This is no novel news that at the 30th International Film Festival held in Toronto, Canada, David Hamilton productions came up with the screening of “Water”, Deepa Mehta's brave exploration of India's grim, sordid past in a finely judged tale of a young Hindu girl whose life is suddenly changed by the traditions of her religion. The film is supposed to be the opening feature film of the film festival, starting on September 7.
What is remarkable to my mind about the theme of the film is that it attempts to delve deep into the Indian society of the thirties, thereby telling an inspirational tale about a girl who refuses to accept her fate and struggles against all powerful religious customs those are at odds with her and those render her a prisoner without a future. Overall, there is a mixed reaction about the film from all quarters of the world, where rejection is reported much more than acceptance.
To my mind, this is owing to the fact that Mehta tells the story with a stoic sense of outrage that turns into a growing spirit of possibility and potential. It is a pity that the film has to focus mainly on the Foreign market and International Film Festivals all around the globe, as the Indian market that thrives on feel-good commercial flicks is reportedly “appalled” and “shocked to death” by the film depicting the horrendous past of India where baseless beliefs were blindly followed and umpteen lives were painfully wasted by the Indian caste system.
Having watched the two earlier films of Deepa Mehta’s much-hyped trilogy, “Fire” and “Earth-1947” years ago, it was time for me to watch the last one, “Water”, to make my viewing full-circle. No doubt, the whole trilogy, comprising of taboo topics like lesbianism and polygamy, even in this era, is bound to rake up fire as they have challenged established moral concerns through the detailed examination of sexual and familial relationships.
This time, there was scope of unlimited challenges and controversies for the film-maker, what with the project being shelved in February 2000 due to the ruthless attack of Hindu fundamentalists angered by the sensitive subject matter. The set of the film was burned in the “holy” city of Varanas, causing over $600,000 worth of damage.
In every era, when the veil of darkness is lifted and age-old conventions and superstitions casting an evil spell in human minds are challenged, so-called aficionados of religion, by imposing nonsensical restrictions and by creating treacherously outrageous conditions in the name of power play, still make it a point to prove that they are there for humanity and they will make their presence felt, “taming the shrew” in the process.
By delaying the project for six long years, by succumbing to the hostility of the fundamentalists with the resulting tensions, and eventually being forced to shoot the film outside India (in Sri Lanka) with an entirely new casting crew, and with a somewhat altered script, even the bold director Deepa Mehta proved that the devils of the yesteryears who suppressed the voices of humanity in the name of religion, are here to stay for long.
As a result, the film has not only been shrouded in controversies, but has also quite ironically been a by-product of compromises. I pretty much remember Shabana Azmi being in news in 2000 for shaving off her hair after signing this project with Deepa Mehta. Nandita Das, the dusky, unconventional beauty was to do the bit which was later done by Lisa Ray. While both these women are pretty known in the socialite circle for their activist avatars, it is a wonder that they later backed out of the project, giving way to a totally different star-cast.
The story, set on the banks of the Ganges in Varanasi, depicts the desperate plight of widows forced to live a renounced, abandoned life, which the priest (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) portrays as “the prayashchit” of the ill the widows have committed in their previous karmic lives and also as the door to attain “liberation” after being possessed by God in the realm of death. The enigmatic, resilient widow Shakuntala (played to utmost perfection by Seema Biswas) seems to have been used to the pathetic plight she is forced into after her widowhood, but still she cannot resist the temptation of questioning the basis of all these, only to hear to obscure answers from the priest, in the name of the Hindu scriptures.
As a corollary to her silent suffering, there are widows of various ages and sizes, all living under the same roof. Though a maximum number of them are widowed in childhood, never remembering the bliss of a conjugal life, all are forced to live impoverished lives devoid of sensual pleasures. Bearing suppression for ages, the amount of pain, frustration, anger, and even a bit of lunacy are elements that make them all the more human.
It is a psychologically proven fact that suppression of human desires bring about perversion, lunacy and distorted pleasures, all of which, ironically, are shown by the existence of Madhumati (played by vamp of yesteryears, Manorama) and her accomplice, the eunuch Gulabi (played by Raghuvir Yadav). While the widows assort themselves by the ganges to listen to the religious scriptures and sanctify their souls by thinking of renunciation, a vicious game of prostitution continues from behind, as Kalyani (Lisa Ray), the gorgeous “asset” of the widow asram is set free to have her large tresses, dress up and sleep around with the “seth” secretly, prompted by the old hag Madhumati, all these in order to keep the asram “survive”.
The role of the child “Chuiya” in the film:
In the first scene of the film, the death of the so-called “husband” of Chuiya, an eight year-old kid, brings her idyllic innocence to a jolting halt. Being forced to shave off her hair, wrap her body in a piece of white cloth and left in the widow asram along with its inmates, all of whom are four to five double her age in average, the plot of the film revolves around how her life changes its course during her stay in the asram and how she is able to touch the chords of her heart with her inmates. While with her childish innocence and pranks, she befriends Kalyani, the stunning young widow (some scenes and the rain song being filmed on the two have a lyrical intensity to it), in spite of raking up fire and letting all hell break loose at times in the Asram, she affects the lives of some older widows that have been there for years.
