The term Photography is defined the art or process of producing images by the action of radiant energy and especially light on a sensitive surface (as film or an optical sensor).
Basically, Photography is the act of capturing light. Why Photography? (Communication through images)
Photography has taken hundreds of years to develop and is still changing everyday. There are many different applications of photography. Lets look at some ways photography is utilized today. (click images below to see larger image)
Social There is a vast amount of diversity in the world. There are different cultures, animals, people and ways of life. Photography can connect us socially with people and things we may never otherwise see or experience.
Document / Historical Photos that record history. Also known as photojournalism.
Most photographs that are taken can be classified as documentation of something, or an image taken for a record. (“Record shots” are also the staple of photojournalism.)
Journalistic photos can go far beyond being "record shots." Through the decades, individual photographs have become icons, summing up emotions or events of a particular period.
Documentary photography has played an important role in American history. Photographs by Lewis Hine documented the exploitation of children as laborers in early factories. As a result of his photos, lawmakers passed legislation restricting the use of child labor.
Educate Images that educate and enlighten
Photography can be used in many ways to educate people about the world in which we live (as well as the universe outside the world in which we live). In the scientific realm, photography is a useful tool for investigating many different subjects.
In the 1870s, Eadweard Muybridge conducted pioneering photographic studies of animal motion.
In the 1860’s Oliver Wendell Holmes examined the positions of pedestrians whose motions were frozen in photographs. He designed better artificial legs for soldiers who had suffered amputations during the Civil War.
Scientific and technical uses of photography form an almost endless list ranging from aerial mapping photos to time-lapse pictures to crime scene evidence photographs to diagnostic X-rays.
Photos also have the ability to educate about nature, organisms and surrounding ecosystems most people don't see on a daily basis.
Advertising & Marketing Images used to sell.
Everyday we are confronted with images designed to persuade us in some way. We see them in our home on product packaging, online and in newspapers and magazines. We see them when we leave the house on billboards, signs, in stores and on buses.
These images are created for purposes of advertising or marketing toward consumers. Many advertisement agencies and magazine publishers use stock photographs. A flat fee or royalty is charged for each separate use of a stock photograph. The rapid growth of desktop publishing has given rise to a different type of stock photograph distribution, royalty-free image collections. These collections are usually on a CD and are sold outright for a cost less than a stock royalty for a single photograph.
Art & Entertainment Aesthetic Photography that Illustrates & Inspires
The use of the photograph as a form of artistic expression and the continuing debate over whether photography is art or a craft dates almost to its beginnings. Some early photographers attempt to mimic popular taste in painting. The term pictorialism is used to describe an early approach to photography that attempted to imitate painting.
Naturalistic photography did not attempt to imitate paintings, but would show natural subjects in their actual surroundings. Other major areas of photographic illustration include newspapers, magazines, and books.
Large-format books with numerous photographic illustrations (coffee table books) are an important entertainment medium.
Assignment | CLasswork:
RESEARCH 5 images that fit into these categories. Please make sure to find the name of the photographer, the date the image was taken and include the title of the image (if there is one). Also, please explain the image from your research. I should be able to understand what, where, when, why (3-4 descriptive sentences, but be concise, AVOID FLUFF).
Rubric:
25 | Research (Student demonstrated research abilities by gathering the above information). 25 | Images illustrate chosen photography genre 25 | Well written, easy to understand 10 | Guidelines adhered to 10 | Cite Sources (don't plagiarize, APA style) 5 | Submission (completed on time) TOTAL 100%