Dec 13, 2024

Milestones in the history of photography

Today, a photo can be taken with a single click on your smartphone - easier and faster than ever before. But behind this apparent lightness lies a centuries-long history full of experiments and groundbreaking innovations. In this blog post we explore the history of photography until the emergence of a very special medium: film. But how did the film come about? What inventions and milestones were necessary for this?

Part 4: Photography learns to walk: further development into film

Titelbild Meilensteine der Fotografiegeschichte mit dem Text "Die frühen Verfahren der Fotografie"

©stefanocarocci, Man taking photo with old camera, adobestock

The Dry Plate

Photographing using the wet collodion process was a challenge: photographers had to coat glass plates with chemicals on site and develop the images immediately. This meant that they had to travel with a mobile darkroom - a logistically and technically extremely complex process.

The solution: Richard Leach Maddox and the Dry Plate

Inventors looked for a simpler solution. The English doctor Richard Leach Maddox's solution in 1871 was the best: he developed glass plates that were coated with a gelatin-bromide silver solution. These dry plates no longer had to be prepared or fixed immediately before or after recording, meaning that mobile darkrooms were no longer needed.

The gelatin drying process was optimized in the following years. One of the biggest improvements was the reduction in exposure time, making snapshots possible.

New industrial opportunities

Industrial production of dry panels began in the 1880s. Photographers could now buy ready-made plates, which completely eliminated the need for complex chemical treatment. Nevertheless, the dry plates remained heavy and fragile, which meant that the search for more flexible and robust image carriers quickly became important.

The first roll film camera

The American amateur photographer and entrepreneur George Eastman also entered the market and founded a company to sell dry plates. However, he became famous for another groundbreaking invention: the first roll film camera.

The roll film

The search for alternatives to heavy and impractical glass plates began as early as the 1870s. A significant innovation was the introduction of roll cassettes containing negative paper, first coated with collodion and later with a gelatin emulsion. A decisive breakthrough finally came in 1887 with the roll film made of celluloid.

George Eastman broke away from his original business idea, dry plates, and instead focused on developing roll film.

The Kodak No. 1: The first roll-film camera

In 1888, he founded a company called the Eastman Kodak Company. A year later, he introduced a camera specifically designed for roll film: the Kodak No. 1. This handy camera could hold up to 100 shots and was easy to use A standout benefit was the unique service Kodak offered: After the film was full, customers could send the camera to the company, processing the images, refilling the film, and shipping the camera back ready for use.

Importance for photography

The introduction of roll film and the roll film camera brought a significant boost to amateur photography. There was no need for laborious plate changes and the development of the images could be conveniently outsourced.

The cinematographer

With the rapid development of photography, roll film opened a completely new chapter: the creation of film.

Edward Muybridge (see blog “Milestones in the History of Photography, Part 3”) made his first attempts to make movement visible using photography. Later, Thomas Edison came up with the kinetograph, a device that recorded images in rapid succession on a roll of film. This technology was supplemented by the kinetoscope, with which the recorded images could be played back one after the other.

However, this system was limited to viewing by individuals and was still far from the public screening of a film.

The Lumière Brothers: The Breakthrough to Cinema

The decisive step was taken by the brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière, who, as the sons of a photographic plate manufacturer, were familiar with the technology of photography. In 1894, they developed the cinematograph, a device that doubled as a film camera and projector. In 1895 they patented the device.

The cinematograph worked roughly as follows: The unexposed film strip was moved jerkily in the cinematograph, briefly exposed and then rolled up in a metal cassette for development. To show the film, the exposed film strip was moved past a light source, allowing the moving images to be cast onto a screen.

In December 1895, the Lumière brothers presented their films to the public for the first time and laid the foundation for one of the most important forms of culture and entertainment of modern times..