Her role to the film is crucial from at least three perspectives: (i) reviewing the emotional conflicts of the adult widows with her pristine innocence, (ii) providing the characteristic childish innocence to the romantic aspect of the film depicted by the love between Kalyani and the idealist youth Narayan. (iii) The third perspective of the child’s presence is somewhat grim and ironical, that of child sexual abuse being secretly administered beneath the so-called sanctified framework of the existence of the widows. The child, overall, acts as the eye-opener to the hypocritical, perverse social practices being maintained under the so-called banner of religion.
The love aspect of the film:
In spite of the lyrical intensity of the songs (written by Sukhwinder, composed by A.R.Rehman) that depict forbidden love between Narayan and Kalyani, the cinematography (by Giles Nuttgens) capturing the ghats of the ganges, the outstanding background score by Mychael Danna,, the mysterious nights of Vanaras where the lovers meet secretly and profess their affections for each other, the sadistic theme of doomed star-crossed lovers prove at the end, with Kalyani’s suicide, that in a society where hypocrisy and skin-trade in the name of religion and Brahmin existence prevails, Narayan the idealist is living in a fool’s paradise, nurturing dreams of marrying a widow who had all lust for life. While the vices being offered to Kalyani secretly, at the expense of her beauty portrays a brutal truth, her tragic death highlights the fact that patriarchal social norms will have their cunning way in spite of the silent sufferings of thousands of Kalyanis.
One may question at the end, isn’t there any positive aspect at the end of the brutal truth? Remember the last scene, where the desperate Shakuntala (Seema Biswas) literally begs the fanatics swept over by the idealism and “passive resistance” of Gandhiji to handover the mentally and physically tormented child to Gandhiji? Not one of them is honest enough to listen to her pleas, and to consider the child’s identity as something other than a “doomed widow”, until the broken hearted Narayan takes her into his shelter. This proves that the big talks of shattering customs and prejudices preached by the reformers of society, uttered time and again by so-called intellectuals fall flat when the actual time arises. The writer had to ultimately take recourse to the so-called hero Narayan and rather accidental circumstances to show that there is at least a ray of hope for the shattered child.
In India, where there are around 34,000 widows (according to the 2001 census) still living impoverished, shattered lives, such a film is worth a watch, at least to acknowledge that there is a vicious reality around. However, numerous controversies, the media-hype, the news of lawsuits of plagiarism being filed by a Bengali writer (Sunil Ganguly) against the director will only create enough "masala" to deviate the audiences’ minds from the actual intention of the film and render it yet another hyped product in the film-market!
It is all the more shocking to know that even in Toronto and in some of the US cities, there exists a group of fundamentalists who have dared to offer “friendly advice” to Deepa Mehta, the film maker, suggesting to quit screening the film here because Americans and Canadians do not understand the complexities of Indian traditions! Coupled to it are the “valuable” suggestions coming up from nooks and corners of India as well as the so-called “Worldwide Indian Diaspora” who are alleging the lady about highlighting the dark side of the Indian society. They question her inability to perceive good things in India and show them on big screen.
However, these pseudo-intellectuals ought to know that mushy, goody goody love tales, sentimental family dramas and Ramgopal Verma horror flicks are not the absolute truths of the country. Having said that, one has to acknowledge that venal corruption, casteism, communal riots, female infanticide as well as exploitation of the female in all forms have become sort of ground realities in the country. It is not all about clinging to a vision of the land that might have existed hundreds of years ago. The truth on the other hand is, even today, if one visits Vanaras or for that matter, any other religious small town of India, such things do exist, though in less severity than before. In the end, all I think is that a society can move forward only when reality of plights and atrocities are accepted and a solution is sought for it. And now, it is really high time that fundamentalists of all hues and faiths, whether in India, or in the US and Canada, realize that!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Brutal Reality Drowned in Deepa Mehta's Most Talked About Film <em>Water</em>
<i>1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die</i> a Must-Read for Film Buffs
Cinema is an art form that's over 100 years old. Hundreds of thousands of films have been produced of all shapes and sizes and of all genres all over the world. As lovers of cinema, we are often confused and dumbfounded as to which films to watch. As an answer, Stephen Jay Schneider and a group of film critics and theorists around the world put together this compilation of 1,001 culturally, technologically, artistically and historically significant films.
Arranged in chronological order and covering over 100 years worth of history in film, from the early 1902 Georges Milies science-fiction film "A Voyage to the Moon" to last year's Oscar Best Picture winner "Million Dollar Baby", the book covers a very wide range of forms and genres of film: From huge Hollywood epic spectacles like "Gone with the Wind" and "Spartacus" to gritty independent pictures like John Cassavetes's "Faces" and Samuel Fuller's "Shock Corridor"; from famous mainstream blockbuster features like "Titanic" and "Jurassic Park" to obscure, daring short films like "Blonde Cobra" and Luis Bunuel's "Un Chien Andalou"; from kid-friendly "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" to disturbing, daring films like "Salo" and "In the Realm of the Senses". Significant effort was made by the editors and the contributing writers to represent nearly every genre of film out there. In addition to featuring the well-known, highly regarded classics of horror, drama, comedy, science fiction, fantasy, etc. sub-genres as varied as Chinese kung fu movies ("Shaolin Master Killer"), blaxploitation ("Sweet Sweetbacks Baaadaassssssss Song") and mockumentaries ("This Is Spinal Tap") are also represented. Also impressive in this book is that it took the effort to feature significant films from all over the world even in countries which are not primarily known for their film industry like Senegal, Egypt and Jamaica. All in an apparent effort to cover as wide a range of the art of film as possible.
