Fixing the Shadows

Sarah Bernhardt by Nadar

"Fixing The Shadows" is an insightful and interesting documentary that tells the story of the history of photography.

There were many things in the documentary I found interesting, such as:

* Photography as we know it was first invented in 1839.

*In 1802, People could take photographs, but the photo's only lasted for a couple of seconds.

*Even in its beginnings, photography was more of a commercial industry than an art form.

*Nadar was the first photographer to convey personality in the subject's stature, whereas his peers mostly used objects to signify their subjects occupation, for example writers were depicted holding pens, etc.

*Eastman, the founder of the Kodak camera company, invented rolls of film.

*A frenchman, Jacques-Henri-Latine was hailed as a photography genius but was in fact an amateur with no training, exclusively using his own talent.

*Latine stood out because he took more casual photo's, whereas his peers took more serious photos.