Pr

e-Phot
ogr
aphi
cHi
stor
y

Theear l
ycav epaint
ingsoftheUpperPal eoli
thicperi
odcanbeconsi deredast heearl
iest
creat i
onofpi ct
ori
alrecordi
ng.Suchcanbet racedasfarbackasabout35, 000y earsago.These
"pi
ct ures"couldpossibl
ybear ecordofact ualhunti
ngoft hetime,ortheycouldber eli
gious
pet i
ti
onsf orabountifulhunti
ng.Theycouldal sosimplybedepi cti
onsoficonst hatserveto
brightendomest icactiv
iti
es.Thesepict
orialimagesar esignif
icanttothediscussionofhistor
y
becauset heydemonst r
atehowhumancul tureisinext
ricablyl
inkedtophotogr aphy(Wright
,
1999) .

Thehistoryofimagingbeganwi tht hecameraobscura, t

hefir
stpinhol ecamer a.Al
thought here
maybeaconf l
ictamongaut horsast owhoisthefir
sttodescribet hecamer aobscur a,RobertC.
Sandersconsidersthatiti
smostl ikelytheArabscholarHassanbinal Hait
ham whowr ote
aboutitin1038.Theseear l
ypinholecamer aswereusedbysci entiststoobser vethesunandby
art
ist
st omakesket ches.Twoot her swhoarecredit
edbysomeaut horsast hefir
sttodescr i
be
thecamer aobscuraareRogerBaconi n1267andLeonar dodaVinci in1490( Sanders,2010).

Theevoluti
onofthecameraobscurai
ncl
udestheaddit
ionoflensi
n1550byGir
olamoCardano,
thefur
theraddi
ti
onoflensesandcurv
edmirror
stoproduceanupri
ghti
magein1558by
Giov
anni Bat
ti
stadel
laPorta,
andthei
nvent
ionofadiaphragm i
n1568byDani
eleBar
bar
o.

JeanHell
otmayhav ebeent hefi
rstonetousetheword"photogr
aphy,
"whichmeanswrit
ing
wit
hl i
ght
.Hewasr eport
edtohav eusedaphotographi
cprocesstomakesecretwri
ti
ngsvisi
ble
byexposuretoli
ghtin1737.In1795,ThomasWedgwoodmadet hefir
stknownatt
empttouse
aphotographi
cprocesstotakeaphot ogr
aphwithacameraobscura.However
,hi
sattempt
fai
ledduetoacombi nat
ionofunderexposur
eandhisinabi
li
tytofi
xtheimage.

TheeditorsoftheFocalEncycl
opediaofPhotogr
aphydefi
nephotographyasbegi
nni
ngwhen
therecordi
ngofimages" coul
d-bemade-per
manent."Thebookprovi
desthefol
lowi
ngdat
esto
outl
i
nei mportantpr
e-photogr
aphicevent
sinhist
ory(Per
es,2007)
.

1200s-Si
mpl
egl
assl
enseswer
eint
roduced.

1472-
Leonar
dodaVi
nci
discov
eredt
hemul
ti
col
orednat
ureofwhi
tel
i
ght
.
1676-
J.C.St
urmi
nvent
edapor
tabl
ecamer
aobscur
awi
thr
efl
exmi
rr
orandf
ocusi
ngl
ens.

1704-
SirIsaacNewtonpubli
shedOpti
cksinwhi
chhepr
esent
edhi
sdi
scov
eri
esi
nopt
icsand
el
aboratedonhiscorpuscul
art
heor
yoflight
.

1725-
J.H.Schul
zeexperi
ment
edonli
ghtsensi
ti
vi
tyofsil
versal
ts,
cont
acti
mages(
from st
enci
l
s)
onli
qui
dmi xtur
esofchal
kandsi
l
vernit
rat
einabottl
e..

1758-
JohnDol
l
andi
nvent
edt
heachr
omat
icl
ens.

1777-
G.C.Li
cht
enber
gdev
elopedel
ect
rost
ati
cdi
schar
gepat
ter
nswi
thdr
ypowder
.

