Before Photography

• The enlightenment was a philosophical and cultural movement of the 18^th century.  Enlightenment means “a time of illumination. Bold new ideas were developed. It emphasized the use of Reason over the traditional religious interpretation offered by the bible. Joesph Wright of Derby( 1766) challenged religion and beliefs with his paintings and has been acclaimed "the first British painter to express the Industrial Revolution".

• We looked at his painting"A Philosopher Lectuirng on the Orrey" in which a lamp replaces the sun. The painting represents the birth of experimentation. It shows a Philosopher giving a demonstration to a small audience of different ages. There are people in deep thought and people writing notes, representing education and science. The sun also is a metaphor for knowledge.

• ·         One of the most revolutionary ideas of the scientific revolution was Galileo’s theory that the Sun was the centre of the universe, not the Earth as had previously been thought. Before the Enlightenment it was believed that the earth was the centre of the universe, this theory was known as Geocentricism. Galileo said that the sun was the centre of the universe this is known as heliocentricism. The Church disliked this idea because it went against what the bible taught and due to the power of the Catholic Church at that time, Galileo was kept under house arrest for the remainder of his life.

·         Galileo’s discovery could not have been made without the invention of the telescope. The telescope was invented by Johannes Lippershey in 1608, he was a lensmaker  He was born in western Germany, but moved to the Netherlands in 1594. He created the first designs for the first practical telescope . However there are some debate as to who invented the telescope. The credit of the invention has been claimed on behalf of three individuals, Hans Lippershey, Zacharias Jansen and Jacob Metius. Some telescopes and spyglasses may have been created earlier but Lippershey is believed to be the first to do it, a few weeks before Jacob Metius.  

• This painting is called "An experiment on a bird in an airpump". The painting shows people of all ages again surrounding an experiment that is taking place. They are testing whether the bird will leave if all of the air is sucked out. So they are learning about science and gasses.

• Classisism harked back  to Ancient Greek and Roman sources.
• The age of reason rejected the supernatural and focussed instead of nature as experience by humans (humanism) Religion dogma was rejected.

• I was shown Joseph Haydn's symphony "Le Matin", which is a piece of classical music.

George Brander Table camera obscura,1769

• The Camera Obscura is a optical device that projects its surroundings onto a screen. It was one of the inventions that led to photography and the camera. Camera obscura also means dark room.

• Jan Vermeer( 1632-1675) Soldier and a Laughing girl 1658. "The music lesson" The painting looks like a photograph, the angle and the detail is very accurate

• .Johannes lippershey (1570-1619) dutch lens maker, invention of the telescope.

• Joseph Nicephore Niepce (1765-1833) "view from the window at le gras" first man to fix photographic image.
• Louis jacques mande Daguerre (1787-1851) developed the Daguerreotype method.

Daguerreotype method 

• Using piece of copper plate, polished highly
• Fumes of iodine vapor
• Expose for 15-60 minutes
• Develop from a mercury heat bath
• Fix in sodium chloride