1. What are main differences and similarities between portraits in the early days of photography and portraits today?
Portrait photography has been a popular style of photography since the earlier introduction the first cameras. In the past, Portraiture was a symbol of status and social standing for many emerging in the middle class. Taking portraits are now widely available to everyone is seen as more recreational and fun. Portraits from the past involved subjects holding the same emotion and pose with the same solid background while subjects today may pose with more freedom and backgrounds can be more graphic.
In addition, the quality of photographs has also significantly advanced and pictures taken today are clear and detailed. Earlier, Photographers were also challenged in dealing with very long exposures and careful planning of lighting conditions. Nowadays, photographers have more artistic freedom and can take pictures with a range of low-high exposures while Lighting conditions can be easily corrected with available lighting equipment and an external flash.
Portrait of Elias J. "Lucky" Baldwin from 1875
Portrait of Jay-Z from 2008
2. Who was the photographer and who was the subject of photographs in the past and today?
Photographers in the past had formal training in visual arts and must have had an understanding in chemistry as it was involved in the process in developing photos. However with technological advancements, anyone with creativity and desire can be classified as a photographer today.
The subjects of photographs involved the upper classes as this class contained the rich and members of high social standings including politicians and actors/actresses. They were able to afford the high costs of portraits but over time, photography became affordable making it available to the lower and middle classes. With this change, anyone can now be the subject of a portrait.
3. What was the impact on technology on the portraits in the past and today?
Photographers in the past were very limited in terms of the features and equipment available to photographers today. During the popularization of photography in the 1800s, the daguerreotype emerged as one of the top cameras and involved a very tedious and careful process. The exposure times were also very long and lighting was uncontrolled making taking photographs of subjects difficult. Earlier cameras and equipment were also very large in size making transportation difficult.
Today, cameras and photographic equipment have advanced greatly. Cameras include advanced settings for artistic freedom and are very affordable. The quality of photos has also significantly increased and cameras are available in many different sizes to fit a photographer’s needs.
 Giroux Daguerreotype from the 1800s |
 Nikon D90 |
