What are the embryonic stages of early documentary photography?

With the wide application of the realistic function of photography, photographers aim at human social life. People find that photography can be used to record reality and promote social progress. Thus, documentary photography came into being.

The word "documentary" was first mentioned around 1898. This year, an article was published in the British Photography Magazine, urging the establishment of a large-scale photo archive "so as to contain as complete a record as possible about the current situation of the world", claiming that such photos "will be the most valuable documentary photos in a hundred years".

But in fact, the appearance of documentary photography can be traced back to an earlier era.

The pioneers of documentary photography, such as Thomson, Reese, Heine, Ajie, Langer and Evans, have made indelible contributions to the development of documentary photography.

First, the sprout of documentary

As early as 1870, Dr. Barnard, the founder of the famous "Extreme Poverty Children's Home" in Britain, began to realize the documentary function of photography. Before he arrived and left, he took a photo of every child in "Poor Children's Home", and then pasted the photo on cardboard with a caption for sale. These photos not only expanded the social influence, but also raised funds for children's food and clothing.

A few years later, John? Thomson and a? Together with Adolf Smith, he published a book called Street Life in London, which contains 36 photos taken by Thomson. Although many of these photos were taken at the mercy, they still objectively reflect the living conditions of the poor in London.

Another early documentary photographer who lived in London was named Paul? Paul Martin (1864 ~ 1942). 65438+In the 1990s, Martin photographed many street scenes in London, and also photographed people having fun at the seaside. He hid his small camera in his handbag, looking for shots to take secretly. He is called an "outspoken photographer". The Night in London, filmed from 1895 to 1896, is his earliest masterpiece. Although these photos don't have much social significance, they are much more vivid than those that were manipulated in the past.

At this time, although documentary photography is still immature, it has been aimed at real life by photographers and recorded the social status quo truthfully.