SAN CLEMENTE PHOTO PRINTING - CANVAS PRINTING - LARGE PHOTO PRINTING - PORTRAIT STUDIOS - PHOTO RESTORATION, (949)388-9412, Laguna Niguel, Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano, Digital Imaging, Fine Art Printing, Digital Photo Services, Video Conversion, Memorial Pictures, Same Day Professional Head Shots, Individual Portraits, Family Portraits, Photo Lab, Passports

Wall arts are being used today to decorate a blank wall space. Wall arts are a great alternative to ordinary wall papers since they add a certain feel and look to the room of your choice. Through canvas printing, a finely made wall art can be made as the centerpiece of any decoration and it can also be the topic of discussion – if not the star of your show.

There are other substrates available when you print your materials and use it as wall art. However, there is one material that is very capable of bringing out the best out of your prints – canvas. Yes, canvas printing is predominantly used when you are printing art and not often used when you print materials. However, due to the fact that canvas is used mainly in paintings, it will make your prints look like authentic paintings rather than being dismissed as simple copies.

Canvas printing also gives you a different feel to your walls whatever your tastes maybe. They are very versatile and you can mold them into any of your needs. They can be the stars of the show or they can be the used as complimentary materials to existing designs. Any other way, your canvas prints are perfect for any single purpose that you are thinking about. The themes that you can think about is endless and the subject matter for your canvas prints are varied. You can use different designs and design inspirations in your canvas prints and you will never go wrong with them.

Some of the more popular designs that are macro designs (designs that are about things painted, sketched or photographed at very close range), flowers, animals and geometric figures. There is also a recent trend that is developing today known as giclee printing. This is the reproduction of fine art through canvas and digital ink jet printing.

Going more into the reproduction of fine art in canvass, giclee printing presents itself as a very nice option for young artists when they want their prints reproduced. Giclee printing, with the help of digital inkjet printing, makes it affordable to reproduce copies of their original artworks. Many artists can now send samples to art museums or even sell copies of their work at a very low price.

Not only that, giclee printing also helps museums in the storage and handling of fine art. Now copies can be reproduced for showcases or for marketing purposes. They can sell the copies in their souvenir shops and they can even use copies of the original as displays when they need to cure or treat the original. The use of copies will significantly make the original fine art prints last longer and the maintenance of these prints a lot easier.

With all that said, even regular people who want to try out wall art can benefit from this service since you can use copies of original art pieces as your own personal wall paper. Not only will the surroundings of your house change, but the sophistication and taste levels of your aesthetics will definitely be on display.

The Basics of Digital Images

An image,of course,is any visua representation. Still images, such as photographs and drawings, capture a single, visual moment in time; while moving and video images, such as television and movies, are able to capture entire periods of time.

A digital image is simply an image that can be represented in a computer's numeric,or digital, language. A digital image is composed of millions of tiny dots called pixels. If you look closely at a computer monitor, you can probably see these tiny dots at the edges of curved images, such as letters, for example. These pixels can be displayed as any one of several million colors, and when all of the pixels are placed in the right order, they form an image.

The proper ordering and coloring of these pixels is often stored in a file on a computer. Image file types--such as GIF, JPG, BMP, EPS and others--simply use a slightly different technique for describing the proper order and color of the pixels that comprise a givenimage. Videos--which are a series of still images--are stored in formats that can support information for a soundtrack that goes with the video.

Image files are saved using different formats. For still images alone there are nearly 100 different file formats. Each format offers its own compression technique and image quality for a variety of practical applications. Here are the most common file formats for still images and a brief description of their common use.

To enable the sharing of such a photo, one solution is to compress the photographic data (data that represents the photo), meaning rearranging the data and reducing the number of colors in the photo so that the data takes up less space. This technique is used by the Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) file format.

Although the GIF image appears less detailed than the original raw photo--a result of the compression and reduction in color--the GIF image takes up only 68,000 bytes of storage. This size is a reasonable size for sharing the photo. To enable file sharing of a more detailed image, the developers of the JPEG format came up with a more sophisticated way of compressing data. They realized that the human eye cannot distinguish every possible shade of color or every detail; thus, they developed a
technique that reduces a photo's colors and complexity without the appearance of having done so. In other words, the only data
eliminated in the JPEG technique is data that your eye would not process. The image below shows an example. As you can see, this photo is much more lifelike than the GIF version, and it takes up less storage space. Digital images play a very important role in designing websites, choosing right format enables users to view your website fast. Learn more about digital images and creating websites.

Are You Looking To Convert Your Old Movies To DVD Format?

With all the incredible technologies readily available to us, long gone are the old ways of storing our family movies and films! Nowadays you can quickly and easily get your important movies transferred to DVD format and it will make all your movies look even better quality wise! The equipment used will give your film a high resolution digital transfer with incredible results!

The transferring process is a smart and practical choice to make. I think by now we all know how much DVDs are superior to video tapes and film which can deteriorate with time. DVDs are much more reliable not to mention easier to store.

Another amazing attribute to this sort of technology is that you can actually add your favorite music to play along with the movie. For example, if the film was made back in the Otis Redding days you can have his music playing in the background or any other music you like for that matter. These businesses also allow you to make requests for special effects that match the mood on the film.

Starting right now, go through all your old film and videos tapes and make notes on which ones you want to begin transferring first! Maybe you have a birthday or anniversary coming up and you want to give the guest of honor one of these DVDs, this would make a terrific gift that will last for many many years!

More often than not the places that offer these types of services in your area are more readily available online. Even if you take it to a local business, there's a big possibility that the "job" is sent out to the same business you will find online. Just be extra careful in making sure you choose a well-known company with good reviews which uses high quality transfer units.

Upon visiting some of these sites online you will also find an array of prices, you do not need to spend a large amount of money to get great quality, just do a little research and you will ultimately find a business that fits your budget plus your expectations. There are some companies out there that will make your film look better than you ever imagined. So don't risk losing your precious moments when you can simply get them restored and transferred, if you use these services you will not regret it especially years from now when you pull out your DVDs to share with your future generation and they can enjoy a few laughs.

Poster Printing: The Materials and the Message

When you need to fit your advertising campaign into tight places and tough spaces, poster printing may be your biggest bang for the buck. Posters will fit just about anywhere so long as your posters are designed with the right materials and have the right advertising message. If you mess up either of these important aspects of poster printing, you end up with a poster campaign that will ultimately be ineffective.

Poster printing: material selection
Depending on your needs, paper can make or break your poster printing campaign. If you put your posters outside, lightweight glossy paper may fall apart quickly when exposed to wind and rain. Instead, consider cardboard stock or heavyweight matte finish poster printing for those outside advertising campaigns. On the other hand, poster printing for indoor campaigns may require lighter weight papers with a glossy finish. Just make sure you think through the environment in which your posters will have to survive and choose the right materials accordingly.

Poster printing: message selection
Keep the standard layout principles in mind when designing your poster printing campaign. People see pictures first, then captions and headlines, then small print. Grab their attention with a bright, colorful picture with bold captions. Follow this with headlines over any smaller copy you wish to include. This basic layout is guaranteed to work every time. The modern consumer is very familiar with this layout and will generally respond.

Material and message selection are two primary considerations for poster printing campaigns. The right material with the wrong message, or the wrong material with the right message: either scenario means your campaign ends up being ineffective.

ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY

Photography is the process and art of recording pictures by means of capturing light on a light-sensitive medium, such as a film or an electronic sensor. Light patterns reflected or emitted from objects expose a sensitive silver halide based chemical or electronic medium during a timed exposure, usually through a photographic lens in a device known as a camera that also stores the resulting information chemically or electronically. Photography has many uses for business, science, art and pleasure.

The word "photography" comes from the French photographie which is based on the Greek φώς (phos) "light" + γραφίς (graphis) "stylus", "paintbrush" or γραφή (graphê) "representation by means of lines" or "drawing", together meaning "drawing with light." Traditionally, the product of photography has been called a photograph, commonly shortened to photo.

Photographic cameras

The camera or camera obscura is the image-forming device, and photographic film or a silicon electronic image sensor is the sensing medium. The respective recording medium can be the film itself, or a digital electronic or magnetic memory.

Photographers control the camera and lens to "expose" the light recording material (such as film) to the required amount of light to form a "latent image" (on film) or "raw file" (in digital cameras) which, after appropriate processing, is converted to a usable image. Digital cameras replace film with an electronic image sensor based on light-sensitive electronics such as charge-coupled device (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology. The resulting digital image is stored electronically, but can be reproduced on paper or film.

In all but certain specialized cameras, the process of obtaining a usable exposure must involve the use, manually or automatically, of a few controls to ensure the photograph is clear, sharp and well illuminated. The controls usually include but are not limited to the following:

* Focus - the adjustment to place the sharpest focus where it is desired on the subject.
* Aperture – adjustment of the iris, measured as f-number, which controls the amount of light passing through the lens. Aperture also has an effect on focus and depth of field, namely, the smaller the opening , the less light but the greater the depth of field--that is, the greater the range within which objects appear to be sharply focused. The current focal length divided by the f-number gives the actual aperture size in millimeters.
* Shutter speed – adjustment of the speed (often expressed either as fractions of seconds or as an angle, with mechanical shutters) of the shutter to control the amount of time during which the imaging medium is exposed to light for each exposure. Shutter speed may be used to control the amount of light striking the image plane; 'faster' shutter speeds (that is, those of shorter duration) decrease both the amount of light and the amount of image blurring from motion of the subject and/or camera.
* White balance – on digital cameras, electronic compensation for the color temperature associated with a given set of lighting conditions, ensuring that white light is registered as such on the imaging chip and therefore that the colors in the frame will appear natural. On mechanical, film-based cameras, this function is served by the operator's choice of film stock. In addition to using white balance to register natural coloration of the image, photographers may employ white balance to aesthetic end, for example white balancing to a blue object in order to obtain a warm color temperature.

