a faithful ser0ant. +e ha0e created a society
that honors the ser0ant and has forgotten the gift.
Albert "instein
H#bble5 .!&i'
== /"##le;s .ritical ,se of ?hotography in 'stronomy1
n 595G /"##le;s ?h.D. dissertation, Photographic 6n0estigations of -aint 'ebulae, the
f"rthest light ever recorded on film #ecame the fo"ndation for his later photographic research
of the heavens. ,p "ntil then it was ass"med that the )ilky Way gala$y was the entire
"niverse. /"##le showed that other gala$ies e$isted o"tside the )ilky Way and that the
"niverse was e$panding. (vent"ally this wo"ld lead to photographs of tho"sands of gala$ies
and the discovery that there were #illions of other gala$ies. n addition it #ecame clear that
the general e$pansion co"ld #e traced #ack to a single event, the Aig Aang.
*ick Do#le, A Brief History of Light & Photography ?age 56
n 595G /"##le incl"ded these photographs in his ?h.D. dissertation of different types of ne#"lae that he had
identified. (archive.org)
3:22 B.C,2./ +H. /+A*DARD 1,R2A+
59BF 3eica '1 3eica introd"ced this first s"ccessf"l >Fmm camera= compact and easy to carry, it still
prod"ced !"ality photos. +hortly after this the >Fmm format #ecame the standard.
(commons.wikimedia.org)
*ick Do#le, A Brief History of Light & Photography ?age 59
n 5979 .onta$ prod"ced the first >Fmm pentaprism +3* which allowed eye&level viewing. The small easily
hand&holda#le +3* design #ecame the camera of choice for photographers for the ne$t fifty years.
(commons.wikimedia.org)
D)3)+AL PH,+,3RAPH" B.C,2./ A0A)LABL.
599F, .asio KH&581 This was first digital camera with a 3.D monitor. t also served as the viewfinder. The
monitor gave a real time viewing of a scene #efore the shot and then immediately showed the res"lting photo.
(ven tho"gh it was relatively e$pensive compared to a film camera and had poor resol"tion, it #ecame instantly
pop"lar. Get the man"al for the .asio KH&581 s"pport.casio.com2pdf28852!v58e.pdf (commons.wikimedia.org)
*ick Do#le, A Brief History of Light & Photography ?age B8
59961 +elf portrait of the a"thor (*ick Do#le)with an early .asio && showing the 3.D monitor
&& this shot was taken "sing a mirror.
B8871 ,ltra Deep @ield digital photograph of distant gala$ies taken #y the /"##le space telescope1 this
shot of a#o"t 58 tho"sand gala$ies more than 58 #illion light years away was recorded "sing a 5 million second
e$pos"re, photographing the faintest light ever. ?hotography had now taken "s to the edge of the "niverse in
space and almost to the #eginning of the formation of the "niverse, the Aig Aang, in time. (nasa.gov)
*ick Do#le, A Brief History of Light & Photography ?age B5
*ote Abo#t ,#r Cha'gi'g -'!ersta'!i'g ,f +he -'ierse
@rom 0epler to Galileo to -ewton to /"##le, the perceived position of h"mans in the cosmos
was radically diminished. -o longer at the center of the "niverse, instead h"mans were on a
small planet that or#ited one of 588 #illion stars in the )ilky Way Gala$y. 'nd to make matters
worse, the "niverse contained a 588 #illion other gala$ies. ndeed we discovered we were <"st
a tiny part of things. Iet the same technology which had revealed this && and in which
photography had played a cr"cial role && also gave "s "nprecedented power over o"r lives
and o"r world.
+he .ffect ,f Photography ,' Co'te$porary C#lt#re
Whenever see a story on the local news a#o"t a ho"se fire, the family always comments on
whether they were a#le to save the family photo al#"m && the one thing perhaps that was
irreplacea#le. Aefore photography time simply passed with no record. Today photography has
transformed o"r perception of time and created an e$perience of the passing years which is
"ni!"e to modern life. -ow we can see how we looked last .hristmas or a decade ago. 'nd
as we age, we are ama4ed that we ever looked so yo"ng. ?hotography is so precise that a
well foc"sed snapshot will show "s details that we had forgotten like the pattern on a tie or a
raggedy doll in a child;s arms. Time is now not something that slips #y o"t of reach, #"t that
we can hold onto <"st a #it.
+H. 1-+-R. ,1 PH,+,3RAPH"
/o )s Digital Photography +he .'! ,f Photography;s Deelop$e't<
@ar from it && photography has #een changing from the very #eginning. While there have #een
periods of relative sta#ility s"ch as >Fmm and the single lens refle$, there have #een other
periods of rapid change. We are in one of those periods right now. ' good e$ample is the
3ytro light&field camera that was <"st introd"ced this year && "sing state of the art technology.
nstead of taking a pict"re, it photographs ;light field data;. ' photographer can go #ack later
and decide where to p"t the foc"s. 'nd while the advertised advantage of s"ch a camera is
today1 "shoot now, foc"s later," s"spect that many other techni!"es will come a#o"t as a
res"lt of this technology.
L3ight field photography was once only possi#le with 588 cameras tethered to a
s"percomp"ter in a la#. Today itMs accessi#le to everyone in a camera thatMs small and
powerf"l, #"t incredi#ly easy to "se. :"r goal is to forever change the way people take and
e$perience pict"res...N said ?rofessor -g of the3ytro light field camera.
*ick Do#le, A Brief History of Light & Photography ?age BB
8hat )s )' +he 1#t#re<
B8F8% We can only spec"late, of co"rse, #"t an o#vio"s leap in technology wo"ld #e an
easily "sa#le, cheap holographic system.
/olographic ?hotography% && This diagram is a ;+chema of electron holography1 5&electron so"rce= B&
specimen= >&o#<ect wave= 7&reference wave= F&electron #iprism= E&hologram.; (pict"re and te$t from
commons.wikimedia.org) ATW doesn;t this look an awf"l lot like those early camera o#sc"ra diagrams in my
previo"s #logs in this series% (commons.wikimedia.org)
2ore )!eas 1or Ca$eras ,f +he 1#t#re
== 's an e$perimental photographer, my own wish&list incl"des an 3.D monitor that wo"ld
show me how a pict"re was ;#"ilding; in real time d"ring a long e$pos"re of 7 seconds, for
e$ample. *ight now the monitor #lacks o"t and have to take an ed"cated g"ess.
== ($pect that photons, the particles of light, will #e #etter "nderstood at the s"#atomic and
!"ant"m level and that the res"lting nanotechnology will again make ma<or changes in
photography. @or e$ample, today;s digital cameras m"st translate voltage at a photosite (the
point where light hits in a camera and that e!"als one pi$el) "sing an analog to digital
conversion. n the f"t"re this co"ld #e a p"rely digital task that wo"ld co"nt the n"m#er of
electrons that had #een e<ected when light hit && and which co"ld lead to an e$tended tonal
range never #efore seen in photography.
*ick Do#le, A Brief History of Light & Photography ?age B>