History of Photography Podcasts

In the third History of Photography Intersession, we look at some interesting events from January first, as we commemorate the birth date of photographer William Klein, the anniversary of the death of Edward Weston, some facts about George Eastman and his inventions and the birth of the Associated Press Wirephoto.

• William Klein at Masters of Photography
  • William Klein’s book New York at Amazon
• Edward Weston at Masters of Photography
  • Edward Weston’s Daybooks at Amazon
• George Eastman Biography from Kodak.com
• The Associated Press

 

 To play podcast larger, click "download" and play in QuickTime Player [8:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2718)

In the first of a few “intersession” podcasts between the fall and spring semesters, we commemorate the birth date of photojournalist W. Eugene Smith (1918) and the anniversary of the death of photographer Bill Brandt (1983).

• W. Eugene Smith at Masters of Photography
• Bill Brandt at Masters of Photography

 

 To play podcast larger, click "download" and play in QuickTime Player [5:58m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3957)

The middle of the 20th century was a time of tremendous change in all areas of the world and especially in the world of photography. This class session looks at the changes that photography experienced during the atomic age through an examination of the cultural, political and artistic climate of the time.

• Slides for this class session
• Handout for this class session

 

 To view podcast larger, click "download" and play in QuickTime Player [1:26:08m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (5768)

We trace the trajectory of the manipulated image in this session entitled, “The Past is Prologue - The Manipulative Impulse and the Digital Age.” We also try to see if we can figure out where our digital photographic age is taking us and whether we want to go there.

• Slides for this class session
• Handout for this class session

 

 To view podcast larger, click "download" and play in QuickTime Player [1:58:39m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (6393)

This class session looks at women’s photography by examining the work of various female photographers as well as by looking at the bigger issue of whether the photographer’s gender changes the images that are made.

• Slides for this class session
• Handout for this class session

 

 To play podcast larger, click "download" and play in QuickTime Player [1:49:04m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (6438)

One of the great characters in the history of the medium, Alfred Stieglitz was also one of the most influential photographers and promoters of photography of the 20th century. In this class, we look at Stieglitz and the group of photographers and other artists he gathered around him. We also try to examine why what Stieglitz did and what he said were often two different things.

• Slides for this class session
• Handout for this class session

 

 To play podcast larger, click "download" and play in QuickTime Player [1:38:33m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (7133)

A slightly shorter class session, as we cover two smaller topics: 1) the ideas surrounding stereoscopic photography and 2) the way 19th century photographers handled the problems of photographing standard subjects.

• Slides for this class session
• Handout for this class session

 

 To view podcast larger, click "download" and play in QuickTime Player [1:21:28m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (6954)

This class session explores the idea of photography as a mode of virtual transportation. We use an article by Oliver Wendell Holmes and the voices and photographs of various 19th century landscape photographers as we travel the world and the American west.

• Slides from this class session
• Handout from this class session

 

 To play podcast larger, click "download" and play in QuickTime Player [1:28:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (7858)

In this second part of a two-part survey, we continue our fast trip through the history of photography, attempting to get a handle on who did what, when they did it and how it happened. We start in around 1880 and finish up in the 1990s.

• Slides for this class session
• Handouts for this class session Part 1 & Part 2

 

 To view podcast larger, click "download" and play in QuickTime Player [2:19:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (9606)

In this first class meeting for the fall, 2008 semester, we spend the 90 minutes or so going over class mechanics & course technology enhancements, including explanation of this podcast and other internet resources. The last hour is spent looking at some of the problems that the photo historian faces, with an eye towards setting our course and exploring what sorts of issues we’ll face as the semester rolls along.

For more information about the podcast, visit this blog page.

• Handout for this class session (class syllabus)
  
• Slides for this class session

 

 To play podcast larger, click "download" and play in QuickTime Player [2:03:15m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (11975)

On this date in 1926, National Geographic Magazine published color underwater photographs; a photographic first. This wasn’t the first attempt at underwater photography, however; photographers had been taking pictures below the waves since 1856.

Links:

• Wayne Levin Photography
• National Geographic Underwater Photo History

 

 Enhanced Podcast [4:36m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (10106)

Powerful and horrific photographs of the effects of the Battle of Gettysburg by Timothy O’Sullivan and Alexander Gardner are the subject of today’s Photo History Summer School.

Click Images for a larger view

Above: Timothy O’Sullivan - A Harvest of Death - July, 1863

Above: Alexander Gardner - The Home of a Rebel Sharpshooter, July, 1863

 

 To play podcast larger, click "download" and play in QuickTime Player [6:06m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (7069)

Today’s summer school session is all about color.

On this date in 1904, The Parisian brothers Louis and Auguste Lumière presented their patented color photographic process, the Autochrome, to the French Academy of Sciences. The Autochrome was the first commercially feasible color photographic process; the first time photographers could reliably produce color images.

This is date is also the birthday of one of the great color photographers of the 20th century, Pete Turner. Turner, born in 1934 in Albany, New York, has had a long history of using color as subject. His photographs contain raw, punchy often startling color and have been like that since long before it was fashionable to do so.

Some Autochrome and Pete Turner images:

 

 To play podcast larger, click "download" and play in QuickTime Player [6:21m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (10447)

Some links for this session

• The Lumière brothers
• Autochrome images - from the American Museum of Photography
• Pete Turner’s The Color of Jazz Book at Amazon
• Pete Turner’s website

Cornell Capa, the photojournalist and tireless advocate of humanistic photography died today, May 23, 2008. He was 90 years old. A great and committed photographer, Capa’s heartfelt images were often overshadowed by two other elements in his life. One was the photography of his brother, the pre-eminent war photographer Robert Capa. The other was the founding and early management of the International Center for Photography (ICP) in New York, considered by many to be one of the most important photographic resources in the world.

Portrait of Cornell Capa by Bill Jay

Photographs (below) by Cornell Capa - click to enlarge

 

 To view podcast larger, click "download" and play in QuickTime Player [4:46m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (7786)

From the very beginning of the medium, photographers have wanted to portray their sense of wonder and awe in the face of the natural world through the camera’s lens, often offering up nature as the Great American Cathedral. This romantic tradition continues, but the mid-20th century saw a change in the way photographers looked at the world around them; a change that altered the face of photography. By looking at photographs from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, we’ll explore the ways photographers have recorded and interpreted nature with the camera.

• Mayslake Nature Study and Photography Club - Oakbrook, IL
• The Machine in the Garden Revisited - American Environmentalism and Photographic Aesthetics (PDF) - an article by Deborah Bright
• Handout for this podcast episode
• Slides for this podcast episode

 

 To view podcast larger, click "download" and play in QuickTime Player [56:27m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (13823)