{"id":3094,"date":"2025-12-24T01:41:03","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T01:41:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tobelikethis.org\/?p=3094"},"modified":"2026-01-18T12:39:37","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T12:39:37","slug":"photographic-anniversaries-2026-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tobelikethis.org\/?p=3094","title":{"rendered":"Photographic Anniversaries &#8211; 2026 edition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I often begin a class, whatever the subject, with an introduction that looks at the history of the discipline in relation to the significant anniversaries for that year. So, I shall be starting this year&#8217;s photography classes with significant events from 1826, 1876, 1926, 1976, and 2001.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>1826 \u2013 First permanent camera photograph by Joseph Nic\u00e9phore Ni\u00e9pce<\/strong><br>Ni\u00e9pce produced View from the Window at Le Gras using heliography on a bitumen-coated plate. This image proved that light could form a lasting record through a camera, fixing photography as a technical and cultural possibility rather than a speculative idea.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>1876 \u2013 Motion analysis begins with Eadweard Muybridge<\/strong><br>Muybridge started his systematic studies of animal motion at Palo Alto for Leland Stanford. Photography shifted from static record to analytical tool, capable of breaking time into measurable parts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>1876 \u2013 Gelatin dry plates enter practical use<\/strong><br>Dry plates allowed photographers to work without portable darkrooms and long preparation. This change shortened exposure times and widened access, laying the ground for faster reportage and later handheld cameras.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>1876 \u2013 Photography displayed as modern industry at the Centennial International Exhibition<\/strong><br>Photography appeared alongside engines and machines rather than fine art alone. The exhibition framed photography as part of scientific and industrial progress, shaping how nations valued photographic labour.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>1901 \u2013 Mass photography normalised through the Kodak Brownie<\/strong><br>Although released in 1900, 1901 marked its first full year of mass use. Photography became an everyday habit rather than a specialist skill, embedding image-making in family and social life.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>1901 \u2013 Death of Queen Victoria widely photographed<\/strong><br>Her funeral and mourning were circulated through photographs at national scale. Photography emerged as the primary medium for collective memory and public history.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>1901 \u2013 Camera Notes under Alfred Stieglitz peaks<\/strong><br>The journal framed photography as a serious art form through criticism and print quality. It prepared the cultural ground for modernist photography in the following decade.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>1926 \u2013 Eadweard Muybridge\u2019s methods consolidated in scientific practice<\/strong><br>By this point, serial exposure and timed shutters had entered wider use. Photography gained authority as an analytical and evidential medium.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>1926 \u2013 Die Welt ist sch\u00f6n enters public debate<\/strong><br>Albert Renger-Patzsch promoted sharp focus and factual description. Photography aligned itself with clarity and surface truth as ethical stance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>1926 \u2013 Bauhaus photography expanded by L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Moholy-Nagy<\/strong><br>Moholy-Nagy argued that photography trained modern vision. The camera became central to design, education, and social change.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>1926 \u2013 Leica adopted for press and street work<\/strong><br>The small 35 mm camera moved from novelty to practice. Candid, mobile photography became feasible and reshaped reportage.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>1951 \u2013 Release of Kodak Ektachrome<\/strong><br>Ektachrome allowed colour processing outside Kodak labs. Colour photography shifted from specialist craft to routine tool.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>1951 \u2013 Nikon S establishes Japanese optics<\/strong><br>Press photographers praised Nikon lenses for sharpness and reliability. The camera helped shift professional trust away from European dominance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>1951 \u2013 Festival of Britain uses photography as civic language<\/strong><br>Photography recorded optimism, design, and social progress. The medium became part of national storytelling rather than mere documentation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>1976 \u2013 William Eggleston\u2019s Guide<\/strong><br>Eggleston\u2019s colour photographs entered a major modern art museum. Colour gained equal cultural status with black and white.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>1976 \u2013 New Topographics exhibition<\/strong><br>Photographers depicted human-altered landscapes without drama. The show reshaped landscape photography toward restraint and social reading.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>1976 \u2013 Polaroid SX-70 adopted by artists<\/strong><br>Instant colour images altered creative process and feedback. Speed became part of thought rather than post-production.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>2001 \u2013 9\/11 photographed in real time<\/strong><br>The attacks generated an unprecedented volume of images from professionals and civilians alike. Photography moved fully into live, shared history.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>2001 \u2013 Release of the Canon EOS\u20111D<\/strong><br>This camera replaced film for daily press work. Digital photography became economically and ethically unavoidable.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>2001 \u2013 Launch of Wikipedia<\/strong><br>Images entered shared, edited archives with unstable authorship. Meaning became collective and contested.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>2001 \u2013 Magnum Photos accelerates digital transition<\/strong><br>Debates over workflow and control reshaped photographic labour. The cooperative model entered a long period of strain and adaptation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Almost inevitably, I will have missed something that someone considers crucial, or got a date slightly wrong &#8211; there\u2019s some debate about the year in which the first photograph was made, for example. Do let me know and I can either correct or add to this list. Thanks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Dr Graham Wilson is a Departmental Tutor in Psychology and Counselling at the University of Oxford, the author of a number of Psychology, Photography, and Organisational Behaviour textbooks, and a member of the APHE executive committee.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I often begin a class, whatever the subject, with an introduction that looks at the history of the discipline in relation to the significant anniversaries for that year. So, I shall be starting this year&#8217;s photography classes with significant events from 1826, 1876, 1926, 1976, and 2001. Almost inevitably, I will have missed something that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3095,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,35,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-my-photo-journey","category-my-teaching-journey","category-pure-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tobelikethis.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tobelikethis.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tobelikethis.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tobelikethis.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tobelikethis.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3094"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tobelikethis.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3096,"href":"https:\/\/tobelikethis.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3094\/revisions\/3096"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tobelikethis.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tobelikethis.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tobelikethis.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tobelikethis.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}