When did portrait photography rise?

1839, photography officially came out. At that time, the exposure speed of film was slow, and it sometimes took dozens of minutes to take a portrait photo. Therefore, portrait photography started slightly later than still life, architecture and landscape photography.

Nevertheless, photography is better than painting in realistic performance and its cost is lower than painting. As a result, portrait photography gradually replaced portrait painting and became a new industry. In the 1940s of 19, portrait studios of all sizes appeared like mushrooms after rain in major cities in Europe and America.

I. Daguerre Photography Studio

After the publication of Daguerre Photography Law, many cities in the United States and Europe have established portrait studios, which are called "Daguerre Photography Studio".

The earliest portrait studio in Europe was founded on March 23rd, 184 1 year (Daguerre's photography had just had a beard after publication) by a British businessman Viad and a scientist named Goddard.

This striking portrait studio was built on the roof of the Royal Institute of Technology in London. On the opening day, the reception room was crowded with British gentlemen and ladies, waiting for magical photography. After opening, the average daily turnover exceeded 150. At that time, the camera could only take pictures of one size. Exposure time varies greatly, from 3 seconds to 2 minutes in summer to 3 to 5 minutes in winter, which is generally related to rain or shine. But even so, it is still very attractive to people who want to take pictures.

At that time, photographing Daguerre's portrait was a severe test. First of all, you have to wear the right color clothes, because Daguerre photography is only sensitive to blue and white, and all other colors are black. Therefore, wear blue or white clothes when taking pictures.

At the appointed shooting time (it must be sunny and cloudy with insufficient light), you have to climb several stairs to reach the studio. This is a glass house, usually built on a flat roof. When you come in, you should sit in a chair on the high platform with your head fixed with an iron clip and your eyes fixed on the camera. You can't blink.

Then, the assistant put the photosensitive metal plate into the camera and exposed it for 30 seconds to 1 minute. If you want two photos, you can take them twice in the same way, or you can take them side by side with two cameras. At that time, there was a "Photography Song" that described the scene when shooting:

You must wait patiently,

Hold the fixture with both hands,

The incarnation of Apollo,

Will give you beautiful light,

Shout three times when shooting begins:

"Attention, here we go!"

"Then take it!"

"Well, it's over!"

In this way, your face appears on the silver plate,

As long as it is additionally processed by screen printing or the like,

I can develop a small photo for you,

Although everyone exclaimed that it was not me,

Actually, it's a lot like you.

Reality is really interesting,

If you are a prince,

Still a poor common people.

The photos taken are embedded in small photo frames and packed in velvet boxes. Almost all Daguerre-style photos were treated with gold chloride once to make the silver version look a little darker, thus highlighting the white image on the screen. If you want to color, you have to pay extra. In London, a professional portrait of Daguerre costs one pound, which is more than the average person's monthly salary. But Daguerre-style photos are cheaper than hand-painted oil paintings. So portrait photography was very popular at that time. People think that giving a portrait photo to relatives and friends is more economical, more realistic and more fashionable than a small portrait.

Second, "business card portraits" are popular.

19 in the 1950s, collodion wet lithography was born. Unlike Daguerre photography, the photos taken by this photography method can be developed in large quantities. At that time, people in the upper class in Europe carried "business cards" with their names, official titles (or identities) and addresses. With the appearance of collodion wet printing photography, a new way of making business cards from portraits-"business card portraits" came into being.

1854, the French portrait photographer AdolpheDisderi invented a multi-lens camera, which can hold up photos the size of business cards. This camera has four lenses. Through these four lenses, eight different postures can be photographed on a 16.5×2 1.5 cm collodion glass plate. When shooting, first take four poses on half of the glass plate, one for each shot. Then, rotate the glass by 180 degrees, and then make four postures. Finally, print this negative as a photo, cut it out and stick it on a card with a name on it, and it becomes a "business card portrait".

As soon as the business card portrait appeared, it quickly became popular in all countries, first from France to Britain, and then from Britain to the United States. People are keen to take portraits of business cards and give gifts to relatives and friends. Portraits of some celebrity business cards are also sold in stationery stores and post offices, and the price varies with the celebrity's fame, ranging from about 1 to 1/6 pounds each. Business card portraits are small, light and easy to collect. Therefore, the trend of establishing family photo albums has developed rapidly. Many families are collecting business card portraits of themselves, friends and celebrities. These portraits have uniform specifications, which can be displayed in specially designed external photo albums and placed on the table in the living room for guests to watch and browse.

People's enthusiasm for business card portraits has reached an alarming level. 1855 There were only 66 portrait studios in London, and 186 1 year increased to more than 200. Some workshops that print business card portraits print more than 3,000 business card portraits of celebrities every day. Some unscrupulous businessmen even remake the portraits of famous business cards and sell them illegally.

