Function of Cameras
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Photography has played an important role in our society since the process was invented over 150 years ago. Frequently, the eye and the camera are compared to each other. This comparison, although a useful fiction at times, ignores many important differences between the function of a camera taking still pictures using a film, and the human eye and brain viewing the world. Photographs are almost always seen as inherently truthful, an accurate recording of the events that happened when the photograph was shot. Certain functions and limitations inherent to photography not present in the human visual system can make an ordinary, un retouched photograph seem misleading. This paper will briefly discuss the nature of photography in our society and why photographs are seen as being truthful, and then will use specific photographs to point out the differences between the camera and the eye that lead to a photograph telling something less than the whole truth. In 1827 Niepce fixed a photographic image for the first time, a view out of his window that required such a long exposure that there are shadows on the buildings on both sides of the street. In 1839 Daguerre patented his method, and shortly after that Fox Talbot perfected his technique of negative/positive photography and printing that is essentially the process used today (Newhall, 1986). Photography was a child of the industrial revolution, and as such it has had an important role in the increase o
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rest corner is a bit "closer" to the camera relative to the rest of the structure than would seem normal, but this is hardly extreme.
The retina of the eye is remarkably different from the film of the camera. In all of the photos discussed here, black and white film was used, but even color film has remarkably different features than does the retina. The acuity of the retina falls from the fovea, while the light sensing ability is stronger away from the fovea. A piece of film should be uniform in both grain (pertaining both to image sharpness and contrast capability) and sensitivity. All parts of the film are treated equally by light, but not so by the lens. Some lenses will not cover the entire piece of film and many have less sharpness at the edges, but when a good lens is stopped down to a reasonably small aperture most edge difficulties are eliminated. In almost all of the pictures more is in sharp focus than the fovea would perceive at the time; the eye would move about in order to acquire all the information desired, but this will be further discussed below in reference to movement and time. An excellent example of how the retina is different from film is Adams' "The Black Sun" (Adams, 1983). Here the reversal effect of ex
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Some common words found in the essay are:
CAMERA Photography, Rainbow Adams, Dome Adams, Sun Adams, Adams Adams, Bridge Adams, Bowery York, Williamson Adams, Leghorn Italy, Alberto Giacometti, cartier bresson 1979, beloff 1985, depth field, adams 1983, newhall 1986, focal length, eye camera, camera normal, subject matter, happened photograph, beloff 1985 camera, boston little brown, 1965 cartier bresson 1979, sontag 1977 pp, 1977 pp 3 26,
Approximate Word count = 3389
Approximate Pages = 14 (250 words per page)
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