Chapter 9 Thoughts

One of the most interesting things I learned was that photography was not really its own medium initially. People basically used it to copy traditional portrait and classical painting styles, and although it was an interesting use of the camera and lighting, it was not used to its fullest potential. The extensive usage of lighting, cropping, burning and dodging, and the idea of capturing a specific feeling as well as a moment in time, did not come about until later on. I also thought it was interesting that Matthew Brady pioneered the idea of using photography as a reporting/documentary tool, and that this was the first step into photography as we know it today.