The origin of landscape photography

The origin of photography can be said from the scenery outside the window taken by 1826 Nieps. It took eight hours to expose this photo, but it really opened a new era of events, and photography began to enter people's field of vision.

Early photography had no artistic nature, but was used as an accurate technique. It can be used to record things that words can't record and restore any details of the scene. As an accurate technology, it is often used to record political and industrial changes in the early days of invention. The government hired photographers to take pictures of civil and military drawings, which is the origin of early landscape photography.

Military surveying and mapping originated from the study and utilization of terrain in combat. In ancient times, scouts recorded the terrain of the war zone with paper and pen through their own hearing and vision. However, due to human memory problems and human errors, the terrain is prone to errors. For example, lines are used to represent paths and rivers, and in the end, they are mistaken and regard rivers as paths. This may be a fatal mistake in military action.

When photography technology appeared, the government directly sent photographers to survey the terrain, and finally drew an accurate military map through the combination of paper and pen records and film, thus ensuring the smooth progress of military operations.

For example, the British government once hired photographers to investigate the military situation in the highlands of Scotland to suppress anti-British rebels.

Similarly, if you know the history of American photography, you must know that American landscape photography appeared in the west, which is also related to geographical investigation. Watkins is an American landscape photographer who is employed by the California Geological Survey to help the survey team photograph geological features. At the same time, he was employed by the Pacific Railway Company to help him photograph the terrain of the planned railway line for line planning and design.

Maybe photographers are born with the pursuit of beauty. While completing the task of their employers, they tried their best to show their aesthetic knowledge through photos, so they gradually evolved into pleasing landscape photography.

Finally, it ends with a landscape work by landscape photographer Adams. Think about it. What geographical information do you see from this photo?