Reader's Comments - Index of - Free

History of Photography Timeline
● Hockney and Falco on mirrors and lenses at the birth of photography- Pushes the date of the earliest optical imaging
systems in western art back to 1420s and 30s. Simpler than camera obscura - the guys would use a convex mirror to reflect
an image of a very brightly lit subject onto a canvas shaded from the light then trace it. Explains why sudden outbreak of
portraits of sunlit squinting people in this era. Painter David Hockney's views were first published in the New Yorker in
January 2000, and have already been discussed on Photo Net. This link takes the story on to work done by optical expert
Charles Falco and an expanded version of the argument in Hockney's forthcoming book. I've just watched a TV
programme the BBC put out yesterday, which is very convincing. The most primitive mirror systems give a bright but
small upside-down image you could easily paint from. Main benefit was an immediate improvement in rendering complex
shapes like the folds in clothing and the reflections on armour - and a more photographic-looking depiction of people.
(contributed by Ian Stobie)
● Antique & Classic Camera Web Pages- Learn about the development and history of the CAMERA ! (contributed by D
Colucci)
● The Empire That Was Russia- (100+ years old color pictures) The photographs of Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii
(1863-1944) offer a vivid portrait of a lost world--the Russian Empire on the eve of World War I and the coming
revolution. His subjects ranged from the medieval churches and monasteries of old Russia, to the railroads and factories of
an emerging industrial power, to the daily life and work of Russia's diverse population. (contributed by Denis-Carl
Robidoux)
● Economic History of the U.S. Photographic Industry- Describes employment, revenue, prevalence of cameras, and total
end-user photographs taken from about 1890 through about 1995, with comparison to the growth of telephone service.
(contributed by Douglas Galbi)
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