* Metering – measurement of exposure so that highlights and shadows are exposed according to the photographer's wishes. Many modern cameras meter and set exposure automatically. Before automatic exposure, correct exposure was accomplished with the use of a separate light metering device or by the photographer's knowledge and experience of gauging correct settings. To translate the amount of light into a usable aperture and shutter speed, the meter needs to adjust for the sensitivity of the film or sensor to light. This is done by setting the "film speed" or ISO sensitivity into the meter.
* ISO speed – traditionally used to "tell the camera" the film speed of the selected film on film cameras, ISO speeds are employed on modern digital cameras as an indication of the system's gain from light to numerical output and to control the automatic exposure system. A correct combination of ISO speed, aperture, and shutter speed leads to an image that is neither too dark nor too light.
* Auto-focus point – on some cameras, the selection of a point in the imaging frame upon which the auto-focus system will attempt to focus. Many Single-lens reflex cameras (SLR) feature multiple auto-focus points in the viewfinder.

Many other elements of the imaging device itself may have a pronounced effect on the quality and/or aesthetic effect of a given photograph; among them are:

* Focal length and type of lens (telephoto or "long" lens, macro, wide angle, fisheye, or zoom)
* Filters placed between the subject and the light recording material, either in front of or behind the lens
* Inherent sensitivity of the medium to light intensity and color/wavelengths.
* The nature of the light recording material, for example its resolution as measured in pixels or grains of silver halide.

Camera controls are inter-related. The total amount of light reaching the film plane (the "exposure") changes with the duration of exposure, aperture of the lens, and, the effective focal length of the lens (which in variable focal length lenses, can change as the lens is zoomed). Changing any of these controls can alter the exposure. Many cameras may be set to adjust most or all of these controls automatically. This automatic functionality is useful for occasional photographers in many situations.

The duration of an exposure is referred to as shutter speed, often even in cameras that don't have a physical shutter, and is typically measured in fractions of a second. Aperture is expressed by an f-number or f-stop (derived from focal ratio), which is proportional to the ratio of the focal length to the diameter of the aperture. If the f-number is decreased by a factor of \sqrt 2, the aperture diameter is increased by the same factor, and its area is increased by a factor of 2. The f-stops that might be found on a typical lens include 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22, 32, where going up "one stop" (using lower f-stop numbers) doubles the amount of light reaching the film, and stopping down one stop halves the amount of light.

Exposures can be achieved through various combinations of shutter speed and aperture. For example, f/8 at 8 ms (=1/125th of a second) and f/5.6 at 4 ms (=1/250th of a second) yield the same amount of light. The chosen combination has an impact on the final result. In addition to the subject or camera movement that might vary depending on the shutter speed, the aperture (and focal length of the lens) determine the depth of field, which refers to the range of distances from the lens that will be in focus. For example, using a long lens and a large aperture (f/2.8, for example), a subject's eyes might be in sharp focus, but not the tip of the nose. With a smaller aperture (f/22), or a shorter lens, both the subject's eyes and nose can be in focus. With very small apertures, such as pinholes, a wide range of distance can be brought into focus.

Image capture is only part of the image forming process. Regardless of material, some process must be employed to render the latent image captured by the camera into the final photographic work. This process consists of two steps, development and printing.

During the printing process, modifications can be made to the print by several controls. Many of these controls are similar to controls during image capture, while some are exclusive to the printing process. Most controls have equivalent digital concepts, but some create different effects. For example, dodging and burning controls are different between digital and film processes. Other printing modifications include:

* Chemicals and process used during film development
* Duration of exposure – equivalent to shutter speed
* Printing aperture – equivalent to aperture, but has no effect on depth of field
* Contrast
* Dodging – reduces exposure of certain print areas, resulting in lighter areas
* Burning – increases exposure of certain areas, resulting in darker areas
* Paper texture – glossy, matte, etc
* Paper type – resin-coated (RC) or fiber-based (FB)
* Paper size
* Toners – used to add warm or cold tones to black and white prints

Photography gained the interest of many scientists and artists from its inception. Scientists have used photography to record and study movements, such as Eadweard Muybridge's study of human and animal locomotion in 1887. Artists are equally interested by these aspects but also try to explore avenues other than the photo-mechanical representation of reality, such as the pictorialist movement. Military, police, and security forces use photography for surveillance, recognition and data storage. Photography is used to preserve memories of favorite times, to capture special moments, to tell stories, to send messages, and as a source of entertainment.

Commercial advertising relies heavily on photography and has contributed greatly to its development.

History of photography

Photography is the result of combining several technical discoveries. Long before the first photographs were made, Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) (965–1040) invented the camera obscura and pinhole camera, Albertus Magnus (1193–1280) discovered silver nitrate, and Georges Fabricius (1516–1571) discovered silver chloride. Daniel Barbaro described a diaphragm in 1568. Wilhelm Homberg described how light darkened some chemicals (photochemical effect) in 1694. The fiction book Giphantie, by French author Tiphaigne de la Roche, described what can be interpreted as photography.

Photography as a usable process goes back to the 1820s with the development of chemical photography. The first permanent photograph was an image produced in 1826 by the French inventor Nicéphore Niépce. However, the picture took eight hours to expose, so he went about trying to find a new process. Working in conjunction with Louis Daguerre, they experimented with silver compounds based on a Johann Heinrich Schultz discovery in 1724 that a silver and chalk mixture darkens when exposed to light. Niépce died in 1833, but Daguerre continued the work, eventually culminating with the development of the daguerreotype in 1837. Eventually, France agreed to pay Daguerre a pension for his formula, in exchange for his promise to announce his discovery to the world as the gift of France, which he did in 1839.

Meanwhile, Hercules Florence had already created a very similar process in 1832, naming it Photographie, and William Fox Talbot had earlier discovered another means to fix a silver process image but had kept it secret. After reading about Daguerre's invention, Talbot refined his process so that it might be fast enough to take photographs of people. By 1840, Talbot had invented the calotype process, which creates negative images. John Herschel made many contributions to the new methods. He invented the cyanotype process, now familiar as the "blueprint". He was the first to use the terms "photography", "negative" and "positive". He discovered sodium thiosulphate solution to be a solvent of silver halides in 1819, and informed Talbot and Daguerre of his discovery in 1839 that it could be used to "fix" pictures and make them permanent. He made the first glass negative in late 1839.

In March 1851, Frederick Scott Archer published his findings in "The Chemist" on the wet plate collodion process. This became the most widely used process between 1852 and the late 1880s when the dry plate was introduced. There are three subsets to the Collodion process; the Ambrotype (positive image on glass), the Ferrotype or Tintype (positive image on metal) and the negative which was printed on Albumen or Salt paper.

Many advances in photographic glass plates and printing were made in through the nineteenth century. In 1884, George Eastman developed the technology of film to replace photographic plates, leading to the technology used by film cameras today.

In 1908 Gabriel Lippmann won the Nobel Laureate in Physics for his method of reproducing colours photographically based on the phenomenon of interference, also known as the Lippmann plate.

Photography types

Black-and-white photography

All photography was originally monochrome, most of these photographs were black-and-white. Even after color film was readily available, black-and-white photography continued to dominate for decades, due to its lower cost and its "classic" photographic look. It is important to note that some monochromatic pictures are not always pure blacks and whites, but also contain other hues depending on the process. The Cyanotype process produces an image of blue and white for example. The albumen process which was used more than 150 years ago had brown tones.

Many photographers continue to produce some monochrome images. Some full color digital images are processed using a variety of techniques to create black and whites, and some cameras have even been produced to exclusively shoot monochrome.

Color photography

Color photography was explored beginning in the mid 1800s. Early experiments in color could not fix the photograph and prevent the color from fading. The first permanent color photo was taken in 1861 by the physicist James Clerk Maxwell.

One of the early methods of taking color photos was to use three cameras. Each camera would have a color filter in front of the lens. This technique provides the photographer with the three basic channels required to recreate a color image in a darkroom or processing plant. Russian photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii developed another technique, with three color plates taken in quick succession.

Practical application of the technique was held back by the very limited color response of early film; however, in the early 1900s, following the work of photo-chemists such as H. W. Vogel, emulsions with adequate sensitivity to green and red light at last became available.

The first color plate, Autochrome, invented by the French Lumière brothers, reached the market in 1907. It was based on a 'screen-plate' filter made of dyed dots of potato starch, and was the only color film on the market until German Agfa introduced the similar Agfacolor in 1932. In 1935, American Kodak introduced the first modern ('integrated tri-pack') color film, Kodachrome, based on three colored emulsions. This was followed in 1936 by Agfa's Agfacolor Neue. Unlike the Kodachrome tri-pack process, the color couplers in Agfacolor Neue were integral with the emulsion layers, which greatly simplified the film processing. Most modern color films, except Kodachrome, are based on the Agfacolor Neue technology. Instant color film was introduced by Polaroid in 1963.

Color photography may form images as a positive transparency, intended for use in a slide projector or as color negatives, intended for use in creating positive color enlargements on specially coated paper. The latter is now the most common form of film (non-digital) color photography owing to the introduction of automated photoprinting equipment.

Full-spectrum, ultraviolet and infrared photography

Ultraviolet and infrared films have been available for many decades and employed in a variety of photographic avenues since the 1960s. New technological trends in digital photography have opened a new direction in full spectrum photography, where careful filtering choices across the ultraviolet, visible and infrared lead to new artistic visions.