All the great directors, both of the past and of contemporary times, have several of their films on this book: John Ford, Steven Spielberg, Billy Wilder, Akira Kurosawa, Yasujiro Ozu, Luis Bunuel, Jean-Luc Godard, Pedro Almodovar, Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman etc. among others. Alfred Hitchcock has the distinction of having the most films with 15 from his oeuvre profiled. Each film is given an essay written by the various contributors detailing the film's significance, it's history and various interesting tidbits of trivia as well as a critique of the film in an intelligent non-pretentious or overly scholarly manner. Though the book is by no means perfect, the questionable inclusion of "Meet the Parents" is one of the more glaring of its flaws and arguments can be made for the inclusion and exclusion of several other movies, this book probably comes the closest to being the most definitive list available that's accessible even to the average film goer. Quite a number of films featured in this book are not currently available on video or DVD. Perhaps their inclusion in this book would help them get released on DVD and thus finding a wider audience.
Whether you are a budding teenage film buff or a veteran film scholar, there is plenty to love about this book which gives a straight-forward, non-snobbish take on film history that would make the art of watching movies truly enjoyable. This is the book all lovers of film should have on their bookshelves.
Montana CINE International Film Festival in Missoula, Montana
credit
If you will be in the Missoula, Montana are at the beginning of October and you are interested in issues that impact cultural preservation, nature, and the environment, then you may want to visit the 3rd Annual Montana CINE International Film Festival. This festival will be held on October 5, 6, 7, and 8, 2006, and it is hosted by the International Wildlife Media Center, the same people who put on the International Wildlife Film Festival. For more information on attending please keep reading.
What This Festival Is About
The 3rd Annual Montana CINE International Film Festival is a film festival that explores the cultural issues that impact nature and the environment. Issues like culture, conservation, politics, agriculture, urban sprawl, society, industry, and war will be discussed in regards to their impacts on the natural world. Activities will center on the festival’s mission of understanding these issues better as they relate to the health of the world’s ecosystems.
Events
Like the International Wildlife Film Festival, the Montana CINE International Film Festival will offer several venues of interest for both filmmakers and the public. Public screenings, discussions, workshops, outings, and parties will be scheduled for the festival’s attendees. Schedules for these events, as well as activity descriptions will be made available in mid-September.
The public screenings of the winning films entered in the CINE film festival will be shown at the Historic Roxy Theater. This theatre is located at 718 S. Higgins, Missoula, Montana. A list of times, film titles, and film descriptions will be available at http://www.wildlifefilms.org by mid-September.
Discussion and workshops will also be offered to festival attendees. These programs will focus on specific topics, and they will be moderated by an industry professional. Information about the discussions and workshops can also be found online at http://www.wildlifefilms.org, as information becomes available.
Parties and activities are also a highlight of this festival. These parties will be held at various locations around Missoula, and each will have its own unique theme, attractions, and activities. The festival’s parties are great for meeting with the filmmakers, meeting people who have an interest in environmental issues, and just experiencing western hospitality. Tickets for the parties can be bought at the Roxy Theater, or by contacting the CINE Festival coordinator.
Attending the CINE Film Festival
The price for attending the events held during the CINE Film Festival will vary depending on the type of ticket you buy, your age, and the event you want to attend. General Admittance tickets for viewing a screening will be $6 for adults, $5 for students with a valid student ID, $5 for seniors 65 and older, and $3 for children under the age of 12. If you would like to buy a day pass, which is good for attending all the workshops, discussions, parties, and screenings for a specific day, then the price will be $15. If you would like to just see the screenings during the festival you can purchase a screening pass for $25, which allow you to see as many screenings as you want during the festival. If you want access to everything during the festival then you can purchase a festival pass for $50. Finally if you want to buy a ticket to a specific event or party you will need to contact the Festival directly for prices.
Contact Information
If you have more questions, or if you would like to buy your tickets before the festival please contact the CINE Festival at:
Montana CINE International Film Festival
718 S. Higgins Ave.
Missoula, Montana 59801
(406) 728-9380 phone number
(406) 728-2881 fax number
iwff@wildlifefilms.org
http://www.wildlifefilms.org
Friday, March 4, 2011
Popular Baby Name Websites
celtics baby clothes
Everyday there are children born all across the country. There are some parents who have a baby name already picked out for their child long before the delivery and other parents do not. When looking for baby name suggestions many parents end up purchasing a baby name book, but what many do not realize is that some of the same information can be found online for free.
There are a number of website owners who have provided lists of popular, unique, and religious baby names for boys and girls. This information is similar to what can be found inside a printed baby name book. As the internet is becoming more and more popular there has been an increase in the number of parents who are looking for baby name suggestions online. If you want to become one of those parents then you are encouraged to check out some of the popular baby name websites listed below.
Baby Names World is one of the most popular online baby name websites around. The website can be found by visiting www.babynamesworld.com. According to their website, Baby Names World has eleven thousand different baby names for boys and girls from all different origins. In addition to providing the origin of the baby names, there is information that tells the meaning of popular baby names. What is nice about Baby Names World is that you can browse through all of their baby names or search based on specific information.
