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| Wednesday, 26 May 2004 |
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Compendium on photography by Rohan Jayetilleke
Few tiny acorns have grown into mightier oaks than the one planted in 1839 by Frenchman, Louis - Jacques - Mande Daguerre. Prior to this planting, the images of sites and persons could be created only by the human hand, depending on the painter's eye-perceptions. Daguerre's new technique of capturing sites and persons, the first practical photography, captured the images of the world directly. One who returns from the 11th century would be amazed at the new technique producing identical pictures in the shortest time possible, whereas his contemporary artists and painters dabbled with paints, brush and board for days on end, as well as with the chisel sculpting on bronze, iron, silver or gold or even rocks, to create their eye-perceptions to paintings or sculptures. In the modern world images are ubiquitous, with the daughter of photography cinematography and its step-child television and the grand-step-daughter cyberspace, giving the environment much more profound impact than a millennium ago. Even churches, at least those in Western Europe, were generally decorated with abstract rather than naturalistic art. This may be in keeping with the Second Commandment of Lord Jesus Christ to his faithfuls, which says: "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, of that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth, Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor sever them". Prophet Mohammed too discoursed similarly. In early Buddhism too, Buddha's images were not sculpted, made of his image drawn, but an empty throne, tree of Enlightenment or a wheel to symbolize the Buddha. Daguerre's invention relied on the observation that a chemical called silver iodide is unstable in the presence of light. It decomposes to leave metallic silver behind, by exposing a surface impregnated with it to an image formed by a lens, the image can be 'captured'. Others has noticed this, but their images faded because the unaffected silver iodide also eventually disintegrated in the ambient light. Daguerre worked out how to wash away the altered iodide after exposure, in order to 'fix' the image. Daguerre's first photographs were made on copper plates. After exposure, these were treated with mercury vapour, to form a shiny amalgam from the deposited silver, and them with a solution of salt, to fix the image. Salt was soon replaced by sodium thiosulphate, then known as hyposulphite, which is still used, under the colloquial name of 'hypo' to this day. Thus photography boomed in the wake of Daguerre's invention. Paul Delaroche, an artist contemporary of him, suggested, when he first saw them, that 'from today, painting is dead',which was not to be. In 1895 the images began to move, courtesy of the aptly named Lumiere brothers, that modern idolatory really sprang. adding the third dimension of time to Two-dimensional pictures gave them unprecedented verisimilitude. The viewers were able to identify with what and whom they saw, in a surprisingly personal way. Thus the film star was born. Thus the cameras, video, digital etc., are now occupying centre place in the lives of the people. Books and magazines on photography are very scarce in Sri Lanka, although such works are available in India at very affordable prices ranging from Rs. 15 onwards. The latest book of Narendra Luther titled 'Raja Deen Dayal' is truly a compendium on photography, as well as tracing the long history of photography in India. British Crown Prince Charles in his Foreword to this book says "Deen Dayal was at the summit of his craft at a time when the practice of photography outside the studio was still very much in its infancy. Many associate the beginnings of photography with Europeans and Americans. Those interested in purchasing the book may make inquiries from the Indian High Commission in Colombo. Raja Deen Dayal: Prince of Photographers Author: Narendra Luther Publisher: Creative Point, Hyderabad, India. Price: Rs (Indian rupees) 2000/ US Dollars 50. **** Back **** |
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