Modified digital cameras can detect some ultraviolet, all of the visible and much of the near infrared spectrum, as most digital imaging sensors are sensitive from about 350nm to 1000nm. An off-the-shelf digital camera contains an infrared hot mirror filter that blocks most of the infrared and a bit of the ultraviolet that would otherwise be detected by the sensor, narrowing the accepted range from about 400nm to 700nm. Replacing a hot mirror or infrared blocking filter with an infrared pass or a wide spectrally transmitting filter allows the camera to detect the wider spectrum light at greater sensitivity. Without the hot-mirror, the red, green and blue (or cyan, yellow and magenta) colored micro-filters placed over the sensor elements pass varying amounts of ultraviolet (blue window) and infrared (primarily red, and somewhat lesser the green and blue micro-filters).

Uses of full spectrum photography are for fine art photography, geology, forensics & law enforcement, and even some claimed use in ghost hunting.

Digital photography

Traditional photography burdened photographers working at remote locations without easy access to processing facilities, and competition from television pressured photographers to deliver images to newspapers with greater speed. Photo journalists at remote locations often carried miniature photo labs and a means of transmitting images through telephone lines. In 1981, Sony unveiled the first consumer camera to use a charge-coupled device for imaging, eliminating the need for film: the Sony Mavica. While the Mavica saved images to disk, the images were displayed on television, and the camera was not fully digital. In 1990, Kodak unveiled the DCS 100, the first commercially available digital camera. Although its high cost precluded uses other than photojournalism and professional photography, commercial digital photography was born.

Digital imaging uses an electronic image sensor to record the image as a set of electronic data rather than as chemical changes on film. The primary difference between digital and chemical photography is that chemical photography resists manipulation because it involves film and photographic paper, while digital imaging is a highly manipulative medium. This difference allows for a degree of image post-processing that is comparatively difficult in film-based photography and permits different communicative potentials and applications.

Digital point-and-shoot cameras have become widespread consumer products, outselling film cameras, and including new features such as video and audio recording. Kodak announced in January 2004 that it would no longer sell reloadable 35 mm cameras in western Europe, Canada and the United States after the end of that year. Kodak was at that time a minor player in the reloadable film cameras market. In January 2006, Nikon followed suit and announced that they will stop the production of all but two models of their film cameras: the low-end Nikon FM10, and the high-end Nikon F6. On May 25, 2006, Canon announced they will stop developing new film SLR cameras.

Though most new camera designs are now digital, a new 6*6cm/6*7cm medium format film camera was introduced in 2008 in a cooperation between Fuji and Voigtländer.

According to a survey made by Kodak in 2007, 75 percent of professional photographers say they will continue to use film, even though some embrace digital.

According to the U.S. survey results, more than two-thirds (68 percent) of professional photographers prefer the results of film to those of digital for certain applications including:

* film’s superiority in capturing more information on medium and large format films (48 percent);
* creating a traditional photographic look (48 percent);
* capturing shadow and highlighting details (45 percent);
* the wide exposure latitude of film (42 percent); and
* archival storage (38 percent)

Because photography is popularly synonymous with truth ("The camera doesn't lie."), digital imaging has raised many ethical concerns. Many photojournalists have declared they will not crop their pictures, or are forbidden from combining elements of multiple photos to make "illustrations," passing them as real photographs. Many courts will not accept digital images as evidence because of their inherently manipulative nature and they could be completely fake, do they only take solid evidence. Today's technology has made picture editing relatively simple for even the novice photographer.

Recent changes of in-camera processing allows digital fingerprinting of RAW photos to verify against tampering of digital photos for forensics use.

Photography styles

Commercial photography

Commercial photography is probably best defined as any photography to which money exchanges hands. In this light money could be paid for the subject of the photograph or the photograph itself. Wholesale, retail, and professional uses of photography would fall under this definition. The commercial photographic world could include:

* Advertising photography: photographs made to illustrate and usually sell a service or product. These images are generally done with an advertising agency, design firm or with an in-house corporate design team.
* Fashion and glamour photography: This type of photography usually incorporates models. Fashion photography emphasizes the clothes or product, glamour emphasizes the model. Glamour photography is popular in advertising and in men's magazines. Models in glamour photography may be nude, but this is not always the case.
* Crime Scene Photography: This type of photography consists of photographing scenes of crime such as robberies and murders. A black and white camera or an infrared camera may be used to capture specific details.
* Still life photography usually depicts inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural or man-made.
* Food photography can be used for editorial, packaging or advertising use. Food photography is similar to still life photography, but requires some special skills.
* Editorial photography: photographs made to illustrate a story or idea within the context of a magazine. These are usually assigned by the magazine.
* Photojournalism: this can be considered a subset of editorial photography. Photographs made in this context are accepted as a documentation of a news story.
* Portrait and wedding photography: photographs made and sold directly to the end user of the images.
* Landscape photography: photographs of different locations.
* Conceptual photography: Photography that turns a concept or idea into a photograph. Even though what is depicted in the photographs are real objects, the subject is strictly abstract.
* Wildlife photography that demonstrates life of the animals.
* Pornography: explicit depiction of sexual subject matter, especially with the sole intention of sexually exciting the viewer using a variety of media including photography. See History of erotic photography.
* Photo sharing: publishing or transfer of a user's digital photos online.

The market for photographic services demonstrates the aphorism "one picture is worth a thousand words," which has an interesting basis in the history of photography. Magazines and newspapers, companies putting up Web sites, advertising agencies and other groups pay for photography.

Many people take photographs for self-fulfillment or for commercial purposes. Organizations with a budget and a need for photography have several options: they can employ a photographer directly, organize a public competition, or obtain rights to stock photographs. Photo stock can be procured through traditional stock giants, such as Getty Images or Corbis; smaller microstock agencies, such as Fotolia; or web marketplaces, such as Cutcaster.

Photography as an art form

During the twentieth century, both fine art photography and documentary photography became accepted by the English-speaking art world and the gallery system. In the United States, a handful of photographers, including Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen, John Szarkowski, F. Holland Day, and Edward Weston, spent their lives advocating for photography as a fine art. At first, fine art photographers tried to imitate painting styles. This movement is called Pictorialism, often using soft focus for a dreamy, 'romantic' look. In reaction to that, Weston, Ansel Adams, and others formed the f/64 Group to advocate 'straight photography', the photograph as a (sharply focused) thing in itself and not an imitation of something else.

The aesthetics of photography is a matter that continues to be discussed regularly, especially in artistic circles. Many artists argued that photography was the mechanical reproduction of an image. If photography is authentically art, then photography in the context of art would need redefinition, such as determining what component of a photograph makes it beautiful to the viewer. The controversy began with the earliest images "written with light"; Nicéphore Niépce, Louis Daguerre, and others among the very earliest photographers were met with acclaim, but some questioned if their work met the definitions and purposes of art.

Clive Bell in his classic essay Art states that only "significant form" can distinguish art from what is not art.
“ There must be some one quality without which a work of art cannot exist; possessing which, in the least degree, no work is altogether worthless. What is this quality? What quality is shared by all objects that provoke our aesthetic emotions? What quality is common to Sta. Sophia and the windows at Chartres, Mexican sculpture, a Persian bowl, Chinese carpets, Giotto's frescoes at Padua, and the masterpieces of Poussin, Piero della Francesca, and Cezanne? Only one answer seems possible - significant form. In each, lines and colors combined in a particular way, certain forms and relations of forms, stir our aesthetic emotions. ”

On February 14th 2006 Sotheby’s London sold the 2001 photograph "99 Cent II Diptychon" for an unprecedented $3,346,456 to an anonymous bidder making it the most expensive of all time.

Technical photography

he camera has a long and distinguished history as a means of recording phenomena from the first use by Daguerre and Fox-Talbot, such as astronomical events (eclipses for example) and small creatures when the camera was attached to the eyepiece of microscopes (in photomicroscopy). The camera also proved useful in recording crime scenes and the scenes of accidents, one of the first applications being at the scene of the Tay Rail Bridge disaster of 1879. The court, just a few days after the accident, ordered James Valentine of Dundee to record the scene using both long distance shots and close-ups of the debris. The set of accident photographs was used in the subsequent court of inquiry so that witnesses could identify pieces of the wreckage, and the technique is now commonplace both at accident scenes and subsequent cases in courts of law. The set of over 50 Tay bridge photographs are of very high quality, being made on large plate cameras with a small aperture and using fine grain emulsion film on a glass plate. When scanned at high resolution, they can be enlarged to show details of the failed components such as broken cast iron lugs and the tie bars which failed to hold the towers in place. They show that the bridge was badly designed, badly built and badly maintained. The methods used in analysing old photographs are known as forensic photography.

Between 1846 and 1852 Charles Brooke invented a technology for the automatic registration of instruments by photography. These instruments included barometers, thermometers, psychrometers, and magnetometers, which recorded their readings by means of an automated photographic process.

Other photographic image forming techniques

Besides the camera, other methods of forming images with light are available. For instance, a photocopy or xerography machine forms permanent images but uses the transfer of static electrical charges rather than photographic film, hence the term electrophotography. Photograms are images produced by the shadows of objects cast on the photographic paper, without the use of a camera. Objects can also be placed directly on the glass of an image scanner to produce digital pictures.

Social and Cultural Implications of Photography

There are many ongoing questions about different aspects of photography. In her writing “On Photography” (1977) Susan Sontag discusses concerns about the objectivity of photography. This is a highly debated subject within the photographic community (Bissell, 2000). It has been concluded that photography is a subjective discipline “to photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed. It means putting one’s self into a certain relation to the world that feels like knowledge, and therefore like power” (Sontag, 1977: p 4). Photographers decide what to take a photo of, what elements to exclude and what angle to frame the photo. Along with the context that a photograph is received in, photography is definitely a subjective form.

