'History of the Camera' tells and illustrates the story of the camera in an accessible and engaging way. It was written by Todd Gustavson, curator of technology at the George Eastman Museum in New York. In this substantial volume, hundreds of new and archival photographs from the George Eastman Museum bring the complete story behind the lens to life.
Few inventions have had as much influence as the camera, and few arts have left such an enduring mark on the artistic, scientific, and everyday worlds as photography. Yet we have become so focused on what the camera produces—the indelible images of our lives and our defining moments—that we almost forget the instrument that makes it all possible.
This exceptional, richly illustrated book spans nearly 200 years of developments in photography: from the first faint photograph in 1826, produced by French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce after an exposure of no less than 8 hours, to the point-and-shoot images made with our modern smartphones.
Gustavson traces the technological development of cameras and the lives of the often eccentric inventors, businesspeople, and artists behind them: people such as Louis Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, whose innovations led to the daguerreotype; pioneering photography entrepreneur Mathew B. Brady, whose team photographed Civil War battlefields and soldiers; and Julia Margaret Cameron, who portrayed rich and poor in the Victorian era.
The book also covers George Eastman, a young bank clerk who eventually founded a company bearing his own name, the Eastman Kodak Company. The Polaroid camera, Leica, and Hasselblad are discussed as well. It also features curiosities such as stereoscopic cameras, postcard cameras, and spy cameras hidden in watches and buttons.
Todd Gustavson is curator of technology at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York. In that role, he is responsible for cataloging, storing, and maintaining one of the world’s largest collections of photographic and cinematographic equipment, comprising more than 20,000 objects. As a photographer, Gustavson was affiliated with the Chautauqua Institution in New York.
History of the Camera — Todd Gustavson
Pages: 368
Price: €19.95
Publisher: Librero
ISBN: 9789089987143
Language: Dutch. This article refers to the Dutch-language edition.
