The birth of photography              


It’s very easy for many people now to take a photograph with a digital camera or mobile
phone, but it was very different in the early days of photography.

The first ‘camera’ was the ‘camera obscura’, which is Latin for ‘dark room’. A camera obscura is a
dark room or box with a very small hole at one end. When light shines onto an object and passes
through the small hole, the image is projected onto the opposite wall, but is not permanent like a
photo. Artists used a camera obscura to draw objects accurately and
quickly.

The French inventor Joseph Niépce made the first photograph with a camera obscura. He did this by
projecting the image onto a special metal plate. It took about eight hours of exposure
to create the photograph so it wasn’t suitable for taking people’s portraits. But in 1839 Louis
Daguerre developed a better method with a much shorter exposure time. He called this the
daguerreotype and it became very popular for portraits.

With a daguerreotype, it wasn’t possible to make multiple copies from one exposure as the positive
image was fixed onto a single plate. With the invention of a negative, it was possible to produce
multiple copies from one negative. In the mid 19th century ‘visiting cards’ with a photo on became
very popular because they were cheap to produce and people displayed an
album of family photos in the living room.

One English expression people sometimes use when taking photos comes from the early days of
photography. In English when someone takes a photograph, they sometimes say
‘watch the birdie’. This comes from a bird that was used by a photographer’s assistant to get
a child to look in a particular direction.

One interesting early use of photography was to show that when a horse runs very fast all four
hooves are off the ground at one time. To do this, the photographer placed 12 cameras along a race
track to take multiple photos of a horse galloping and the images showed that he was right. It was
only possible to prove this because of photography.

In 1900 the world’s largest camera at that time was built. It was about 2.5 metres by x 1.5 metres
and weighed over 400 kilos. It took 15 men to move and operate the camera. So next time you use
your mobile or camera to take a photo, think about how difficult this was in the early days of
photography.

1  Before reading the text, discuss these questions with your partner.

–   How often do you take photos?
–   Do you use a camera, a digital camera or a mobile phone?
–   What do you take photos of?

2  Choose the correct option, a or b.

1   Camera obscura means ...
a     dark room                                     b   dark box
2   Camera obscura was used by artists ...
a     to draw more accurately               b   to take photos
3   The first photograph using a camera obscura took …
a     eight minutes of exposure            b   eight hours of exposure
4   For taking portraits, the daguerreotype was ...
a     better than the camera obscura   b   worse than the camera obscura
5   Visiting cards with a photo were popular ...
a     in the mid 18th century                  b   in the mid 19th century
6   Early photography was used to show that when a horse runs very fast ...
a     all four hooves are off the ground b   only two hooves are off the ground
7   The world's largest camera in 1900 took …
a     five people to move                      b   fifteen people to move









3  Match the meanings below to the following words from the text.

album        exposure      image           inventor          portrait         plate

1   the person who creates something that wasn't there before: an                    
2   a piece of metal used, especially in the past, for printing words and pictures: a            
       
3   the amount of time you allow light to reach the film in a camera when taking a photo:



















4   a painting, drawing or photo of someone, especially of their face only: a                    

5   a book in which you collect things like photos: an                    
6   the picture that you see of something, eg on a computer screen: an                    

4  Complete the sentences using one of the nouns from exercise 3.

1   The                       wasn't permanent with the first camera obscura.
2   The                       time was too long to take a photo of a person with a camera obscura.
3   The first                       of a person was in 1839.
4   It was popular to have an                       of family photos displayed in the living room.
5   The photographic                       for the largest camera in 1900 was 2.5 by 1.5 metres.
6   A French                       took the first photograph with a camera obscura.

5  Look at and watch have similar meanings. Match the correct verb to the meaning.

1   If you                     something, the object isn't usually moving or changing.
2   If you                     something, the object is probably moving or changing.

6  Choose the correct verb from exercise 5, using the correct form, to complete the sentences
below. Then ask your partner the questions.

1   How often do you                         a TV programme in English?
2   When you                         a photo of your friends, do you remember where and why you
took the photo?
3   Do you like                         old family photos?
4   Do you prefer to                       a video or                     photos of important
family events?

7  Discuss these questions with your partner(s).

–   What did you find interesting or surprising about the early days of photography?
–   What is the oldest photo you have? Who took the photo and what is it a photo of?
–   Do you put photos in an album or do you keep them on a computer or mobile phone?
–   What is your favourite photo? Why do you like it best?

Glossary

accurately (adv) – correctly; without making a mistake
display (verb) – to put something in a place where many people can see it
gallop (verb) – if a horse gallops it runs at its fastest speed
invent (verb) – to create something that wasn't there before an inventor (the person)
hoof (noun) hooves (plural) – the hard part of a horse's foot project (verb) – to send an image to
a screen or other surface suitable (adj) – right or correct for a particular situation