Photography in society

The History When was the first permanent photographic image taken?

1826: Joseph Nicéphore Niépce

1839: First person photographed. Louis Jaques-Mandé Daguerre

1847: First Photographs of War by Charles J Betts

1861: First colour photo by James Clark

1878: The first action photograph by Edweard Muybridge

1890: First National Geographic photograph of North America

1893: The first underwater photograph by Louis Boutan

1926: First underwater colour photo

1940’s: High Speed photography by Harold Edgerton

1946: First photograph from space

1949-56: Photographic survey of the sky

1985: Discovery of Titanic

1991: First digital still

2005: First digital trap photography

So that's the technology, How has it affected our society? Documentary then and now..

Consider these points....... Is our nation becoming Desensitised by the news? Are we too interested in other peoples devastation? Would we want people to take photos/footage of our final moments? Would you photograph of record these significant events if you were in that situation?

Watch this compilation of amateur and news footage from the September 11th terrorist attacks. Think about these discussion points..... Do you feel uncomfortable watching the footage? Do you think that we need to know about these events around the world? If you had a camera in your hand and were in New York on that day, what battles would you have to overcome if any? What is your opinion of this event? What would your opinion of this event be without any visual evidence of it? Should money be exchanged for these images? Where can you see documentary reportage in 5-10 years time?