It is important if you are going to take photography seriously to understand where photography came from.  I found a wonderful podcast by Jeff Curto a professor at the College of Dupage.  The podcast is his “History of Photography” class.  A lot of work went into this podcast since they are enhanced podcasts meaning that he has incorported each of his slides / images into the podcast.  From Egyptian paintings to Ansel Adams in fifteen 2-3 hour podcasts he covers not only the history but spurs thoughtful discussion on the craft called photography.


For example something I learnt from the podcast is the life and times of Mr. Daguerre.  Mr, Daguerre is recognized as one of the first photographers.  He certainly made photography a business enterprise by inventing the means that brought photograhy to the masses.  Below is considered the first photograph.  Notable is that in the lower left hand corner is a person getting his shoe shined.  (The first picture of a person).  Because he waited long enough there was enought exposure time to be captured.




A quasi – fictional book about Mr. Daguerre is available on Amazon.  It is an interesting book in that as much history is blended into a romantic story of the way of life that Mr. Daguerre lived in when he invented photography.