Baby Center is an online resource guide for parents. They offer information that is valuable to parents including baby names. Their website can be found at http://www.babycenter.com/. Once at the main page there is a menu on the left-hand side and this is where the baby names link will appear. Once to the baby names section of their website you can search for information on a specific baby name or your can browse through their resources. Popular baby names and helpful information on selecting a name for your child can be found here.
1-2-3 Baby Names is another website that offers information on selecting a baby name and baby name suggestions. This website can be found by visiting http://123-baby-names.com/. 1-2-3 Baby Names offers names listed in alphabetical order. If you are interested in finding a name from a specific origin you can switch the option for all the baby names to be listed that way as well.
Think Baby Names is located at www.thinkbabynames.com. Think Baby Names is a website that is aimed at providing the meaning of baby names for boys and girls. In addition to providing the meanings of baby names, they list a large number of different baby names that can be helpful for many parents looking for baby name suggestions.
It is important to remember that these are just a few of the many online baby name websites. To find additional baby name websites you are encouraged to perform a standard internet search using the worlds baby names. There are an unlimited number of different baby names for both boys and girls. Using the internet is a great way to find these names without having to pay for it.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Christmas Light Photography Tips and Advice
Photo Credit: celtics baby clothes
We're out taking photographs of Christmas lights. There are so many beautiful displays, and we want to capture them on film. So as we prepare to take our pictures of Christmas lights, we back away so that we can capture the entire magnificent scene within our frame.
Correct. But also incorrect, if that's all we do. And this leads to our first Christmas photography tip for illustrating Christmas light displays.
(1) The best Christmas lights photography captures not only panoramic scenes, but also close-ups of the highlights within the panorama. We want both. Let's say that on the sprawling front lawn of a suburban home, we see Santa on his sleigh in one location, and a Salvation Army bell-ringer in a second spot, and a nativity scene someplace else. In addition to our distant Christmas photograph, we can also zero in on each of those three highlights.
(2) Opt for a high shutter speed. We want to illustrate the lights, not the light that they emit. A wide angle lens is for the panorama, and a macro lens is for the close-ups.
(3) Those Christmas light displays are so brilliant in the deep, dark, Silent Night. Maybe so, but our Christmas photography will be lousy at that point. Our photos will show the lights, but not the property in the background. Or, we'll see the property but we won't clearly see the lights, so to speak. Our best bets are at dusk or at dawn, and overcast usually is better than clear sky.
(4) If we're really dedicated and sticklers for perfection, we'll shoot our Christmas photography both at dusk and at dawn. Great photography of any sort is trial and error. Furthermore, if we show up maybe a half-hour before the optimal time, then we can plan our logistics and our camera angles, so that we're ready when the time is right. Extra time = excellence in our Christmas photography.
(5) Let's see here. We have the lights. We have the various props that go with the lights, such as the nativity scenes or Santa on his sleigh. We have the property in the background. Aren't we forgetting something? Oh yes, the sky. The sky! Look at examples of Christmas lights photography that impress you (or even thrill you) the most, and odds are that the sky will play a prominent role. Seek an angle at dusk that shows an afterglow in the evening sky. To include more sky, shoot from a low angle, upward toward the Christmas lighting display and toward the sky.
(6) People. Where are the people? Just because your subject is Christmas lights photography, that doesn't mean the scene must be devoid of people. Have some children pose in the scene, or better yet, just tell them to go ahead and frolic. This can add a unique element to your Christmas lights photography.
SOURCES
http://www.intofotos.com/photography/2007/11/10/how-to-photograph-christmas-lights/
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/12/how-to-photograph-christmas-lights.html
http://www.slrphotographyguide.com/tips/christmas-lights.shtml
Christmas Light Photography Tips and Advice
photo source
We're out taking photographs of Christmas lights. There are so many beautiful displays, and we want to capture them on film. So as we prepare to take our pictures of Christmas lights, we back away so that we can capture the entire magnificent scene within our frame.
Correct. But also incorrect, if that's all we do. And this leads to our first Christmas photography tip for illustrating Christmas light displays.
(1) The best Christmas lights photography captures not only panoramic scenes, but also close-ups of the highlights within the panorama. We want both. Let's say that on the sprawling front lawn of a suburban home, we see Santa on his sleigh in one location, and a Salvation Army bell-ringer in a second spot, and a nativity scene someplace else. In addition to our distant Christmas photograph, we can also zero in on each of those three highlights.
(2) Opt for a high shutter speed. We want to illustrate the lights, not the light that they emit. A wide angle lens is for the panorama, and a macro lens is for the close-ups.
(3) Those Christmas light displays are so brilliant in the deep, dark, Silent Night. Maybe so, but our Christmas photography will be lousy at that point. Our photos will show the lights, but not the property in the background. Or, we'll see the property but we won't clearly see the lights, so to speak. Our best bets are at dusk or at dawn, and overcast usually is better than clear sky.
(4) If we're really dedicated and sticklers for perfection, we'll shoot our Christmas photography both at dusk and at dawn. Great photography of any sort is trial and error. Furthermore, if we show up maybe a half-hour before the optimal time, then we can plan our logistics and our camera angles, so that we're ready when the time is right. Extra time = excellence in our Christmas photography.
