Overview

Photography was one of the most important inventions of the nineteenth century. Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre refined the earliest practical photographic process, and announced his discovery in 1839. The images created were so startlingly lifelike that the daguerreotype was referred to as a "mirror with a memory".

At about the same time, Henry Fox Talbot pioneered the use of a paper negative, which allowed the photographer to make multiple prints of the same image. It was this process, rather than the daguerreotype, which became the model for the many forms of photography that followed. Talbot's process never became as popular as the daguerreotype, however, largely because Talbot patented his process and charged a large sum of money to anyone who wanted to use it.

In 1843 botanist Anna Atkins printed and published British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions, the first book to be illustrated using a photographic process.

Mathew Brady became one of the first people to use photography to chronicle national history, beginning with portraits of politicians and statesmen. By sending teams photographers to cover the Civil War, he pioneered the field of photojournalism.

Objective

Working in small groups and using a jigsaw format, students will answer the question, "How did these photographers record, affect or influence change in a historical or cultural context?"

• William Henry Fox Talbot
• Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre
• Anna Atkins
• Mathew Brady
  

Materials and Preparation

Students will encounter several points of controversy as they begin their research. Various sources will credit either Fox Talbot or Louis Daguerre with inventing photography. Although neither created the first photograph, both made serious contributions to the development of photography. At about the same time, they developed and introduced two very different methods of photography. Daguerre's method produced the image directly on the photographic plate. Each photograph was an original, and copies could not be made. Fox Talbot's process introduced the intermediate step of developing a negative. Multiple prints could then be made. Because Talbot patented his process, the cost was prohibitive to all but a very few photographers. Daguerre's method became the first widely used photographic process.

Various sources will credit either Anna Atkins or Fox Talbot with publishing the first book using the photographic process. Anna Atkins published British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions, which was illustrated with photograms (a type of photograph made by placing the botanical specimens on light-sensitive paper and exposing the paper to a light source). Her book established the validity of the photographic process as a method of scientific documentation. About a year later, Fox Talbot published "Pencil of Nature" which was the first book illustrated with photographs that had been taken with a camera (as opposed to using a photogram).

In 1839 Brady met Louis Daguerre and went back to the United States set up his own photographic studio. He was a successful daguerreotypist before embarking on the process of documenting the Civil War, for which he later became most famous.

Procedure

1. Assemble students in four (4) "Home Groups", A, B, C and D.

2. Give each home group one photographer to research. Each group should answer the following question and be prepared to

• What was this person's major contribution to the field of photography? Give at least two pieces of evidence supporting your statement.

3. Each home group will give a three minute presentation on the photographer they have researched.

4. Form new groups consisting of one member of each of the home groups. (I.e., each group should have a member who researched Talbot, Daguerre, Atkins, and Brady.) The new groups should answer the following questions:

• Which was the the first photographically illustrated book, British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions by Anna Atkins or Pencil of Nature by William Henry Fox Talbot? Give at least two pieces of evidence to support your answer.
  
  
• Who was the inventor of modern photography, Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre, or William Henry Fox Talbot? Give at least two pieces of evidence to support your answer.
  
  
• How did Brady's work depend on Daguerre?

5. Have the group construct a timeline of events that include

• The invention of modern photography
• The the first photographically illustrated book
• The Photojournalism

Additional Resources: