Invention Of The Film Camera And Its Benefits For People
I chose the topic of the film camera, as they are used by millions of people on a daily basis. The film camera enables scientists and other professionals to provide and document evidence (that cannot be tampered with). As well as being an art-form in itself, the film camera has facilitated protesters and alternative activists with a device that can be used to capture significant moments in objection towards contemporary governments, regimes and further authorities in a benevolent but effective and compelling way.
The first film camera (Kodak) was put onto the market in 1888, film cameras will remain one of the most sensational creations of humankind and are still being manufactured and sold in modern day society. The still camera consists of a light-proof box that opens for a split second with the press of a button. When the camera opens it allows light to enter through a lense before closing again, this mechanism is called the shutter, which makes the aperture (a hole). When the light enters a chemical bond is formed between the light and photo film.
Photographic film is composed of a sheet of plastic (such as cellulose or polyester) and has one side coated in gelatin with small light-sensitive particles called silver halide crystals. The size and other varying characteristics of the crystals can contribute resolution, darkness, and contrast of the film. To prevent the film being contaminated by light, the plastic is placed in a light-proof cylinder, which is placed inside the camera. The first step to developing photos is removing the plastic cylinder, colloquially referred to as the “film canister,” from the camera. The canister is then brought to a darkroom, so that light can not impair the film. The film is then removed from a canister, and placed into a device called the film tank. A solution of water and film developer will then be placed into the film tank and left for a period of time, and subsequently hung up to dry which forms negatives. Negatives are the photos, but on the film, and very small. Negatives can easily be turned into full-sized photos utilising a machine called an enlarger, the enlarger projects the same image onto photographic paper. The photographic paper is then developed in a very similar manner to negatives, with a photographic developer rather than a negative developer.
Initially the film camera was pioneered by George Eastman, who then proceeded to manufacture paper film in 1885, before switching to celluloid in 1888-1889. Like many products and creations, the photographic film camera was partly created for the monetary gain that accompanies such an astonishing and captivating invention. But to a large degree, the film camera was created to benefit society and enhance the way people looked at humanity and the world. On top of that, creating a device that is renowned on a global scale instills an improbable challenge in a person's mind that numerous entrepreneurs and creators seek. As a combination of those fundamental derivatives, it’s unambiguous that the creation of the photographic film camera was driven by not only the money, but the hubristic self proclaimed mindset that followed its birth. The photographic film camera was the perfect solution for the artists’ desire to record people and nature accurately, in great detail. In addition to that, photography became an artform in itself, and some even thought that it would replace painting. It also developed into a highly valuable form of communication, for example, photographs in newspapers and magazines.
The arrival of photography greatly benefitted science. As many aspects of science rely on documentation and evidence. Photography brought a new way of accurate visual recording of the physical world, all the way from microscopic photography to astronomical photography, and everything in between. Science depends on objectivity, and photography is an objective method, unlike subjective methods like drawing and drafting. Photography is an unbiased tool, which records true and untampered with data. One could say that the film camera is a scientific instrument. A great example of the scientific use of film cameras was the photography of cells and cellular structures in plants, animals and humans. These cannot be seen by the unaided human eye, and the combination of the microscope and the camera was revolutionary. These recordings of the building blocks of life, made it possible to study, compare and analyze them. In the same way combining the telescope and the camera greatly enhanced the way that we view astronomy.
The photographic film camera has served many uses. It had great impacts on not only science but the way we see reality and how we view ourselves, family members and the people around us. Prior to modern technology, having a painting or portrait of someone, either yourself or family members, was an exclusive thing. Photography brought a significant wave of change with its birth. It made something that would typically be uncommon, for example paintings, lesser than itself. It made itself open to the world, and as a reflection of that, influenced a great wave of change in how people represent themselves.