(5) Let's see here. We have the lights. We have the various props that go with the lights, such as the nativity scenes or Santa on his sleigh. We have the property in the background. Aren't we forgetting something? Oh yes, the sky. The sky! Look at examples of Christmas lights photography that impress you (or even thrill you) the most, and odds are that the sky will play a prominent role. Seek an angle at dusk that shows an afterglow in the evening sky. To include more sky, shoot from a low angle, upward toward the Christmas lighting display and toward the sky.
(6) People. Where are the people? Just because your subject is Christmas lights photography, that doesn't mean the scene must be devoid of people. Have some children pose in the scene, or better yet, just tell them to go ahead and frolic. This can add a unique element to your Christmas lights photography.
SOURCES
http://www.intofotos.com/photography/2007/11/10/how-to-photograph-christmas-lights/
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/12/how-to-photograph-christmas-lights.html
http://www.slrphotographyguide.com/tips/christmas-lights.shtml
Saturday, February 26, 2011
10 Great Tips to Make Any DIY Winter Wedding Photography Successful!
credit,source
This winter many couples are choosing do it yourself wedding photography in an attempt to save money. Wedding photography is tricky because if not done right there will be no good documentation of the special day. My dad does wedding photography as an amateur hobby; wedding photography is not skill less, but can be done easily with practice by almost any amateur photographer. This article will take a look at 10 tips to make DIY winter wedding photography successful; however keep in mind DIY wedding photography takes copious amounts of editing after the ceremony.
1. Camera
Taking wedding photographs should be done with the right camera, not a regular point and shoot camera. I recommend using the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi, it takes high quality pictures and is relatively easy to use. This camera can be found at www.buy.com for $569.95, but you should check to see if anyone in the wedding party can provide this camera or a similar model to save on money.
2. Flash
Relying on the built in pop up flash in any camera is a recipe for failure; you will want to use an external flash for low lighting pictures, such as a church or an evening reception. Winter conditions outside will not require a flash due to the reflection of the snow, but it can be used if done right; however inside you will want a powerful flash. I cannot give a recommendation because certain flashes work for different cameras; therefore the flash will be determined by your digital camera choice. www.ritzcamera.com has a good variety of flashes, lenses, and cameras.
3. Lenses
Unfortunately DIY picture taking is not cheap and requires the proper zoom lenses for great photos from anywhere in the room. Buying any secondary lenses is not necessary, but they will make the pictures better. www.ritzcamera.com has a good selection of lenses; it is where I purchased mine.
4. Go Digital
The hardest part of DIY wedding photography is getting professional looking shots. Going digital allows for touchups on the pictures after they are taken so that they come out perfect. Going digital also saves on prints since all the photos can be saved on a flash drive or a CD.
5. Choose an artistic guest for the job
Capturing the right moment is what photography is all about; having a guest that is willing to take pictures who has an artistic eye is the best way to get quality shots. Do not expect a gift from the photographer as it takes hours of work to take and edit great shots.
6. Be aware of lighting conditions
Winter is the hardest time of the year to take photographs outside due to the reflective nature of snow and the brightness of the sun. Be creative on the angles of your photographs; many high end cameras also show the contrast ratio on the photos taken, look at the contrast to make sure the photos are coming out correctly.
7. Be aware of where the sun is
Do not shoot towards the sun or objects that are in the sun, it can cause shadows and some funky looking pictures. Just be aware of the sun and preview one or two pictures before taking more.
8. Capture photos with the theme
If your theme is a winter wonderland then capture that theme in the photos! Try to include shots of the bridal party and newlyweds in the natural theme of the wedding; also try to include guests in the same theme. Be creative with the shots, you may have to shoot at different angles to get the desired results.
9. Use the flash
Even in snowy conditions you should experiment with the flash for better pictures, the bright the background the more the object you are photographing will stand out. This may not always be the case; therefore you should check the pictures being taken to make sure they are coming out professionally.
10. Edit, Edit, Edit
No DIY photography is complete up completion of the ceremony! There are countless hours of editing that must be taken on to get professional looking results. If you do not have the proper computer skills try to find a guest that would be willing to help edit in exchange for their wedding present.
This site has some extra DIY tips that can help during a winter wedding; I did not cover many these tips, so it may be a good read: http://www.squidoo.com/weddingphotographyguide
Sources:
www.ritzcamera.com
http://www.squidoo.com/weddingphotographyguide, DIY Winter Wedding Photography
The History of Photography
credit
Capturing and commemorating precious moments in time has been a need for humans since ancient times. All over the world Prehistoric men have meticulously painted countless cave walls depicting either hunting and sporting events or other significant moments of their time. Later civilizations across the globe operated in similar fashions constructing either elaborate paintings or laborious sculptures. Each painting or sculpture afterward would strive to appear more and more detailed as if attempting to attain that life-like quality of each moment being projected. Battlefield paintings are littered throughout countless history books and journals in multiple languages with the sole purpose of endeavoring to convey a message in which words alone could not express. It is impossible to imagine how much information has been lost in translation throughout time without the truly marvelous invention of the camera and photography. If important events such as the signing of the Declaration of Independence or the pilgrim's first Thanksgiving feast with Native Americans had been captured on film would they hold more important places in the minds and hearts than they do now? People may never know, but the importance and raw power of photography cannot be denied. Whether viewing a portrait or just a moment caught in time, never has the imagination been captured nor have emotions been pulled to the surface as by the captivating image of a photo.
