Before Digital - A Short History of Photography

CreativeTechs of Seattle is conducting a webinar on the History of Photography this Friday; a 3-week look at what photography was like in the early days before digital.

Over the next three Fridays, photo historian Carla Fraga will take you on a brief, fascinating, walk through the early history of photography.

I have attended several of CreativeTech's webinars and enjoy them while always learning a great deal from them. This class can only enhance your ability to date old photographs.

The class information is below and you can register here. Enjoy and see you there!

Recommended (but not required) reading for the class is:

Camera: A History of Photography
from Daguerreotype to Digital
by Todd Gustavson

Course Dates & Schedule

November 6: Early Cameras. We start off with a look at the start of the camera itself. Starting with the early camera obscura (shown here) Carla walks us through the evolution of camera technology long before digital sensors took over. How did photography impact the work of painters? Why did early photo portraits require uncomfortable neck clamps? What was the first photo ever taken?

November 13: No Photoshop? A look at the early days of photo manipulation. Long before a teenager in high school could clone out the braces from her homecoming photo, montaging and manipulating photos required chemicals, solvents, darkrooms, and sometimes even explosives. A look at what we did long before Photoshop made this all passé.

November 20: Hard Photography. I originally wanted to title this talk “Uphill 20 miles in snow with a 40-pound camera.” Long before point and shoots and even the ubiquitous cell phone cameras, taking photos took a huge investment in time, effort, and even personal safety. A look back at the personal price photographers had to pay for the the iconic images that help define our history.

Date: Friday, November 6, 2009
Time: 11am Pacific (Seattle) [Other Time Zones]
Duration: 90-120 Minutes
Cost: The LIVE Class is Free!