A deep understanding of modern photography
A book that helps you enjoy interesting experiences!

Photography, which has recently been gaining more attention as a genre of art, has had a relatively short history of about 200 years, developed by photographers who sought to 'realistically' express the surrounding world, objects, and people, or to embrace the 'aesthetics' of fine art.
In the process, it has expanded its scope to encompass a wide range of areas, from ideologically charged photographs, such as photojournalism, paparazzi photography, and propaganda, to photographs that embody commercial and artistic value, such as advertising and fashion.
This book introduces how the messages photographers of the time sought to convey were expressed in a single photo, as well as how technological advancements in cameras, lighting, and printing methods revolutionized the history of photography.

There is no particular style or trend that has completely dominated the history of photography.
In the early days of photography, there was a clear divide between those interested in accurately representing the world around them and those photographers who embraced the aesthetics of fine art.

---From "Starting"

From photojournalistic and documentary work to more artistically oriented works, most serious photographic work has not acknowledged the advancement of color film.
Eventually, magazines used color photographs, but 'real' news stuck to black and white.
---From "Monochrome" and "Genre"

John William Draper (1811-1882) took a photograph of his sister.
To take a photograph, the subject had to remain completely still for more than a minute.

---From "Portrait Photography" and "Genre"

Nadar (1820-1910) broke away from photography as a conventional portrait and captured subjects as active participants rather than passive models.
As a result, his photographs became the epitome of spontaneity.

---「Nadar, Self-Portrait, from 「Works」」

Wei Zhi later summarized the criminal's situation as follows:
“It happened in the waiting room.
This guy killed a cop.
“First I got a black eye from being hit, and then I ended up in the electric chair at Sing Sing Prison.” This factual description perfectly encapsulates Weezy’s photojournalistic style.

---「From "Police Killer" by Weezy, "Works"」

Photography was always at the center of Warhol's work, even in his screen prints.
Warhol's cross-dressing self-portrait is reminiscent of Man Ray's photograph of Marcel Duchamp dressed as a woman.
Drag queens fascinated Warhol, and this series blurs gender boundaries.
(...) can be read as a desire to have the viewers look at oneself while simultaneously turning away from oneself.

---「Andy Warhol, Self-Portrait in Cross-Dressing, from 「Works」」

Martin Parr (1952-), who blurred the boundaries between art and entertainment, high and low culture, changed the British attitude toward photography with his highly saturated color portraits.
(...) When it was first exhibited in a gallery in London, it was derided by critics as being derogatory to the working class.
However, it has since been recognized as reflecting them more accurately than many of the 'noble' black-and-white portraits that came before it.

---From "Martin Parr, New Brighton, England," "Works"

From billboards to catalogs, photography has proven to be a profitable medium for selling lifestyles.
In the early 20th century, as magazines gained popularity, they used photography to promote fashion and build brands.

---From "Consumerism," "Topic"

Social movements of the late 19th and early 20th centuries brought about changes in the way poverty was represented, and government policies and political ideologies were radicalized around the image of the poor.
In the late 19th century, as thousands of people flocked to rapidly expanding urban areas, concern about the urban poor grew.
Pioneers such as Oscar Gustave Reylander (1813–1875), Heinrich Gillet (1858–1929), and Eugène Atget documented poverty in London, Revelin, and Paris.

---From "Poverty," "Theme"

Color photography was invented for scientific purposes and was marginalized by the established photography community until a new generation embraced its qualities.
The introduction of color film was a complex and lengthy process of trial and error.
The first durable color photograph was published by Scottish mathematical physicist James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879), and was an image of a tartan ribbon.

---From "Color" and "Technique"

Early photographs used only natural light.
However, later use of light sources other than the sun gave photographers much more creative opportunities and allowed them to shoot indoors.
In 1839, Levett Landon Boscaveng Ibbetson (1799–1869) used a gray light to illuminate minute objects during photography.
Nadar made significant advances in lighting, using battery-powered lights in a series documenting the Parisian sewer system in the early 1860s.

---From "Artificial Lighting" and "Technique"