It is important and necessary to understand and explore the origins, the historical figures, and advancements involved in photography's history before people can appreciate just how far this field moved and exceeded all expectations.
"Photography" is derived from the Greek words photos ("light") and graphein ("to draw"). The word was first used by the scientist Sir John F.W. Herschel in 1839. It is a method of recording images by the action of light or related radiation, on a sensitive material (Bellis, n.d.). Photography has played a crucial role in various societies the world over not only as an intricate art form but also as a significant part in our way of life. From its early beginnings to its key figures of inventors and innovators who ushered in the critical and the amazing technical advancements which have made photography the phenomenon it is today.
William M. Ivins was Curator of Prints at the metropolitan Museum of Art in New York from 1916 until 1946 and published a documentary on photography in 1953 which distinguished between the relationship of traditional techniques of hand-drawn printmaking (the woodcut, metal and wood engravings and lithograph) and photography. Ivins noted that historically, printmaking was not usually practiced as an art form as they are practiced today, but as a means of distributing visual information. Ivins argued that once you begin to examine prints (or pictures) in functional terms you discover that without them very few modern sciences would exist; technologies, archaeologies, and ethnologies. Each of these is dependent upon information conveyed by exactly repeatable pictorial statements (Crawford, 1948).
The idea of photography existed long before the camera was invented. The human urge to produce pictures that amplified the faculty of memory by capturing time is at the theoretical base of photography. Artist and inventors have sought after ways to expedite the picture making process and ultimately concentrated on how to repeatedly capture an image directly formed by light since ancient times. Around the fifth century the Chinese philosopher Mo Ti discovered that light reflecting from an illuminated object and passing through a pinhole into a darkened area would form an exact, but inverted, image of that object, offering a prototype of the pinhole camera. By the 10th century the Arabian mathematician Alhazen demonstrated how the pinhole could be an instrument and that images formed through the aperture became sharper when the opening was made smaller.
Leonardo da Vinci noted in 1490 the earliest surviving description of the camera obscura (dark chamber), which was a device designed to reproduce linear perspective. This was a prototype of the photographic camera and essentially a large dark room in which an artist physically entered. Light would emit through a small hole in one of its four walls and produce a distinct but inverted image onto the opposite wall which could be traced. The camera obscura was popular with artist because it could automatically modify a scene by compressing form and emphasizing tonal mass according to pictorial standards (Hirsch, 2000). In 1589 it was discussed that the use of mirrors could theoretically reverse the image that was reflected backwards into the camera obscura which is now the basis for modern-day single lens-reflex camera. By the 17th century camera obscuras were in frequent use by artist and also made portable in the form of sedan chairs (Bellis, n.d.).
Early in the 18th century the rising commercial class longed to procure the status of being commemorated in much the same pictorial style as of the rich. Multiple inventors had commercial incentives to harness the camera to portrait making, as less training would decrease the costs of making a picture. Machine-based systems for multiple copy production were on the threshold of replacing the outdated handmade methods. One such machine was the physionotrace invented by Gilles Louis Chretien in 1786. This device combined two inexpensive methods of portraiture, the cutout silhouette and the engraving. The operator would trace a profile on a glass using a stylus connected to an engraving tool which duplicated the gestures of the stylus onto a copper plate at a smaller scale. Although it was not a camera, the physionotrace reduced portrait making to a systematic mechanical operation and inevitably expanded the portrait market to the middle class.
In regards to the actual process of photography it was in 1727 Professor J. Schulze surmised that by mixing chalk, nitric acid and silver into a flask images would begin to appear in the presence of sunlight. He noticed a darkening on the sides of the flask which were exposed to direct sunlight and purely by accident was the initial creation of the first photo-sensitive compound (Bellis, n.d.).The first to experiment with in the production of images was Thomas Wedgwood from 1800 to 1802 using white leather impregnated with silver nitrate. It was known at that time that most chemical compounds of silver darkened on exposure to light. Wedgwood was able to produce reversed impressions of objects but was unable to make his pictures permanent by removing the unused silver salts after exposure. Joseph Nicéphore Niépce was the next experimenter and in 1816, even though he was able to produce reversed prints on this material and faint pictures on it in a camera obscura, he had little more success due to the paper eventually darkening. In 1822 he directed his attention to the problem of sensitizing metal plates. Niépce discovered that by coating a pewter plate with a varnish he could produce copies of engravings by placing them in contact with strong light and his coated plates and enabled him to etch his plates and them for printing. This process was later improved by his partner Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre who, after Niépce's death in 1833, established a workable process by exposure to the vapor of heated mercury.
"I have found a way of fixing the images of the camera! I have seized the fleeting light and imprisoned it! I have forced the sun to paint pictures for me!" These were the historical words of L. J. M. Daguerre spoken to Charles Chevalier at his Paris optical shop and reflect the driving desire to make permanent images through the action of light. (Hirsch, 2000, 10). Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, inventor of the first practical process of photography, was born near Paris, France on November 18, 1789. A professional scene painter for the opera, Daguerre began experimenting with the effects of light upon translucent paintings in the 1820s. In 1829, he formed a joint venture with Joseph Nicéphore Niépce to improve the process Niépce had developed to take the first permanent photograph in 1826-1827.