This craze for "business card portraits" did not fade away until the 1970s of 19.

Third, Cameron's portrait photography

The wet printing method of collodion provides good creative conditions for professional photographers, and amateur photographers have made great achievements through their efforts. Julia Margretcameron (1815 ~1879) is a famous amateur portrait photographer in the early photography history.

Biographer Graham's biography of the British female photographer begins like this:

/kloc-in the summer of 0/860, people who spend their holidays in the Isle of Wight, England, often meet Cameron, a strange person, and they will be surprised when they walk in Danshui Bay. She is a stout middle-aged woman with pungent black spots of developer on her face, hands and bright red velvet clothes. She would suddenly stick her head out from behind the flowers and say in a hoarse voice, "Come in and look like a fairy!" "

Cameron started photography on 1863, when she was 48 years old. She wrote in the Glass House Notes:

My first camera was given to me by my daughter-in-law They hope this will help me live alone in Danshui Bay. This commemorative gift has aroused my original love for beauty more and more. In my hands, it has become a living body with sound, memory and creativity.

Since then, Cameron has been fascinated by photography. She used the camera as a pastime and took many excellent portraits in her glass room. Most of her subjects are relatives, friends and celebrities in social circles. At that time, some British scientists, poets, painters and inventors were invited to visit the glass house on the Isle of Wight and left immortal portraits.

The great power of Cameron's works lies in expressing the "inner noble character" of the characters with photography. She is good at exploring and expressing the inner feelings of characters in the form of close-ups. In order to achieve the pursuit of the realm, she used close-range shooting and strictly controlled the modeling role of light to obtain moving photos. For example, Darwin's thick round head was illuminated by light from above and stood out on the screen. The light on the right highlights Sir Herschel's face and hair.

Sometimes, Cameron deliberately uses low-quality lenses to blur the contours of people's faces in order to create dramatic effects. Sir Herschel is such a masterpiece. Although the focus of this work is not very clear, it shows the strong personality of the characters. The deep wrinkles on his forehead, old eyes with gods, tight lips, flying white hair and distinctive eyebrows all show that Herschel is a man of thought and character.

In that era when clarity and accuracy were the standard of photos, Cameron's shooting style was naturally incompatible with the popular portrait photography at that time. Therefore, when her works were exhibited at the Royal Photographic Society, they were rated as "inferior in art" by critics. In this regard, Cameron argued:

Who has the right to specify what kind of focus is the legal focus? ..... I use the "unclear" focus to get the fullness and roundness of the skin ... My purpose is to improve the photography level and ensure that the characters are displayed. ...

Cameron's attempts and efforts to express the inner world of the characters were finally re-recognized and affirmed in the 20th century. She showed her great achievements in portrait photography with an innovative spirit beyond the times.

Four. Portraits of people regarded as "works of art"

Nadal (1820 ~ 19 10), a contemporary of Cameron, is also an outstanding portrait photographer. Each of his portraits has become an expressive "work of art" through expression and personality.

On May 1859 and 15, an article commenting on photographers was published in France's influential art period, "Nadal Portrait Photography Exhibited by the French Photographers Association", which wrote:

It is indisputable that Nadal's portrait works are accepted as "works of art" in all literal meanings. This can be proved by his choice of lighting arrangement, subject posture and foothold, as well as the excavation of the typical expression advantages of characters ... This person with a camera always has the right to be called an artist.

Nadal's original name was Gospa-Felix Senna, and "Nadal" was his pen name when he was engaged in comic creation. As a first-class portrait photographer in France, Nadal has created many wonderful portrait works with his artistic talent.

Early portrait works, due to long exposure, mostly appear stiff and lifeless, and it is difficult to express the character. Nadal's portrait works, on the other hand, focus on depicting the mental state of the characters, which sets a good example for portrait photography in later generations. Nadal believes that a photographer, regardless of the mechanical performance of the camera, should focus on the face of the character, grasp the expression of the character, portray the psychological characteristics of the character, and let the personality of the character leap above the picture.

When shooting, Nadal tries to avoid the interference of props or backgrounds on the characters. During the period when "portrait of business card" and "portrait of study" prevailed, Nadal changed the practice of using gorgeous scenery and props in photo studio, using monochrome curtains and simple props, thus showing the mental outlook of the subject concisely and prominently. In addition, he also broke the fixed format of portrait photography at that time, and better showed the personality of the characters through busts and even close-ups.

Nadal used to be a cartoonist, which made him have a strong skill in capturing characters' expressions and modeling. Although his works are static, he requires the subjects to choose their postures at will, instead of deliberately arranging the shapes to make the characters look natural.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Nadal photographed a group of portraits of the most outstanding intellectuals and artists in France in his red wall studio, which were included in the album "Celebrity Nadal" published by Nadal 1857.