1777-
C.W.Scheeledi
scov
eredthatbl
ackeni
ngofsi
l
verchl
ori
dei
nthev
iol
etandt
hebl
ueoft
he
spect
rum i
squickert
hanbyothercol
ors.
n

1800-
SirJohnF.W.Herscheldiscoveredinf
rar
edr
adiat
ion.Heusedabeam spli
tt
ertospl
i
touta
whit
eli
ghtsourcei
ntoindivi
dual col
orswhenheplacedat her
mometernextt
otheredend
wherether
ewasnov isi
blecoloroflight.A

1800=T.WedgwoodandH.Davydiscov
eredt
hatcont
actcopy
ingofsi
l
houet
tes,
leav
es,
etc.
,on
l
eatheri
ssensi
ti
zedwit
hsi
lverni
tr
ate.

1801=J.
W.Ri
tt
erdi
scov
eredt
hebl
ackeni
ngofsi
l
verchl
ori
debyul
tr
avi
oletr
adi
ati
on.6V

1815-
1820-
SirDav
idBr
ewst
eri
nvent
edt
heopt
ical
syst
em oft
hef
utur
epar
lorst
ereoscope.

1816-J.Ni
céphor
eNi
épcedi
scov
eredt
hatcamer
aphot
ogr
aphsonpaperar
esensi
ti
zedwi
th
si
lverchl
ori
de.
1819-
SirJohnF.
W.Her
schel
discov
eredt
hiosul
fat
esandt
hesol
uti
onofsi
l
verhal
i
desby"
hypo.
"

1822-
1825=J.Ni
céphor
eNiépcediscover
edcopyingofengravingsongl
ass,
zinc,
andpewt
er
sensi
ti
zedwit
hbit
ument of
urtherat
temptsatdi
rectphotography.

Adv
ancesi
nPhot
ogr
aphi
cTechnol
ogy

Thef i
rsthal
fofthenineteenthcent uryhighl
ightssever
al attemptstoperf
ectphot ogr
aphy
throughtheinv
entionofdi f
ferentprocessesandt echniques.Theseattempt saimedat
producingthemostr eali
sti
canddet ai
ledpictur
esbyf i
xingt heimagecreatedinsideacamer
a.
Thecr eat
ionofthefirstphotographsr equi
redlotsofskil
l andknowledge,andt heywere
regardedasmiraculousandpr ai
sedf orthei
rbeautyanddet ai
l.

In1826,JosephNi épcesuccessfull
ymadet hefi
rstknownphot ograph,ar epr
oduct
ionofa17th
centur
yDutchengr avingshowingamanl eadingahor se.Forthi
sreason, hehasbeencredi
ted
asbeingtheinventorofphotography.Thephotographwassol datSot heby'si
nPari
sonMar ch
21,2002,t
ot heFrenchNat i
onalLibrar
yfor$443,
000( Peres,2007)
.

In1839, LouisJacquesMandéDaguer rei

nventedthedaguer reotype,thefi
rstcommer cial
ly
successf ul
photographicprocess.I
tusedasilvernit
rit
elight-
sensiti
v eemul si
onthatwas
developedwi thmercuryvaporandf i
xedwithast r
ongsal tsol
ut i
ont oproduceaposi ti
ve
photographicimage.Thel atenti
mageanduseofsi l
vercombi nedwi t
hiodine(si
l
v eri
odide)that
werei nt
roducedbyDaguer r
ebecamet hebasisofev erymajorcamer aprocessoft he19th
centuryuntilt
heintroduct
ionofgelati
nbromideemul sionsusedi nt hemanuf act
ureofdr y
plat
esanddev el
oping-outpapers(Sander
s,2010).

I
n1839, Wil
li
am Henr yFoxTal boti
nventedthecalot
ype,asil
verchlori
de-coatedlight
-sensi
ti
ve
paperthatwasf i
xedwi t
hstrongsaltsolut
ion.Thecalot
ype(from t
heGr eekkalos, meaning
"beauti
ful"
)wasl aterpat ent
edbyTal botin1841.In1844,heimprovedt hecalotypepaper
negati
vepr ocessusi ngagal li
cacidandsi l
verni
trat
esoluti
onwithahy pof i
xer.Thisisthe
processthatev entuallyevol
vedi nt
othephot ogr
aphicnegati
vepri
ntingprocesst hati
si nuse
today(Peres,2007) .