After several years of experimentation, Daguerre developed a more convenient and effective method of photography, naming it after himself - the daguerreotype. In 1839, he and Niépce's son sold the rights for the daguerreotype to the French government and published a booklet describing the process. The invention was announced to the public on August 19, 1839 at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris and his process was used widely in Europe and in the United States. Daguerre's daguerreotype process required long exposure time and made portraits virtually impossible until in 1840 John Goddard cut exposure time in half by treating the plates with bromine and iodine. With this innovation and the development of new lens designs, made possible the idea commercial portraiture. The daguerreotype process went out of use to the general public in the 1850s due to tight patent restrictions which affected application and eventually became obsolete by 1860 (Coe, 1978).
During this time an English scientist, William Henry Fox Talbot, independently devised a camera based imagining process in 1834 using the light sensitivity of silver salts. He invented the salted paper print which was a printing-out process that allowed him to make images without the use of a camera of botanical specimens engravings, pieces of lace, and even solar photomicrographs. By first coating sheets of ordinary writing paper with sodium chloride, letting them dry, and then recoating them with silver nitrate he formed silver chloride which was more highly sensitive to sunlight and reduced exposure time tremendously producing spontaneous images without chemical development. In 1841 Talbot accidentally discovered a process for negative development that he patent under the name calotype. In this process, an exposed sheet of iodized paper was transferred to a darkroom and brushed with gallic acid until a potent negative was developed. It was then that the negative was contact-printed onto unexposed, salted paper in sunlight to form a positive. This process formed the foundation for silver-based photographic systems still in use today.
The negative-positive principle of the calotype process designed by Talbot and the popular daguerreotype were both truly remarkable for their times but not without limitations. A new process evolved from both but without their limitations and would eventually take their place and was referred to as wet-plate photography. It was a photographer's axiom that paper negatives advantages were outweighed by their disadvantages with their resolution limited of fine detail. It was realized that if glass was used the problem would not exist but it simply was not absorbent to carry the coating of light sensitive salts. In 1839 Sir John Herschel was able to produce an image on glass by precipitating silver chloride onto a glass plate and was later perfected by Abel Niépce de Saint-Victor in 1847 by using egg white albumen coated on the glass providing a suitable medium for sensitive salts. A new material for development called collodion was discovered by Frederick Scott Archer in 1851 formed through dissolving a form of gun-cotton in ether. A glass plate was covered with collodion and plunged into silver nitrate and then the wet-plate was loaded into and exposed in a camera. Immediately after exposure the plate was developed, fixed and washed. The collodion negative could record fine detail and subtle tones and also had the advantage of being more highly sensitive than either the daguerreotype and calotype processes. In contrast the gelatin dry plate was first developed by Dr. Richard Leach Maddox who used gelatin instead of ether vapor of the wet collodion plate due to his poor health. It was later perfected by Charles Bennett in 1878 by reducing exposure times drastically, retaining their properties, being easily manufactured and very sensitive.
Pertaining to film and photo depth, one of the most popular photographic novelties which went on display at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851 was the stereoscopic photograph. The mildly dissimilar vantage points provided by the eyes are combined in the brain to give an image in depth. If two photographs of a scene are taken from points of view separated by two about two inches, and are then viewed so that each eye receives only the image appropriated to it, the result is an apparently three-dimensional picture. This principle was first introduced by Sir Charles Wheatstone in 1832 but was not until Sir David Brewster in 1849 introduced an improved device using lenses that the stereoscope became really practical (Coe, 1977).
Another important milestone in photography is that of the photography of action. The early photographic processes were all relatively insensitive. It was impossible at that time to record moving objects without producing a blur on the plate. Specially designed lenses were utilized by Thomas Skaife in his cameras to pass 200 times more light than conventional landscape lenses. Skaife's 'Pistolgraph' camera was introduced in 1856 and after adding the required lens and a shutter powered by a rubber band allowed permitted exposures sufficiently brief to stop the action of slowly moving subjects. Sir John Herschel's name is synonymous with the term 'snapshot' which describes an instantaneous photograph. But it was Eadweard Muybridge who pioneered the process of motion picture photography using gelatin dry plates in the 1880s and eventually led the likes of Professor Etienne Marey and Ottomar Anschutz to document true animals in action. These individuals were often referred to as chronophotographers (Rosenblum, 1997).
Around the mid 1890s public interest began to peak over the publication of the results of chronophotography. This brought about the demand for the development of hand held cameras to replace the traditional and larger stand cameras. Even though small hand held 'detective' cameras were in circulation they were quite awkward and still required multiple cumbersome pieces of hardware that were an inconvenience to everyone but the most enthusiastic of photographers. Even though the dry plate relieved photographers from making their own plates they still had to process and print them requiring knowledge and necessary skills for the dark room. This was answered by the American bank clerk George Eastman who invented the Kodak camera. Eastman felt that photography was too complicated and stated that; "It seems that one ought to be able to carry less than a pack horse load."(Coe, 1978, 13). Though there were some 'detective' cameras that were reasonably small most were bulky. He developed a rolling mechanism and combined it with lightweight sensitive material and decided to construct a camera that would be small and simple to use. In 1888 the first Kodak camera with a celluloid roll-film was developed.
