Unfortunately I was not able to attend this week’s lecture in person due to illness. Thankfully with the resources provided online through Blackboard I am able to catch-up and minimise the impact of my illness.
This week’s lecture focused on photography and how to use it effectively within design. Over the previous few weeks we have looked at illustration and the different styles from hand-drawn to computer-based vectors. Now it is time to look at photography and how it can be used in a design either as the main illustrative component or to complement other illustrative techniques.
We also covered copyright and creative commons two key laws that regulate the use of images and the work of others, and whether we need to pay to use an image, attribute the original creator or its free to use. We also need to consider image size and resolution as this can effect load times or quality of the image and how to select images that can work over multiple screen sizes and be responsive. As a final point looking to the future and AI generated imagery and how that could be used within designs.
The first photograph that we could recognise as such was created by Joseph Niepce in 1827 after many years of experimentation, it is certainly not a great photograph in itself, but as a turning point and a proof of concept it kickstarted the inventions and work that has led to today’s high-resolution images, which can be taken from your smartphone. So the importance of this image must not be forgotten.
Source (https://www.hrc.utexas.edu/niepce-heliograph/#:~:text=The Niépce Heliograph was made,obscura known to survive today.) Last Accessed 10/04/23
By 1861 James Clark Maxwell was able to create the first colour photographic image by taking separate images of a tartan ribbon, through different coloured filters and then combining them into a final single image. While the image was not a total success it did earn Clark-Maxwell the title of additive colour, a technique still used today to create colour on screens.
Source (https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id=3666) Last Accessed 10/04/23
Also worthy of notable mentions are Louis Daguerre who continued the work of Joseph Niepce, developing better and better chemical solutions that reacted to light and could be developed into viewable images through chemical processes. Eadweard Muybridge pioneered moving image and therefore is often credited with being the father of both animation and cinema with his experiment to find out if a horse’s four hooves ever all left the ground while at a gallop. By setting up 24 separate cameras triggered by the horse galloping past Muybridge was able to catch the moment the horses four hooves did indeed all leave the ground when galloping. By combining these images together and showing them at a fast enough pace one after each other Muybridge was able to recreate the horse galloping and that is still the basic principle of moving images today, with a series of still images taken close enough together and then replayed at the correct speed to show as a smooth moving series of images. Muybridge had previously shown skill as a still photographer but it was his inventions with moving images and the equipment to create and show them that are his main legacy.
Source (https://www.thoughtco.com/eadweard-muybridge-profile-1992163) Last Accessed 10/04/23