Photography

The word Photography literally means ‘drawing with light’, which derives from the Greek photo, meaning light and graph, meaning to draw. Photography is the process of recording an image – a photograph – on light sensitive film or, in the case of digital photography, via a digital electronic or magnetic memory.

In less than a hundred years, photography has become a part of almost every element of our lives. Almost everyone has a camera in their cell phone, and photos are taken all day, every day. We are constantly seeing photographic images on our electronic devices, in print media, and advertising.

Photography is the art of capturing light with a camera, usually via a digital sensor or film, to create an image. With the right camera equipment, you can even photograph wavelengths of light invisible to the human eye, including UV, infrared, and radio. The first permanent photograph was captured in 1826 (some sources say 1827) by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in France. Color photography started to become popular and accessible with the release of Eastman Kodak’s “Kodachrome” film in the 1930s. Before that, almost all photos were monochromatic – although a handful of photographers, toeing the line between chemists and alchemists, had been using specialized techniques to capture color images for decades before.

Photography can be an art form, but not all photographs are created to be artworks or as forms of artistic expression. It took time for photography to be truly recognized as a valid art form. However, in the present day, many art museums and art galleries now exhibit photographic artworks.