Around the 1850s, photography was viewed by some as a new medium of communication and became hard to discern between art and industry. Eventually it became apparent that photography was considered a business with a widening division of purpose between amateurs and professionals. The latter were motivated by market forces to develop profitable products while the amateurs pursued their personal inclinations and claimed the moral high ground of art, beauty, truth, relegating the professionals to the corner of crass commercialism. Many of England's most notable photographers abandoned their amateur status and turned professional. During the 19th century realism became a force in the arts. Realism sought to counter the idealized subject matter of Romantic and Neoclassical painting with direct and frank views of everyday life. As the public became acquainted with photography's veracity and ability to give significance to everyday experiences, their expectations about how reality should be represented and what subjects were worthy of depiction changed. Ironically photographs became artistic when they looked less photographic by utilizing retouching methods to appear more like a painting. Paintings, on the other hand, were thought to be more artistic if they portrayed more photographic detail. This contradiction resulted in neither medium being valued for its own inherent qualities. (Hirsch, 2000).
The evolution of the camera has advanced beyond all expectations from the digital mega pixel masterpieces we have today to their most earliest ancestors, the camera obscura. Dating back to ancient times, the camera obscura consisted of a pinhole in a contained box. The pinhole would allow light to pass through and project an image on the adjacent wall thus allowing artist to trace the captured image as it appeared at that moment. Niépce, Wedgewood, Talbot are credited with the first portable camera obscuras but it was Daguerre who designed the first cameras to be commercially produced on any practical scale.
The folding box camera, T. Ottewill's folding camera, and portable "dark tent" cameras all gave way to user friendly handhelds such as the momentograph and detective cameras in 1886, the unusual photosphere with its bell-shaped body and hemispherical shutter, the American Tom Thumb camera in 1889, and the Key camera. These box-form cameras eventually became less popular after 1890 and were replaced with collapsing and folding strut cameras.
Kodak sold these forms of cameras in which glass plates or roll films could be used. For a brief time a type of camera was introduced to appear as anything but a camera. The first 'concealment' camera to receive any publicity was Thompson's Revolver camera in 1862 which resembled a pistol. Another was Marion's Parcel Detective camera of 1885 which was supplied in brown paper and tied with a string to appear as a normal parcel and Ross's Photo scope in 1892 mimicked binoculars. Kodak cameras are credited in 1885 with introducing the ingenuity and the marketing of film development roll-film designs. In 1908 still photography was made practical by Audobard and Baradat with 35-mm film due to its small size and handling convenience. The development of Kodachrome, the first multi-layered color film took place in 1936 as did the development of Exakta which pioneered 35 mm single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras. In 1963 Polaroid developed the first instant color film while Instamatic was released by Kodak. Also in this year Nikon released the first purpose-built underwater camera thus changing the way the world viewed oceanography. As the world approached the millennia major advances in the field of computer technology swept the many nations and major advances in film development also transpired in the field of photography. Computer programs such as Adobe Photoshop was released to the public in 1990 and changed the way photography was perceived by allowing users to edit their own pictures. In 1992 Kodak introduced PhotoCD which permitted users to store their pictures on compact disc. In light of this new technology and with the arrival of digital cameras Kodak ceased all production of film cameras. And most notably, the cutting edge technology most familiar to the public is that of camera phones. These multifunctional cameras hit the market from Japan in 2000 and are changing the field of photography and availability unlike anything seen before (Greenspun, 2007).
Through the course of time and painstaking trial and error, the expansive field of photography had grown immeasurably from the exclusive dreams of a handful of visionaries determined to rival the skilled painters and bring to the public what only was available to the wealthy at that time. Cameras and photography have transformed from an artful pastime into an essential way of life touching it in all aspects the public could have never envisioned nor can foresee what will be next in its future.
Through presenting the history of photography in this research it is paramount to stress the importance and necessary to understand the origins of photography and appreciate the many designs that the camera has undertaken since its birth. The field of photography would have undoubtedly fell short in practical use, technological discoveries, and the art community would most likely have suffered a tremendous amount without the inventors and innovations of its past. The advancements involved in photography's history are all but unparalleled in its ingenious technology and reigns as a true marvel for all inventions. Far though as foreign lands may be and alien that other cultures may seem, with a better appreciation of photography our world could be closer captured instantly in snapshot.
References
Bellis, M. Historyof Photography and the Camera. Retrieved June 24, 2008, from www.about.com
Web site: http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blphotography.htm
Coe, B. (1977). TheBirth of Photography: The Story of the Formative Years 1800-1900. New York: Taplinger Publishing Company.
Coe, B. (1978). Cameras: From Daguerreotypes to Instant Pictures. New York: Crown Publishers.
Crawford, W. (1948). The Keepers of Light: A History and Working Guide to Early Photographic Processes. Dobbs Ferry, NY: Morgan and Morgan
Greenspun, P. (2007, January). History of Photography Timeline. Retrieved June 24, 2008, from
http://photo.net Web site: http://photo.net/history/timeline
Hirsch, R. (2000). Seizing the Light: A History of Photography. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.
Rosenblum, N. (1997). A World History of Photography. New York, NY: Abbeville Press.