Thecal
oty
pedi
dnotbecomepopul
ari
ntheUSAbecauset
hedaguer
reot
ypewasal
readywel
l
est
abl
ished.In1841,t
hePari
spoli
cedepart
mentbecamethefi
rstagencyt
ousedaguerr
eot
ype
mugshots.Bythelat
e1840s,t
hedaguer
reotypepr
ocesswasbeingusedcommerci
all
yinev
ery
i
ndust
rial
izednati
onoftheworl
d.

Anothermi lestoneinthehist oryofphot ogr aphywast hediscoveryoftheUVf luorescencebySi r

GeorgeG.St okesin1852.Thi sledtot hef ormul ationoftheSt okes'Lawast hef undament al
theoret
ical basisofallf
luorescentphot ographycur rentl
yusedi nlawenf orcement .Itstatesthat
thewav elengthoft hefl
uorescencei salway slongert hanthewav el
engthoft hel i
ghtthat
excit
edt hef l
uorescence.Thef l
uorescencewi l
lnotbeasbr i
ghtast heexciti
ngl i
ghtsour ce.
Sanders( 2010)expl ai
nsthati npractice, t
hismeans" thati
ft hefil
m orcamer asensori s
sensiti
vet obot hthecoloroft heexciterl i
ghtsour ce(suchasanar gon-ionlaserwi thanout put
at514nm)andt hecoloroft hef l
uorescentl ight( suchast hecoloroft hefluorescentcol orof
R6Gdy e-stainedlatentpri
ntev i
dence), youwi llneedabar r
ierfil
tertoblocktheexci terl
ight
sourcesot hatthefil
m orsensorcanr ecordt he

f
luor
escence.
"JorkdeSander
sident
if
iedot
heradv
ancesi
nthehi
stor
yofphot
ogr
aphy
,as
f
oll
ows(Sanders,
2010):

1858-Fr
enchphotogr
apherandbal
looni
stGasparFel
i
xTour
nachont
ookt
hef
ir
stknownaer
ial
photogr
aphoftheFrenchvi
ll
ageofPeti
t-
Becetr
e.

1861-
MaxwellandSut
tonwereabl
etosuccessful
l
ymakecol orsepar
ati
onnegat
ives,
which,
whenthr
oughthecorr
espondi
ngred,
green,
orviol
etfil
tertowhichtheywer
ephotographed
thr
ough,
resul
tedinacol
orimageoft
heobjectphotographed.

1961-
Fir
str
ecordeduseofRGBcol orsepar
ati
onnegat
ivest
oreproduceacolorimagebyRal
ph
Evanswhousedthefl
uorescentpr
operti
esofther
eddyeintheobjectphot
ographed.

1873-Dr.HermannWilhel
m Vogeldi
scov
ereddy e-
sensi
ti
zi
ngtechnologythatextendedthecol
or
sensi
tiv
ityofbl
ack-
andwhi t
efi
lmsintot
her edregi
onofthevi
sibl
elightspectr
um, resul
ti
ngin
thedevelopmentofphotogr
aphi
cf i
l
m emulsionandthemodernblack-and-
whitepanchromati
c
fi
lm.
Asphotogr
aphi
ctechnol
ogyadv
ancedupt ot
heendoft henineteent
hcent
ury,equipmentand
mater
ial
shadbecomesomewhateasiert
ohandle,andphotographyhadspreadallaroundt
he
wor
ldandwasbeingputtouseforar
ti
sti
cpurposesandtodocumentpeoplepl acesandthi
ngs.

Begi
nni
ngsofFor
ensi
cImagi
ng

Ther ootsofpolicephotographycoul dperhapsbet racedt o1851whenFr enchphot ographer

,
LouisDoder o,ori
ginatedtheideaofusi ngphotographst oest abli
shident
it
yorr ight
s.Ay ear
l
at er,Swi
tzerl
andbegant ophot ographv agrant
sandbeggar s,whil
eFrancestartedtocircul
ate
i
tsf ir
stphotographic"wanted"posters.Theseev entsareal soconsideredthehistori
cal
beginningsofidentifi
cati
onphot ography,orthecreationofi nexpensi
veandqui ckpor t
rai
t
picturesofpeoplef orapassports,securit
ypasses, l
icenses, permit
s,orsi
milarapplicati
ons
(Francis,
2007) .

