Early Photographs.

The invention of photography was pioneered by four major figures:

Joseph Nicephore Niepce -
Produced the world's first ever photographic image circa 1826, using the medium of heliography (sun drawing), which depicted the view from a window in a French village. The image was created with a sheet of pewter coated in light capturing liquids which was placed inside a camera obscura (darkened chamber) and exposed for 8 hours. It is not technically a photograph.

William Henry Fox Talbot -
A British inventor who created the calotype process (paper negative) in 1841 and is therefore responsible for the forerunner of photographic processes which was relied upon until digital began to take over in the 21st century.


Louis Daguerre -
A French chemist who was accountable for the first publicly announced photographic process, the daguerreotype, which he produced in collaboration with Niepce in 1839. The process involved forming a image using the alloy of mercury and silver.

Hippolyte Bayard -
A French photographer who invented his own photographic process, direct positive printing. Bayard claimed to have invented this process prior to Daguerre's daguerreotype process, which was announced before his and in turn detrimented him of being recognized as one the fundamental inventors or photography. In response to the unfairness he felt had been cast upon him, he acquired his process to create a portrait of himself acting as a suicide victim.

                    Self Portrait as a Drowned Man cica 1840.


TASK: Find and date an image from each pioneer -

                                                    William Henry Fox Talbot

Latticed window in Lacock Abbey taken in 1835. A print made from the oldest photographic negative in existence.

                                           Joseph Nicephore Niepce

Another example of the earliest known photographic activity created by Niepce using the heliograph process in 1825.

                                           Louis Daguerre

"Boulevard Du Temple" taken in 1838 by Daguerre. The first known photograph to capture a person, in the ten minutes it took to expose it the only people who stood still long enough to be depicted were a man and a shoe-shine boy.

                                           Hippolyte Bayard

"Paris Montmartre" 1842.

Death of Marat by Jacques-Louis David

                                                              1793

Jacques-Louis David, a highly important figure in the movement of Neoclassicism and a keen supporter of the French Revolution, created this painting in response to the assassination of Jean-Paul Marat which occured on July 13th 1793.

Marat was an extreme journalist and politician during the French Revolution who communicated his opinions through public speaking and essay writing. His biased views and fierce defending of the Parisian sans-culottes led him to being remembered as one of the most notable French figures of his time.

As well as sharing a passion for the French Revolution, David and Marat also shared a close friendship; David was fascinated by Marat's eloquent way of conveying his views and, evidently, wanted to remember his friend this way.
He has portrayed him in a peaceful, almost angelic way what with the light falling onto him gently and shadows concealing his wound; on first glances he looks as though he could be sleeping. It has been said that upon close inspection it becomes apparent that David has depicted him still alive, taking his last breath. There is a sadness in his expression, reflected by the letter he holds in his left hand which reads "Il suffit que je sois bien malheureuse pour avoir droit a votre bieneveillance" translated as "I am just too unhappy to deserve your kindness".

Reformation

Definition: a fundamental advance in the existing condition or structure of practices or institutions, intended to make a prominent change in religious, political or social concerns.


Protestant Reformation -
Pioneered by Protestants such as Martin Luther and John Calvin, this Reformation was a European movement which took place in the 16th century and resulted in the establishment of Protestantism as a constitent branch of Christianity.
Evidently, the term is a derived from the word 'protest'. The reformers were protesting against the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church; they strongly disagreed with doctrines, rituals and the general structure of this area of Christianity.


Counter Reformation -
Often recognized as the Catholic Revival, the Counter Reformation was a Catholic restoration which arose with the Council of Trent in 1545 in order to act as a response to the Protestant reformation.


Reformation & Artistic Responses -
Forseeably, these vital religious movements elicited a comparable artistic response. In the case of the Protestant Reformation

Unit 5 - Contextual Influences in Art & Design.

describe the characteristics and influences of key movements and the work of individuals
show how cultural contexts relate to historical and contemporary art, craft and design
produce primary and secondary research
review information and produce outcomes
present outcomes.