Modern photogrpahy has raised a number of concerns on its impact on society. The concept of the camera being a 'phallic' tool has been exemplified in a number of Hollywood productions. In Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window (1954), the camera is presented as a promoter of voyeuristic inhibitions. 'Although the camera is an observation station, the act of photographing is more than passive observing' . Michal Powell's Peeping Tom (1960) portrays the camera as both sexual and sadistically violent technology that literally kills in this picture and at the same time captures images of the pain and anguish evident on the faces of the female victims.

"The camera doesn't rape or even possess, though it may presume, intrude, trespass, distort, exploit, and, at the farthest reach of metaphor, assasinate- all activities that, unike the sexual push and shove, can be conducted from a distance, and with some detachment"

Photography is one of the new media forms that changes perception and changes the structure of society (Levinson, 1997). Further unease has been caused around cameras in regards to desensitization. Fears that disturbing or explicit images are widely accessible to children and society at large have been raised. Particularly, photos of war and pornography are causing a stir. (Sontag). Sontag is concerned that “to photograph is to turn people into objects that can be symbolically possessed”. Desensitization discussion goes hand in hand with debates about censored images. Sontag writes of her concern that the ability to censor pictures means the photographer has the ability to construct reality.

San Clemente, California

San Clemente is a city in Orange County, California, United States. As of 2005, the city population was 65,900. Located six miles (10 km) south of San Juan Capistrano at the southern tip of the county, it is roughly equidistant from San Diego and Los Angeles. The north entrance to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton (known as the "Christianitos Gate") is located in San Clemente.

Prior to the arrival of the Spanish, the area was inhabited by what came to be known as the Juaneño Indians. Long admired by explorers and passing settlers, it remained virtually uninhabited until 1776, when Mission San Juan Capistrano was established by Father Junipero Serra and led both Indian and Spanish settlers to set up villages nearby. After the founding of Mission San Juan Capistrano, the local natives were conscripted to work for the mission.

Property rights to the land exchanged hands several times, but few ventured to build on it until 1925, when former Mayor of Seattle, Ole Hanson purchased and designed a 2,000-acre (8.1 km2) community. Hanson believed that the area's pleasant climate, beautiful beaches and fertile soil would serve as a haven to Californians who were tired of "the big city". He named the city after San Clemente Island which was named by the explorer Vizcaino in 1602 after Saint Clement, the patron saint of November 23, the day of Vizcaino's arrival on the island.

Hanson envisioned it as a Spanish-style coastal resort town, a "Spanish Village by the Sea." In an unprecedented move, he had a clause added to the deeds requiring all building plans to be submitted to an architectural review board in an effort to ensure that future development would retain some Spanish-style influence (for example, for many years it was required that all new buildings in the downtown area have red tile roofs).

Hanson succeeded in promoting the new area and selling property to interested buyers. The city was to consist of buildings built in the classic Spanish style with red tile roofs. He built public structures such as the Beach Club, the Community Center, the pier and Max Berg Plaza Park, which were later donated to the city. The area was officially incorporated as a City on February 27, 1928 with a council-manager government.

Referring to the way he would develop the city, Hanson proclaimed, "I have a clean canvas and I am determined to paint a clean picture. Think of it - a canvas five miles long and one and one-half miles wide!"

Largest Historic Landmark in San Clemente: Soon after San Clemente ( The Spanish Village by the Sea) was incorporated, the need for a "Fire House" was realized. The headlines in San Clemente’s first newspaper, "El Heraldo de San Clemente" June, 1928 read: "Building to house local fire department will be constructed by popular subscription and turned over to the city when completed!" Individual subscriptions were received in the amounts from $6.00 to $1500.00 from the local citizenry.

In 1969, an event occurred which accelerated the growth and reputation of San Clemente. In that year President Richard Nixon purchased a Spanish mansion in the southern part of town that Hamilton Cotton had built in 1927. This "Western White House" became the site of numerous historical meetings. The Old City Plaza also at one time had a small Nixon museum inside when the city occupied the premises.

In 1968 President Richard Nixon bought the H. H. Cotton estate, one of the original homes built by one of Hanson's partners. Nixon called it "La Casa Pacifica," but it was nicknamed the "Western White House", a term now commonly used for a President's vacation home. It sits above one of the West Coast's premier surfing spots, Trestles, and just north of historic surfing beach San Onofre. During Nixon's tenure it was visited by many world leaders, including Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev, Mexican President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Prime Minister of Japan Eisaku Sato, and Henry Kissinger, as well as businessman Bebe Rebozo. Following his resignation, Nixon retired to San Clemente to write his memoirs. He later sold the home and moved to Park Ridge, New Jersey. The property also has historical ties to the Democratic side of the aisle; prior to Nixon's tenure at the estate, H.H. Cotton was known to host Franklin D. Roosevelt, who would visit to play cards in a small outbuilding overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

San Clemente is located at 33°26′16″N, 117°37′13″W (33.437828, -117.620397).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 47.6 km² (18.4 mi²). 45.6 km² (17.6 mi²) of it is land and 1.9 km² (0.7 mi²) of it (4.03%) is water.

Interstate 5 runs through San Clemente. The Foothill Transportation Corridor has proposed to connect Mission Viejo to the Orange/San Diego county line and proposes to run along the east side of San Clemente and through San Onofre State Beach on its way to I-5. The California Coastal Commission recently soundly rejected this proposal by an 8-2 vote. Reasons cited for rejection included, the road's alignment through a state park, endangered species habitat, native American archeological site and the runoff from the road damaging the state park and surf break.

At the south end of town is located Camp Pendleton and Trestles surf beach, which many residents and the California Costal Commission state will be destroyed by construction of the above mentioned Foothill Transportation Corridor toll road. The proposed toll road will run through San Onofre State Park.

Additionally, the city is served by numerous daily trains operated by Amtrak and Metrolink between Los Angeles and San Diego.

As of the city's 2005 census, there were 65,900 people and 25,514 housing units in the city.

The last Federal census statistics from the 2000 census showed that the population density was 1,094.2/km² (2,833.4/mi²). There were 20,653 housing units at an average density of 452.6/km² (1,171.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 87.92% White, 0.77% African American, 0.61% Native American, 2.64% Asian, 0.14% Pacific Islander, 5.11% from other races, and 2.81% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 15.89% of the population.

There were 19,395 households out of which 30.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.6% were married couples living together, 7.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.9% were non-families. 23.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.05.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.1% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 31.5% from 25 to 44, 24.1% from 45 to 64, and 13.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 102.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $63,507, and the median income for a family was $76,261. Males had a median income of $51,551 versus $36,528 for females. The per capita income for the city was $34,169. About 4.6% of families and 7.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.6% of those under age 18 and 3.2% of those age 65 or over.

San Clemente catches swells all year long. Going from South to North, they include Trestles (technically just south of the city line), North Gate, State Park, Riviera, Lasuen, The Hole, Beach House, T-Street, The Pier, 204, North Beach, and Poche.

San Clemente is also the surfing media capital of the world as well as a premier surfing destination. It is home to Surfing Magazine, The Surfer's Journal, and Longboard Magazine, with Surfer Magazine just up the freeway in San Juan Capistrano.

The city has a large concentration of surfboard shapers and manufacturers. Additionally, many world renowned surfers were raised in San Clemente or took up long-term residence in town, including Shane Beschen, Mike Parsons (originally from Laguna Beach), Stephanie Patzin, Paolo Pandolfi, and many others.

San Clemente High School has won 6 out of 7 most recent NSSA national surfing titles.One title was won by Capistrano Connections Academy.

Of the 32,569 registered voters in the city, 18,320 (56.2%) are Republicans, 7,532 (23.1%) are Democrats, 5,132 (15.8%) declined to state political affiliation, and the remaining 1,585 (4.9%) are registered with a minor party.

In the state legislature San Clemente is located in the 38th Senate District, represented by Republican Mark Wyland, and in the 73rd Assembly District, represented by Republican Mimi Walters. Federally, San Clemente is located in California's 44th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of R +6] and is represented by Republican Ken Calvert.

Within the city, there are six elementary schools, three middle schools, and one high school. There is also one virtual public K-12 school: Capistrano Connections Academy with flexible hours for students. The elementary schools are: Concordia Elementary; Truman Benedict; Vista Del Mar; Las Palmas; Marblehead Elementary; and Lobo Elementary. The middle schools are Bernice Ayer, Shorecliffs, and Vista Del Mar.

San Clemente High School is ranked the top 1.3% of schools nationwide. San Clemente also has an IB (International Baccalaureate) Program and a large number of advanced placement courses. The music program boasts a nationally recognized Vocal Arts Program with award-winning Madrigals, Women's Ensemble, and A Cappella choirs.

San Clemente is the setting of the MTV reality show, Life of Ryan. It was also the setting of the 2005 movie Brick. The town was chosen because it was particularly close to the director Rian Johnson who lived there and went to San Clemente High School, which was the school depicted in the film. Many of the locations in the film are still identical to the real ones, with the exception of the Pin's house which was flattened a week after exterior shooting; the interior was constructed in a local warehouse. The phonebooths that were used all through the film are mostly props that were placed on location.