Sanders(2010)tr
acesthebeginni
ngofforensi
cimageanal ysi
sin1851wi ththescient
ifi
c
examinati
onofaf akedcol
ordaguerreot
ype.By1859,theUnitedStateSupremeCour trul
edon
theadmissibil
i
tyofphot
ographsusedasev i
dence.Specif
icall
y,phot
ographsofadocument
wereproperlyadmit
tedinpl
aceoftheorigi
naldocument,forthepurposeofpr ov
ingthataland
grantt
it
ledocumentwasaf or
gery.

I
n1860, i
denti
fi
cati
onphot ogr
aphywasusedinEnglandandtheUSAasphot ogr
aphi
crecor
ds
ofthosewhower earrest
edandimpri
soned.Promptedbytheassassi
nati
onofPresi
dent
Abraham Li
ncoln,
theUSAmadei t
sfi
rst"
wanted"poster
sofJohnWi l
kesBoothandhis
accompli
ces(Sanders,2010).

Cri
mescenephotogr
aphydat
esbackt
o1867whenadver
ti
sement
sofcri
mescenecameras
begant
oappear,
Thesecameraspr
omisedt
orepl
acet
hecri
mescenesket
chesoft
heti
me.

Fakeghostphotographsusedtocommi tf
raudst art
edt oappearasear l
yast he1860s.Weal t
hy
rel
ati
vesofrecentl
ydeceasedpersonsbecamet hev ict
imsofcr iminal
swhoof fertohol da
meetingofspir
it
ualist
sforafeetoenabl
et hevi
ct i
mst ocontactt hespi
ri
tsoftheirrecentl
y
deceasedrel
ati
ves.Thecrimi
nalswouldalsofakespi ri
tphotographsbyusingadoubl e
exposureei
theri
nt hecameraorthedarkroom tocr eatephotosoft hevi
cti
mswi tht hese
"spi
ri
ts.
"
Duri
ngt he1870sphotographi
cevidenceconti
nuedt obecomeadmi ssibl
einUnit
edStates
court
s.Photographswereaffi
rmedasanest ablishedmeansofreproducingacorr
ectli
keness
ofaper sonin1874;t
heuseoft r
affi
caccidentphotographswereaff
irmedtoshowt heroad
condi
tionsthatwereafactori
nthetraff
icaccidentin1875;andti
nty
pephot ogr
aphsofinjur
ies
wereadmi tt
edin1879.

AlphonseM.Ber t
il
loninvent edmanyt echni quest hatcont r
ibutedt othef i
eldofcr i
mi nology ,one
ofwhi chisthei nventi
onoft hemugshot .In1879, whenhecompl etedhi smi l
itar
yt r
ainingand
becameami norclerkatt hePar isPrefect ureofPol i
ce, hebegant ouseant hropological
statisticsandant hropomet ri
ct echniquesi nsol v
ingt hecent ralproblem plaguingthe
depar tment '
sident i
fi
cat i
onpr act i
ces(Ler ner&Ler ner,2006) .Thedepar t
menthadaccumul ated
at r
emendousnumberofi magesbutl ackedanyr ealwayt out i
li
zet hem.Ber ti
ll
ondev elopeda
system ofi dent i
fi
cationt hati nv olv
edt her ecor dingofel evenant hropomet ri
cmeasur ement s,
suppl ement edwi thaphy si
cal descr i
ptionoft hebody ,par t
icularl
ythef eaturesoft hef aceand
thehead.Ber ti
llon'
ssi gnaleticsy stem wasof fici
al l
yaccept edbyt hePar ispolicein1883and
becamewi delyadopt edacr ossEur ope, Canada, andt heUni t
edSt ates.Howev er,t
hesy stem
wasnotent i
relysuccessf ul asadomi nantmodeofcr imi nalidentif
icat
ion,andwasev ent uall
y
replacedbyf i
nger pri
nting( Finn, 2009).

I
n1887,banksbeganusingcamer
ast
ophot
ogr
aphper
sonsattempti
ngtobreakintothem.In
1893,
abankrobberysuspecti
nNewYor
kCi
tywasi
dent
if
iedusingsuchaphotograph(Sanders,
2010)
.

For
ensi
cImagi
ngi
ntheTwent
iet
hCent
ury

1904-TheLumierebrot
her
spat
ent
edt
heaut
ochr
omecol
orphot
ogr
aphypl
atest
hatwer
eput
i
ntoproduct
ionin1907.

