The Genius of Photography Part I

This term our ITAP lectures consisted of a series of documentaries about both photography and moving-image. At the end of each one we asked to complete several tasks related to each of the documentaries.


T1: What is photography’s “true genius”?

Photography’s “true genius” is it’s ability to show the secret strangeness that lies behind the world of appearances.


T2: Name a proto-photographer.

One of the first proto-photographers was Henry Fox Talbot.


T3: In the 19th century, what term was associated with the daguerreotype?

The daguerreotype was also called a mirror with a memory.


T4: What is the vernacular?

The vernacular is a genre of photography that has other purposes than art (journalistic, medical, scientific, etc).


T5: How do you “Fix the shadows”?

“Fixing the shadows” meant stopping the image from exposing by using a certain chemistry.


T6: What is the “carte de visite”?

“The carte de visite” was a type of photography that meant taking 8 different pictures of a person in rapid sequence that were later used to promote certain businesses throughout the world.


T7: Who was Nadar and why was he so successful?

Nadar was a French-19th century photographer, famous for his authentic and natural portraits of celebrities.


T8: What is pictorialism?

Pictorialism was an artistic current characterised by carefully constructed images that resembled paintings and were against candid photography.

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