Dana Point, California

History

Dana Point

In 1923, Los Angeles Times publisher Harry Chandler and General M.H. Sherman, Director of the Pacific Electric Railway Company, created a major real estate group to develop what is known today as the Hollywood Hills, Sidney H. Woodruff, already a prominent Los Angeles homebuilder, was hired to lead the project. In 1926, Woodruff, Chandler, and Sherman created the Dana Point Syndicate. They invited other heavy hitters, company presidents, movie producers, and real estate investors, to join them in purchasing 1,388 acres (5.62 km2) of land, some of which includes the Headlands of today. Promising tree-lined, paved streets, electricity, telephones, sidewalks, water mains, storm drains, sewers, and other amenities, Woodruff built 35 homes and a number of commercial buildings. His crowning structure was to be the Dana Point Inn, a Mediterranean-like resort hotel. After a celebratory groundbreaking in 1930, a three-story foundation was poured and a 135-foot (41 m) elevator shaft was dug. Unfortunately, the Depression caused construction to halt. Although Woodruff continuously sought financial support through the years, this project was abandoned in 1939. Subsequently, he sold the remaining holdings of the Dana Point Syndicate. Thirty-four of the original Woodruff residences are still occupied.

Capistrano Beach

In 1928, a corporate entity of the American industrial giant Edward Doheny, who had built his fortune in oil production in Southern California and Mexico, purchased a number of lots in Capistrano Beach. Doheny's son, Ned, formed a development company, the Capistrano Beach Company, which included his wife's twin brothers, Clark and Warren Smith and Luther Eldridge, a contractor, to build a community of Spanish style houses. According to Dana Point historians Baum and Burnes,* Eldridge favored two dominant characteristics in his homes, a typically Spanish roof line and the use of large ceiling beams in the houses' main rooms. The roofline, covered with red ceramic tiles, incorporated a low-pitched gable, spreading out to one short and one long roof. The ceiling beams were stenciled artwork painted by artist Alex Meston. Eldridge was able to complete the original Doheny family house on the bluffs, four houses on the beach, and 18 other homes scattered throughout the area before tragedy struck the ambitious project. Edward Doheny was preparing for his criminal trial for bribery in the Teapot Dome Scandal, and on February 16, 1929, Ned Doheny and, Hugh Plunkett, his friend and secretary, who were to testify in the trial, were killed in a murder that still remains unsolved. In 1931, as a memorial to Ned, Petroleum Securities Company, Doheny's family-owned business, made a gift of 41.4 acres (168,000 m2) to the State of California, which is now Doheny State Park. The unimproved Capistrano Beach properties passed back to Edward Doheny, and, upon his death in 1935, to his wife and heirs. By 1944, all of the properties had been sold to private parties.

The Doheny family also funded the building of the what was then called St. Edward's Chapel in Capistrano Beach. The Chapel soon grew, received canonical status as a parish, and moved to its current bluff-top location in Dana Point, overlooking Doheny State Beach.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 76.2 km² (29.4 mi²). 17.2 km² (6.6 mi²) of it is land and 59.1 km² (22.8 mi²) of it (77.45%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 35,110 people, 14,456 households, and 9,280 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,041.6/km² (5,290.1/mi²). There were 15,682 housing units at an average density of 911.9/km² (2,362.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 87.25% White, 0.82% Black or African American, 0.57% Native American, 2.52% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 5.92% from other races, and 2.81% from two or more races. 15.49% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 14,456 households out of which 26.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.4% were married couples living together, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.8% were non-families. 26.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.90.

In the city the population was spread out with 20.6% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 31.4% from 25 to 44, 28.0% from 45 to 64, and 13.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 100.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $63,043, and the median income for a family was $73,373. Males had a median income of $52,159 versus $38,902 for females. The per capita income for the city was $37,938. About 3.4% of families and 6.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.8% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.

Annual cultural events

The Tall Ships Festival is held in September. It is considered the largest annual gathering of its kind on the West Coast of the United States.

Government

In the state legislature Dana Point is located in the 35th Senate District, represented by Republican Tom Harman, and in the 73rd Assembly District, represented by Republican Mimi Walters. Federally, Dana Point is located in California's 48th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of R +8 and is represented by Republican John Campbell.

Education

The city is served by Capistrano Unified School District. It includes Dana Hills High School, one of the oldest in the area which opened in 1972.

Emergency services

Fire protection in Dana Point is provided by the Orange County Fire Authority with ambulance service by Doctor's Ambulance. Law enforcement is provided by the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Year round marine safety services are provided by U.S. Ocean Safety Lifeguards on county beaches and California State Lifeguards on state beaches.

Laguna Niguel, California

Laguna Niguel is a city located in southern Orange County, California. The name "Laguna Niguel" is derived from the Spanish word "Laguna" which means lagoon, and the word "Nigueli" which was the name of a Juaneño Indian village that was once located on Aliso Creek. The population was 61,891 at the 2000 census. The city was primarily built after 1980 as an unincorporated master planned community located in the San Joaquin Hills near Laguna Beach. It borders Laguna Beach, Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano, Mission Viejo, Laguna Hills, and Aliso Viejo.

Geography

Laguna Niguel is located at 33°31′55″N, 117°42′9″W (33.531938, -117.702503).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 38.1 km² (14.7 mi²). 38.0 km² (14.7 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.41%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 61,891 people, 23,217 households, and 16,785 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,630.0/km² (4,221.0/mi²). There were 23,885 housing units at an average density of 629.1/km² (1,629.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 83.50% White, 1.25% African American, 0.29% Native American, 7.73% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander, 3.48% from other races, and 3.62% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 10.38% of the population.

There were 23,217 households out of which 38.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.2% were married couples living together, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.7% were non-families. 20.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.10.

In the city the population was spread out with 26.6% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 32.9% from 25 to 44, 25.7% from 45 to 64, and 8.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 94.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $80,733, and the median income for a family was $93,613. Males had a median income of $68,640 versus $40,487 for females. The per capita income for the city was $39,167. About 2.8% of families and 4.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.6% of those under age 18 and 4.1% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

In the state legislature Laguna Niguel is located in the 33rd Senate District, represented by Republican Dick Ackerman, and in the 73rd Assembly District, represented by Republican Mimi Walters. Federally, Laguna Niguel is located in California's 48th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of R +8and is represented by Republican John Campbell.

History

Laguna Niguel is located on what used to be the Mexican land grant of Juan Avila. When California became a United States territory in 1848, he had to legally battle to retain ownership of the land, which cost him significantly. He retained ownership until 1865, when a severe drought killed off most of his cattle.

Lewis Moulton, owner of the Moulton Company, bought the area of modern-day Laguna Niguel in 1895, along with significant other portions of the surrounding area from farmers that were hard pressed to earn a living due to a local drought in the area.

The Laguna Niguel Corporation, started by Cabot, Cabot, and Forbes from Boston in 1959, made it one of the first master planned communities in California. Victor Gruen, a Vienna architect, and Associates developed a community plan for 7,100 acres (29 km2). The Avco Community Developer in 1969 continued the plan, which by then held 6,500 residents.

The construction of the San Diego, I-5, Freeway in 1959 allowed more people to arrive. The first communities developed in Laguna Niguel were right along the coast, touching the southern border of Laguna Beach. These communities were called Monarch Bay and the Monarch Bay Terrace built between 1960 and 1962.

In 1973, Laguna Niguel Regional Park opened, and in 1974 a one-million square-foot ziggurat building was given to the United States government. These two projects constituted the largest ever in the city, up to present day.

On December 1, 1989, Laguna Niguel became an incorporated city in Orange County and became its 29th city.

Notable buildings

In 1971, a one-million square-foot ziggurat building, originally built for Rockwell International and presently owned by the United States government, was designed by Los Angeles-based architect William Pereira. The Chet Holifield Federal Building, as it is now known, is home to millions of microfilms as documents of land agreements between American and the original Indian Tribes of the southwest United States. It is also home to the Western Regional Department of Homeland Security and the California Service Center of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. The building is often mistaken for the Tyrell Corporation headquarters building seen in the movie Blade Runner.. The building, however, is present in the 1995 hit movie Outbreak, where the Chet Holifield Federal Building is fictionally portrayed as the Center for Disease Control headquarters. Earlier, the building was featured in an ending scene for the 1975 sci-fi movie Death Race 2000.

Education

Points of interest

ver one-third of Laguna Niguel is designated as open space. Major parks in Laguna Niguel include:

Neighborhoods

Laguna Niguel is home to many upscale neighborhoods including Bear Brand Ranch,Ocean Ranch, Coronado Pointe, South Peak, Crest de Ville, Palmilla, and Monarch Point, which offer city, canyon, and ocean views. Other major neighborhoods include Rancho Niguel, Marina Hills, Niguel West, Niguel Summit, Beacon Hill, El Niguel Heights, Kite Hill, and San Joaquin Hills.

Sister cities

San Juan Capistrano, California

San Juan Capistrano (pronounced in English and in Spanish) is a city in southern Orange County, California, USA, located approximately 23 miles (37 km) southeast of Downtown Santa Ana. The current OMB metropolitan designation for San Juan Capistrano and the Orange County Area is “Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA.” The population was 33,826 at the 2000 census. The city was created around Mission San Juan Capistrano, and many of the homes and strip malls resemble the Spanish architecture that compose the building. It is home to the widest variety of homes in Orange County, with 10 million dollar homes in the gated communities of the hills, homes built prior to 1900 in its central district — some being adobes from the 18th century — and working ranches in its foothills. San Juan Capistrano is probably best known for the annual migration of the Cliff Swallows, who reputedly migrate each year between Argentina and the Mission San Juan Capistrano.

Geography

San Juan Capistrano is located in south Orange County and is bisected by Interstate 5. [33°29′58″N, 117°39′42″W (33.499493, -117.661614).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 37.1 km² (14.3 mi²). 36.8 km² (14.2 mi²) of it is land and 0.4 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.98%) is water.