1907-I
nCol
orado,
USA,int
oxi
catedpersonswerebeingphotogr
aphedbyt hepol
i
cedepar
tment;
i
nMassachuset
ts,
theuseofphotogr
aphicspeedrecorder
stodetectspeeder
swereappr
oved.

1910-
Kodakdomi
nat
edt
heamat
eurmar
ketphot
ogr
aphi
ctechni
quesst
il
lusedt
oday
.

wi
thsomephot
ogr
aphi
ctechni
quesst
il
lusedt
oday
.
1912-
Siegr
istandFischerpr
oducedcol
ori
magesbychemi
cal
l
yfor
mingdy
esi
ntheemul
sion
l
ayerduri
ngdev el
opment.

1915-
InChicago,
theInt
ernat
ional
Associ
ati
onf orI
dent
if
icat
ionwasf
ormed.I
thasev
olv
edi
nto
theol
destandlar
gestfor
ensicsci
enceor
ganizati
onint
hewor l
d.

1916-I
nOhio,USA,amot ionpicturewasruledasi nadmissi
blei
magingev i
dencebecauseitdi
d
notshowthedetail
sclearlyenought obeuseful.Thiscourtr
uli
nghighl
ight
sthatphotographs
shoul
dber el
evant,mater
ial,afairandaccurat
er epresent
ati
on,andnotoverl
yprej
udici
altobe
admissi
bleasevidenceincourt.

1928-InOhi
o,USA, anappell
antcour
truledthatphotographsofX-
rayswerenotadmissi
blei
n
pl
aceoftheX-raysbecausethephotographsdidnotshowsomesi gni
fi
cantdetai
l
sthatwere
vi
sibl
eintheori
ginalX-
rays.Thefl
ashbulbwasi nvented,maki
ngitpossi
blefora

por
tabl
eli
ghtsour
cet
oenabl
ethet
aki
ngofmanyev
idencephot
ogr
aphs.

1930-Thef
lashbul
bwasinvented,maki
ngi
tpossi
blef
orapor
tabl
eli
ghtsour
cet
oenabl
ethe
taki
ngofmaki
ngevi
dencephotographs.

1934-InNewHampshire,USA,theult
raviol
etphot
ographoffoot
pr i
ntsi
nbloodwereuphel
das
admissi
blei
ncourt
.Sever
alotherst
atesdef i
nedwhatisconsi
deredasaf ai
randaccur
ate
phot
ographi
crepr
esent
ati
onofphot ographstobeadmi t
tedasevidencei
ncourt
.

1938-IntheUni
tedStat
es,
themicr
ofi
l
m ofadocumentwasadmi
tt
edi
npl
aceoft
hedocument
,
andtheadmissi
bil
i
tyofacol
orphot
ographwasuphel
d.

1938-Kodaki
ntr
oducedt
heSuper
-Si
x-20camer
a,whi
chf
eat
uredanaut
omat
icexposur
e
capabi
l
ity
,
1941-
Kodaki
ntr
oducedt
heKodacol
orcol
ornegat
ivef
il
m.

1942-
Kodaki
ntr
oducedt
heEkt
achr
omecol
orsl
i
def
il
m.

1947-
Kodaki
ntr
oducedt
heEkt
acol
orcol
ornegat
ivef
il
m.

1947-
Edwi
nLandi
nvent
edt
hePol
aroi
dLandCamer
a.

1948-
ThePol
aroi
dbl
ack-
and-
whi
tepr
intf
il
m wasi
nvent
ed.

1942-
TheUnit
edStatesFBILabor
atoryspli
tit
sphot
ographi
oper
ationsuni
tintoapr
ocessi
ng
uni
tandaspeciaphotogr
aphi
cunitthathasevol
vedint
othecur
rentfor
ensiaudi
o,v
ideo,
and
i
mageanaly
sisunit
.

1957-
Thev
ideot
aper
ecor
derwasi
ntr
oduced.

1965-
TheSuper8mm movi
eequipmentwasi
ntr
oduced.Ibecameahi
twi
thconsumer
sunt
ili
t
wasrepl
acedwit
hvi
deocamcorders.

1965-
Ful
l
yaut
omat
icel
ect
roni
cfl
ashuni
tsbecameav
ail
abl
eforst
il
lphot
ogr
aphy
.