FAMILY HISTORY: The Boom of Photography ~

Humans are visual beings. We like pictures to help illustrate what we are reading or listening to. When photography was born, it is no wonder humans bought into the new invention. The first photographs our ancestors saw amazed them, and they marveled at the detail of the pictures captured. 

The word photography means “light” and “to write.” The earliest cameras were actually boxes that used light to project images through a small hole onto surfaces. Rather than recording an image, they were projectors of light. 

A French inventor, Niepce, made the first permanent photograph in 1825, and Louis Daguerre collaborated with him to refine the process. When Niepce died, Daguerre continued to experiment. In 1839, he developed photographic plates and discovered that an image could be made permanent by immersing it in salt. You may recognize the name Daguerre for his invention, which produced the type of photograph known as the Daguerreotype.

Society first viewed the new photographic process as threatening painting and drawing, but the interest outweighed the negativity. When our ancestors embraced photography, they liked its qualities. The demand for the new images spurred inventors to develop new and better ways to produce photographs. 

An interesting fact I found is that in the 1850 US Federal Census, 938 males over the age of fifteen were listed with a daguerreotypist occupation. 

By 1840, William Henry Fox Talbert made the first paper print, called either a talbotype or a calotype. Those prints were produced from a waxed paper negative. The images lacked sharpness and clarity, but they were the beginning of a wonderful way to capture people, places, events, and things on paper for posterity.

Ambrotypes appeared in the mid-1850s, but by 1860, the tintype method was the most popular method for owning images. Tintypes were more durable and could be carried in a pocket or mailed to loved ones.

I own three tintypes in my photograph collection. One is a small wallet-size tintype of my great-great-grandfather, Thomas Nathaniel Johnson, who lived in Kings Valley, McDonald County. Another is a large 8x10, and the last is a 3 x 4 case image of a mother and daughter. 

After paper prints were invented, card photographs became popular. The paper print was mounted onto cardboard stock. Carte de visite, cabinet cards, and stereographs are the three types of card photographs. I also have many of these in my collection. 

Early photographers' goal was to simplify the photography process. Using large cameras and heavy equipment was cumbersome. 

George Eastman considered the father of photography, ushered in the age of candid photography with the slogan, “You push the button, we do the rest.” Eastman developed the roll film camera that anybody could operate and called it the Kodak camera. 

The Kodak Company is instrumental in the age of photography. They marketed their cameras to women, and I’m glad they did. My great-grandmother owned a camera at a very young age, and snapping photos of her friends and of her life events became one of her passions. Through that passion, I have a wonderful photograph collection today.

Cameras, film, and photography have evolved into the digital wonders we enjoy today. But make no mistake; photography truly is an art form. I admire award-winning photographers, for there is nothing more breathtaking than seeing a person, animal, place, or event captured and saved to a paper print.  

In the coming posts, I will describe each type of photograph listed. Understanding the pictures you may own is necessary to identify and study them. 

I hope you enjoy collecting old photographs as much as I do, and better yet, I hope you use your camera to snap those pictures that tell your family story.

 

FAMILY HISTORY: "Say Cheese!" The Art of Photography

"Say Cheese!" The Art of Photography  

Photography is an art form. 

A photographer should love using the camera to capture moments that will be lost in time. I am lucky to own an excellent and varied collection of family photographs from all the family lines in my genealogy tree.  

Photography has been around for almost 200 years. It began about 1839 to 1840 when William Henry Fox Talbert announced to the Royal Society of London, England, that he had perfected a paper photographic process. 

While doing family history, I'm thankful for the many pictures I've found. Many families are less fortunate. Sometimes photographs are lost in a house fire or other disasters. Occasionally, people are not interested in old photograph collections, so they toss the pictures out with the trash! Many times, people keep the family pictures in a box and store them in the garage or attic, where year after year, the old photos are susceptible to extreme heat, cold, bugs, rot, and dirt. The elements will eventually destroy those photos that are records of history. It's a pity.

Photographs are among the most valuable genealogical tools. Family pictures contain a vast amount of history and details of social significance. They offer many clues about ancestors' lives, adding to the information we obtain through paper records, stories, and certificates.

A family photograph collection is a direct link to family history. The photos and images will provide insight into your ancestors and their lives. The problem is undocumented photos. Suppose no names, dates, or other pertinent information are written on the photos. In that case, you'll have to use your detective skills to solve the who, when, where, what, and why questions. Do this by comparing those photos with those documented with the necessary information.

When you work on the old photographs in your collection, you must play the part of the detective. You need to research every clue in the picture and follow the lead to uncover information usually hidden in the elements of the image. You must learn to search for clues to the answers you want from your old photographs. 

Orphans and heirlooms are photographs and items lost in the family of origin. They are belongings that were once very dear to someone. We find orphaned photos and heirlooms in antique stores, flea markets, and garage sales, or left in a box in the closet, garage, or attic of a home when someone dies or moves. They are in those boxes of "junk" we buy at an auction. Or, in my case, they are precious items that were sold at auction after a particularly nasty grandfather stole my inheritance from me on the day of my great-grandmother's funeral. 

In future posts, I'll discuss the brief history of photography, the different types of photographs and picture postcards, separating and organizing your photograph collection, dating and identifying clues in photos, and caring for those old photographs. Did you know you can make a photo timeline with the photos you have, and then you can write your family history using the information from those photographs?

Even if you aren't interested in genealogy and don't own old kinfolk photographs, you probably have modern photographs of your family, children, and pets. These photographs must be cared for just as much as the old ones. And there are some fun ways to use your modern photos and help take care of them at the same time…through scrapbooking. I'll discuss scrapping and the above topics in future blogs.

My next post will focus on the boom of photography, its history, and how the Kodak Company made its own history in photography. I'm glad they did! 

Resources: 

Uncovering Your Ancestry Through Family Photographs by Maureen A. Taylor, Tracing Your Family History by Lise Hull, and The Everything Guide to Online Genealogy by Kimberly Powell.