Demographics

s of the census of 2000, there were 33,826 people, 10,930 households, and 8,197 families residing in the city. The population density was 919.1/km² (2,381.2/mi²). There were 11,320 housing units at an average density of 307.6/km² (796.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 68.47% White, 0.78% African American, 1.07% Native American, 1.92% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 14.21% from other races, and 3.43% from two or more races. 43.13% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
Crossing in the city center

There were 10,930 households out of which 36.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.7% were married couples living together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.0% were non-families.19.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.06 and the average family size was 3.45.

In the city the population was spread out with 28.1% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 23.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 96.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $62,392, and the median income for a family was $69,481. Males had a median income of $47,574 versus $34,821 for females. The per capita income for the city was $29,926. About 6.6% of families and 10.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.5% of those under age 18 and 4.5% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

In the state legislature San Juan Capistrano is located in the 38th Senate District, represented by Republican Mark Wyland, and in the 73rd Assembly District, represented by Republican Mimi Walters. Federally, San Juan Capistrano is located in California's 44th and 48th congressional districts, which have Cook PVIs of R +6 and R +8 respectively and is represented by Republicans Ken Calvert and John Campbell respectively.

Historical notes

San Juan Capistrano is the site of a Catholic mission for which it is named, Mission San Juan Capistrano. When the Mission was founded in 1776, the region was populated by the Acjachemen band of Native Americans, called Juaneños by the Spanish. The mission was named after the Franciscan saint Giovanni da Capistrano (1386-1456).

The city is the site of California's oldest residential neighborhood, Los Rios. It is also the home of the oldest in use building in California, the Serra Chapel in the Mission. The area was the site of both the first vineyard and first winery in California.
The 85-foot (26 m) high main rotunda and 104-foot (32 m) bell tower make Mission Basilica San Juan Capistrano the tallest building in town. Designed "in the spirit and likeness" of the "Great Stone Church," which is in ruins in the Mission. Pope John Paul II conferred the rank of Minor Basilica to this facility on February 14, 2000.

In the 1830s Richard Henry Dana, Jr., author of the classic Two Years Before the Mast visited the area as a sailor engaged in the hide trade on board the ship Pilgrim. Describing the locale, which then included what is now the neighboring city of Dana Point, he gushed, "San Juan is the only romantic spot in California." The area was also the locale of the first Zorro novella, The Curse of Capistrano, published in 1919 (later renamed The Mark of Zorro after the success of the film of the same name).

San Juan Capistrano is also known for its Cliff Swallows. The protected birds are reputed to return from migration on St. Joseph's Day (March 19) each year, a day celebrated by the city's annual Swallows' Day Parade and other festive events and old west 1890s style Melodrama at the Camino Real Playhouse starring San Juan's Villain at Large Professor Mack played by Gary McCarver of The New Home for American Melodrama. The swallows are reputed to leave on October 23, the former feast day of St. John of Capistrano. The 1940 hit song "When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano", written by Leon René, is a love song centering on these annual events.

Education

The city is served by Capistrano Unified School District. In the 2007-2008 San Juan Hills High School opened off La Pata, with about 600 freshmen students serving San Juan Capistrano, the city's first high school. Ultimately, nearly all San Juan Capistrano's high school students will move to this new campus as well as some students from Capistrano Beach and southern Ladera Ranch. Residents from these other communities did not want to attend a school in San Juan on the basis that is was farther than the current schools they were attending and that the communities had too many differences. Many residents wanted to stay at the established high schools their communities had been attending for years. Much of the tension has died down, but there is still substantial resentment that children of residents in Capistrano Beach, who have historically attended San Clemente High School, should be compelled to take the long journey to the new high school. These residents contend the County of Orange should follow its original long range plan and complete La Plata Parkway through to San Clemente which would permit students in the Talega subdivision to attend the school which was built and intended for their use and redirect those students away from San Clemente High School.

The city also has four private, Christian, college prep schools named Capistrano Valley Christian Schools (preK through 12th grade), Saddleback Valley Christian School (preK through 12th grade),St. Margaret's Episcopal School (also preK through 12th grade), and JSerra Catholic High School (9th through 12th grade).

The city also has two private kindergarten through eighth grade schools named Mission Parish School and Rancho Capistrano Christian School. Mission Parish School is located on the historic Mission grounds, utilizes some of the historic buildings as classrooms, and is situated next to Mission Basilica San Juan Capistrano. The other is Rancho Capistrano Christian School, located off Highway 5 on the Crystal Cathedral's south campus. The campus at Rancho Capistrano is also host to meetings and conventions, as well as summer camps.

Twin cities

Orange County is a county in Southern California, United States. Its county seat is Santa Ana. According to the 2000 Census, its population was 2,846,289, making it the second most populous county in the state of California, and the fifth most populous in the United States. The state of California estimates its population as of 2007 to be 3,098,121 people, dropping its rank to third, behind San Diego County. Thirty-four incorporated cities are located in Orange County; the newest is Aliso Viejo.

Unlike many other large centers of population in the United States, Orange County uses its county name as its source of identification whereas other places in the country are identified by the large city that is closest to them. This is because there is no defined center to Orange County like there is in other areas which have one distinct large city. Five Orange County cities have populations exceeding 170,000 while no cities in the county have populations surpassing 360,000. Seven of these cities are among the 200 largest cities in the United States.

Orange County is also famous as a tourist destination, as the county is home to such attractions as Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm, as well as sandy beaches for swimming and surfing, yacht harbors for sailing and pleasure boating, and extensive area devoted to parks and open space for golf, tennis, hiking, kayaking, cycling, skateboarding, and other outdoor recreation. It is at the center of Southern California's Tech Coast, with Irvine being the primary business hub.

The average price of a home in Orange County is $541,000. Orange County is the home of a vast number of major industries and service organizations. As an integral part of the second largest market in America, this highly diversified region has become a Mecca for talented individuals in virtually every field imaginable. Indeed the colorful pageant of human history continues to unfold here; for perhaps in no other place on earth is there an environment more conducive to innovative thinking, creativity and growth than this exciting, sun bathed valley stretching between the mountains and the sea in Orange County.

Orange County was Created March 11 1889, from part of Los Angeles County, and, according to tradition, so named because of the flourishing orange culture. Orange, however, was and is a commonplace name in the United States, used originally in honor of the Prince of Orange, son-in-law of King George II of England.

Canvas print

A canvas print, also known as a stretched canvas or canvas art, is the result of an image printed onto canvas which is stretched, or gallery-wrapped, onto a frame and displayed.

Printing methods

Reproductions of original artwork have been printed on canvas for many decades using offset printing. Since the 1990s, canvas print has been associated with either dye sublimation or inkjet print processes (often referred to as Repligraph and Giclée respectively). The canvas print material is generally cotton or a cheaper alternative plastic based Poly Canvas often used for the reproduction of photographic images.

Modern large format printers are capable of printing onto canvas rolls measuring 60" or more. Modern examples of inkjet-based printers capable of printing directly onto canvas are the HP Designjet z6100 and the Epson Stylus Pro 9880. Printers such as these allow artists and photographers to print their works directly onto canvas media.

The popularity of canvas prints has been aided by the general development of and increased accessibility to graphics technology, including printers and software. The benefits of the Giclée process over traditional methods to printmakers include lower set-up and maintenance costs. This, combined with the continued rise in computer use has allowed individual artists and photographers, as well as large printhouses, to create prints of their work to sell. Online galleries, in comparison to traditional retail outlets allow prints to be sold on an on-demand basis, as well as the means to offer customised canvas prints.

Display methods

Canvas

Canvas is an extremely heavy-duty plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, and other functions where sturdiness is required. It is also popularly used as a painting surface, typically stretched, and on fashion handbags and shoes.

Etymology

The word canvas is derived from the 13th century Anglo-French canevaz and the Old-French canevas. Both may be derivatives of the Vulgar Latin cannapaceus for "made of hemp".

Physical characteristics

Modern canvas is usually made of cotton. It differs from other heavy cotton fabrics, such as denim, in being plain weave rather than twill weave. Canvas comes in two basic types: plain and duck. The threads in duck canvas are more tightly woven. In the United States, canvas is classified in two ways: by weight (ounces per square yard) and by a graded number system. The numbers run in reverse of the weight;, so a number 10 canvas is lighter than number 4.

Canvas for painting

Canvas has become the most common support medium for oil painting, replacing wooden panels. One of the earliest surviving oils on canvas is a French Madonna with angels from around 1410 in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin. However, panel painting remained more common until the 16th century in Italy and the 17th century in Northern Europe. Mantegna and Venetian artists were among those leading the change; Venetian sail canvas was readily available and regarded as the best quality.

Canvas is typically stretched across a wooden frame called a stretcher, and may be coated with gesso before it is to be used; this is to prevent oil paint from coming into direct contact with the canvas fibers, which will eventually cause the canvas to decay. A traditional and flexible chalk gesso is composed of lead carbonate and linseed oil, applied over a rabbit skin glue ground; a variation using titanium white pigment and calcium carbonate is rather brittle and susceptible to cracking. As lead-based paint is poisonous, care has to be taken in using it. Various alternative and more flexible canvas primers are commercially available, the most popular being a synthetic latex paint composed of titanium dioxide and calcium carbonate, bound with a thermo-plastic emulsion. Many artists have painted onto unprimed canvas, such as Jackson Pollock, Kenneth Noland, Francis Bacon, Helen Frankenthaler, Dan Christensen, Larry Zox, Ronnie Landfield, Color Field painters, Lyrical Abstractionists and others.

Early canvas was made of linen, a sturdy brownish fabric of considerable strength. Linen is particularly suitable for the use of oil paint. In the early 20th century, cotton canvas, often referred to as "cotton duck", came into use. Linen is composed of higher quality material, and remains popular with many professional artists, especially those who work with oil paint. Cotton duck, which stretches more fully and has an even, mechanical weave, offers a more economical alternative. The advent of acrylic paint has greatly increased the popularity and use of cotton duck canvas. Linen and cotton derive from two entirely different plants, the flax plant and the cotton plant.

Gesso-ed canvases on stretchers are also available. These pre-stretched, pre-primed canvases are suitable for all but the most exacting professional standards. They are available in a variety of weights: light-weight is about 4 oz. or 5 oz.; medium-weight is about 7 oz. or 8 oz.; heavy-weight is about 10 oz. or 12 oz. They are prepared with two or three coats of gesso and are ready for use straight away. Artists desiring greater control of their painting surface may add a coat or two of their preferred gesso. Professional artists who wish to work on canvas may prepare their own canvas in the traditional manner.

One of the most outstanding differences between modern painting techniques and those of the Flemish and Dutch Masters is in the preparation of the canvas. "Modern" techniques take advantage of both the canvas texture as well as those of the paint itself. Renaissance masters took extreme measures to ensure that none of the texture of the canvas came through. This required a painstaking, months-long process of layering the raw canvas with (usually) lead-white paint, then polishing the surface, and then repeating. The final product had little resemblance to fabric, but instead had a glossy, enamel-like finish. This flat surface was crucial in attaining photographic realism.

With a properly prepared canvas, the painter will find that each subsequent layer of color glides on in a "buttery" manner, and that with the proper consistency of application (fat over lean technique), a painting entirely devoid of brushstrokes can be achieved. A warm iron is applied over over a piece of wet cotton to flatten the wrinkles.

Canvas can also be printed onto using specialist digital printers to create canvas prints. This process of digital inkjet printing is popularly referred to as Giclée. After printing, the canvas can be wrapped around a stretcher and displayed.

Splined canvas, Stretched canvas and Canvas boards

Splined canvases differ from traditional side-stapled canvas in that canvas is attached with a spline at the rear of the frame. This allows the artist to incorporate painted edges into the artwork itself without staples at this sides, and the artwork can be displayed without a frame. Splined canvas can be restretched by adjusting the spline.

Stapled canvases stay stretched tighter over a longer period of time, but are more difficult to re-stretch when the need arises.

Canvas boards are made of cardboard with canvas stretched over and glued to a cardboard backing, and sealed on the backside. The canvas is typically linen primed for a certain type of paint. They are primarily used by artists for quick studies.

Canvas used for canoes

Wood-and-canvas canoes are made by fastening an external waterproofed canvas shell to a wooden hull formed with white cedar planks and ribs. These canoes evolved directly from birchbark construction. Maine was the location of the development of commercial wood-and-canvas canoes. E. H. Gerrish, of Bangor, is now recognized as the first person to produce wood-and-canvas canoes commercially, but other Maine builders soon followed, including, B. N. Morris, of Veazie, E. M. White, of Old Town, and, of course, the Gray family of the Old Town Canoe Co. In the adjoining Canadian province of New Brunswick, from the late 1800s until being disbanded in 1979, the Chestnut Canoe Company, along with the Old Town Canoe Company in Maine, became the pre-eminent producers of wood-and-canvas canoes. American President Teddy Roosevelt purchased Chestnut canoes for a South American expedition. Wood-and-canvas canoes have undergone a resurgence in recent years, spurred in part by the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association . Builders abound, including Jerry Stelmok, Rollin Thurlow, Ken Solway, Joe Seliga, and many others.

Non-traditional uses for stretched canvas

Digital imaging

Digital imaging or digital image acquisition is the creation of digital images, typically from a physical object. The term is often assumed to imply or include the processing, compression, storage, printing, and display of such images.

A digital image may be created directly from a physical scene by a camera or similar devices. Alternatively, it may be obtained from another image in an analog medium, such as photographs, photographic film, or printed paper, by a scanner or similar device. Many technical images—such as those acquired with tomographic equipment, side-looking radar, or radio telescopes—are actually obtained by complex processing of non-image data. Finally, a digital image can also be computed from a geometric model or mathematical formula (however, in this case the name image synthesis is more appropriate).

Digital image authentication is an emerging issue for the providers and producers of high resolution digital images such as health care organizations, law enforcement agencies and insurance companies. There are methods emerging to analyze a digital image and determine if it has been altered or not.

Photo restoration

Photo restoration is the practice of restoring a photograph which has been damaged or affected by age.

Digital photo restoration

Digital photo restoration uses digital image editing techniques to remove visible damage and aging effects from photographs. Software such as Adobe Photoshop or The GIMP are typically used.

Blemishes are removed from the photograph manually, by painting over them meticulously. Unwanted color casts are removed and the image's contrast or sharpening may be altered in an attempt to restore some of the contrast range or detail that is believed to be in the original image.

Adding color to black and white photos

Portrait

Self-portrait

A Self-portrait is a representation of an artist, drawn, painted, photographed, or sculpted by the artist. Although self-portraits have been made by artists since the earliest times, it is not until the Early Renaissance in the mid 1400s that artists can be frequently identified depicting themselves as either the main subject, or as important characters in their work. With better and cheaper mirrors, and the advent of the panel portrait, many painters, sculptors and printmakers tried some form of self-portraiture. The probable example by Jan van Eyck of 1433 is the earliest known panel self-portrait. He painted a separate portrait of his wife, and he belonged to the social group that had begun to commission portraits, already more common among wealthy Netherlanders than south of the Alps. The genre is venerable, but not until the Renaissance, with increased wealth and interest in the individual as a subject, did it become truly popular.

Types of self-portrait

A self-portrait may be a portrait of the artist, or a portrait included in a larger work, including a group portrait. Many painters are said to have included depictions of specific individuals, including themselves, in painting figures in religious or other types of composition not intended to depict the actual persons as themselves. Often these are just faces in a crowd, often at the corner of the work, but a particular hybrid genre developed where historical scenes were depicted using a number of actual persons as models, often including the artist, giving the work a double function as portrait and history painting. Rubens and Rembrandt painted such scenes. This culminated in the seventeenth century with the work of Jan de Bray, and has been revived in recent years in photography by Cindy Sherman. Many artistic media have been used; apart from paintings, drawings and prints have been especially important.

Sometimes artists place their own image into group portraits, such as (probably) Jan van Eyck in the Arnolfini Portrait, who inspired Diego Velázquez in Las Meninas. Later group portraits of family, friends or professional groups became common.

Gallery: Inserted self-portraits

Sandro Botticelli's painting of the Adoration of the Magi has an "inserted self-portrait". The position in the (right) corner, and the gaze out to the viewer, are very typical of such self-portraits.

Masaccio inserted self-portrait from the Brancacci Chapel frescoes (as is the Filippino Lippi), 1424-6.

Piero della Francesca as a sleeping soldier in his Resurrection, 1463, fresco, Sansepolcro

Filippino Lippi as a figure in his Martyrdom of Saint Peter, fresco, 1481-82, Brancacci Chapel , Florence. He is at the extreme right of a crowded composition.

Women painters

Women artists are notable producers of self-portraits; almost all significant women painters have left an example, from Caterina van Hemessen to the prolific Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun and Frida Kahlo. Vigée-Lebrun painted a total of 37 self-portraits, many of which were copies of earlier ones, painted for sale. Women were usually unable to train in drawing the nude, which made it difficult for them to paint large figure compositions, and portraiture was a common specialism. Until the nineteenth century, they usually showed themselves in the act of painting, or at least holding a brush and palette. More often than with men, the viewer wonders if the clothes worn were those they normally painted in.

Caterina van Hemessen, 1548, perhaps the oldest self-portrait of a female oil-painter, though much earlier examples of manuscript painters exist.	Sofonisba Anguissola (c. 1532 - 1625) of Cremona served as court painter to the Queen of Spain, and painted several self-portaits and many images of her family. c.1556	Artemisia Gentileschi, Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting, circa 1630, Royal collection Windsor. Note the pulled-up sleeve on the arm holding the brush.	Judith Leyster, a painter of genre subjects, who surely did not normally dress like this to paint. NGA, 1630.
Angelica Kauffmann, self-portrait, 1780-1785, a successful painter in her time, she was a great friend of Sir Joshua Reynolds.	Adelaide Labille-Guiard, 1785, with two pupils. A "subjects-eye" view of the painter at work. It seems likely that women society portraitists did actually paint wearing fashionable clothes like this.	Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun painted several self-portraits that were hugely successful in the Paris Salons, and was influential in pioneering an "informal" fashion style at the end of the Ancien Regime. At 22, 1782.	Marie-Denise Villers, Young Woman Drawing, 1801, thought to be her self-portrait, and her most famous and finest painting. Originally attributed to Jacques-Louis David
Marie Ellenrieder, self portrait, 1819. A German religious artist and the first woman to enter the Academy of Munich.	Mary Cassat was an American portrait painter who specialised in portraits of women and children, 1878.	Marie Bashkirtseff self-portrait, 1880 was a Russian born artist who died at twenty-five. A large number of Bashkirtseff's works were destroyed by the Nazis during World War II	Gwen John (1902) also mostly painted women and children.

Antiquity

Images of artists at work are encountered in Ancient Egyptian painting, and sculpture and also on Ancient Greek vases. One of first self-portraits was made by the Pharaoh Akhenaten's chief sculptor Bak in 1365 BC. Plutarch mentions that the Ancient Greek sculptor Phidias had included a likeness of himself in a number of characters in the "Battle of the Amazons" on the Parthenon, and there are classical references to painted self-portraits, none of which have survived.

Asia

Portraits and self-portraits have a longer continuous history in Asian art than in Europe. Many in the scholar gentleman tradition are quite small, depicting the artist in a large landscape, illustrating a poem in calligraphy on his experience of the scene. Another tradition, associated with Zen Buddhism, produced lively semi-caricatured self-portraits, whilst others remain closer to the conventions of the formal portrait.

Miyamoto Musashi, Samurai, writer and artist, c. 1640.	Hakuin Ekaku was a Zen monk, who painted many self-portraits of himself as sages of the past, 1764, Tokyo.	Motoori Norinaga, late 18th century, Japan	Hokusai, early 19th century, Japan
Another Hokusai, Louvre	Kikuchi Yosai, 1856-7, Japan.	Chen Hongshou, China, 1635	Ren Xiong, a member of the Shanghai school, c.1850

European art

Illuminated manuscripts contain a number of apparent self-portraits, notably those of Saint Dunstan and Matthew Paris. Most of these either show the artist at work, or presenting the finished book to either a donor or a sacred figure, or venerating such a figure. Orcagna is believed to have painted himself as a figure in a fresco of 1359, which became, at least according to art historians - Vasari records a number of such traditions- a common practice of artists. However for earlier artists, with no other portrait to compare to, these descriptions are necessarily rather speculative. In Italy Giotto di Bondone (1267—1337) included himself in the cycle of "eminent men" in the Castle of Naples, Masaccio (1401—1428) depicted himself as one of the apostles in the painting of the Brancacci Chapel, and Benozzo Gozzoli includes himself, with other portraits, in the Palazzo Medici Procession of the Magi (1459), with his name written on his hat. This is imitated a few years later by Sandro Botticelli, as a spectator of the Adoration of the Magi, who turns from the scene to look at us. (1475). Fourteenth century sculpted portrait busts of and by the Parler family in Prague Cathedral include self-portraits, and are among the earliest such busts of non-royal figues. Ghiberti included a small head of himself in his most famous work.

Albrecht Dürer, 1471-1528, the first prolific self-portraitist

Albrecht Dürer was an artist highly conscious of his public image and reputation, whose main income came from his old master prints, all containing his famous monogram, which were sold throughout Europe. He probably depicted himself more often than any artist before him, producing at least twelve images, including three oil portraits, and figures in four altarpieces. The earliest is a superb silverpoint drawing created when he was thirteen years old. At twenty-two Dürer painted the Self-portrait with Carnation (1493, Louvre), probably to send to his new fiancée. The Madrid self-portrait (1498, Prado) depicts Dürer as a dandy in fashionable Italian dress, reflecting the international success he had achieved by then. In his last self-portrait, sold or given to the city of Nuremberg, and displayed publicly, which very few portraits then were, the artist depicted himself with an unmistakable resemblance to Jesus Christ (Munich, Alte Pinakothek). He later re-used the face in a religious engraving of, revealingly, the Veil of Veronica, Christ's own "self-portrait" (B.25). A self-portrait in gouache he sent to Raphael has not survived. A woodcut of a bathhouse and a drawing show virtually-nude self-portraits.

Renaissance and Baroque

The great Italian painters of the Renaissance made comparatively few formal painted self-portraits, but often included themselves in larger works. Most individual self-portraits they have left were straight-forward depictions; Dürer's showmanship was rarely followed, although a controversially attributed Self-portrait as David by Giorgione would have something of the same spirit, if it is a self-portrait. There is a portrait by Pietro Perugino of about 1500 (Collegio del Cambio of Perugia), and one by the young Parmigianino showing the view in a convex mirror. There is also a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci (1512). and self-portraits in larger works by Michelangelo, who gave his face to the skin of St. Bartholomew in the Last Judgement of the Sistine Chapel (1536-1541), and Raphael who is seen in the characters of School of Athens 1510, or with a friend who holds his shoulder (1518). Also notable are two portraits of Titian as an old man in the 1560s. Paolo Veronese appears as a violinist clothed in white in his Marriage at Cana, accompanied by Titian on the bass viol (1562). Northern artists continued to make more individual portraits, often looking very much like their other bourgeois sitters.

Titian's Allegory of Prudence (c. 1565-70) is thought to depict Titian, his son Orazio, and a young cousin, Marco Vecellio. Titian also painted a late self-portrait in 1567; apparently his first. Caravaggio painted himself in Bacchus at the beginning of his career, then appears in the staffage of some of his larger paintings. Finally, the head of Goliath held by David (1605-10, Galleria Borghese) is Caravaggio's own.

Gentile Bellini, black chalk, 1496 or earlier, Berlin

Nuremberg sculptor Adam Kraft, self-portrait from St Lorenz Church, 1490s.

Probable self-portrait by Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1512-1515

Nicholas Hilliard, self-portrait miniature, 1577

Rembrandt and the 17th century in Northern Europe

In the 17th century, Flemish and Dutch artists painted themselves far more often; by this date most successful artists had a position in society where a member of any trade would consider having their portrait painted. Very many also painted their wives and families, again following the normal practice for the middle-classes. Anthony Van Dyck and Peter Paul Rubens gave us numerous images of themselves, the latter also often painting his family.

Rembrandt was the most frequent self-portraitist, at least until the self-obsessed modern period, also often painting his wife, son and mistress. At one time about ninety paintings were counted as Rembrandt self-portraits, but it is now known that he had his students copy his own self-portraits as part of their training. Modern scholarship has reduced the autograph count to something over forty paintings, as well as a few drawings and thirty-one etchings, which include many of the most remarkable images of the group. Many show him posing in quasi-historical fancy dress, or pulling faces at himself. His oil paintings trace the progress from an uncertain young man to the dapper and very successful portrait-painter of the 1630s to the troubled but massively powerful portraits of his old age.

A young Rembrandt, c. 1628, when he was 22. Partly an exercise in chiaroscuro. Rijksmuseum	Etching, c. 1630. Probably an exercise in capturing facial expressions for larger paintings.	Rembrandt in 1632, when he was enjoying great success as a fashionable portraitist in this style.	Role-playing in Self-portrait as an oriental Potentate with a Kris, etching, 1634.
1640, wearing a costume in the style of over a century earlier. National Gallery	Vienna c. 1655, oil on walnut, cut down in size.	Again in antique costume, 1658, Oil on canvas Frick Collection. His largest self-portrait, for which a new mirror may have been used.	Dated 1669, the year he died, though he looks much older in other portraits. National Gallery

After Rembrandt

Self-Portrait of Van Gogh with head bandaged, after he cut off part of his ear.

In Spain, there were self-portraits of Bartolomé Estéban Murillo and Diego Velázquez. Francisco de Zurbarán represented himself in Luke the Evangelist at the feet of Christ on the cross (around 1635). In the 1800s, Goya painted himself numerous times. French self-portraits, at least after Nicolas Poussin tend to show the social status of the artist, although Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin and some other instead showed their real working costume very realistically. This was a decision all 18th century self-portraitists needed to make, although many painted themselves in both formal and informal costume in different paintings. Thereafter, one can say that most significant painters left us at least one self-portrait, even after the decline of the painted portrait with the arrival of photography. Gustave Courbet (see below) was perhaps the most creative self-portraitist of the 19th century, and The Artist's studio and Bonjour, Monsieur Courbet are perhaps the largest self-portraits ever painted. Both contain many figures, but are firmly centred on the heroic figure of the artist.

Prolific modern self-portraitists

Vincent van Gogh, Self Portrait, dedicated to Gauguin, 1888

One of the most famous and most prolific of self-portraitists was Vincent Van Gogh, who painted himself thirty-seven times between 1886 and 1889 In all of these self-portraits one is struck that the gaze of the painter is seldom directed at us; even when it is a fixed gaze, he seems to look elsewhere. These paintings vary in intensity and color and some portray the artist with bandages; representing the episode in which he severed one of his ears.

The many self-portraits of Egon Schiele set new standards of openness, or perhaps exhibitionism, representing him naked in many positions, sometimes masturbating or erect as in Eros (1911), with an enormous red erect penis. Stanley Spencer was to follow somewhat in this vein. Edvard Munch made great numbers of self-portrait paintings (70), prints (20) and drawings or watercolours (over 100) throughout his life, many showing him being badly treated by life, and especially by women. Frida Kahlo, who following a terrible accident spent many years bedridden, with only herself for a model, was another painter whose self-portraits depict great pain, in her case physical as well as mental. Her 55-odd self-portraits include many of herself from the waist up, and also some nightmarish representations which symbolize her physical sufferings.

Throughout his long career Pablo Picasso often used self-portraits to depict himself in the many different guises, disguises and incarnations of his autobiographical artistic persona. From the young unknown "Yo Picasso" period to the "Minotaur in the Labyrinth" period, to the "old Cavalier" and the "lecherous old artist and model" periods. Often Picasso's self portraits depicted and revealed complicated psychological insights, both personal and profound about the inner state and well being of the artist. Another artist who painted interestingly personal and revealing self-portraits throughout his career was Pierre Bonnard. Bonnard also painted dozens of portraits of his wife Marthe throughout her life as well. Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, and Egon Schiele in particular made intense and self-revealing self-portrait paintings throughout their careers.

Self-portraits in general

Gallery:painters at work

Many of the medieval portraits show the artist at work, and Jan van Eyck (above) his chaperon hat has the parts normally hanging loose tied up on his head, giving the misleading impression he is wearing a turban, presumably for convenience whilst he paints. In the early modern period, increasingly, men as well as women who painted themselves at work had to choose whether to present themselves in their best clothes, and best room, or to depict studio practice realistically. See also the Gallery of Women painters above.

Pieter Brueghel the Elder, The Painter and The Buyer, c.1565, pen and ink on brown paper, presumed to be a self-portrait. Antwerp	Pierre Mignard, 1690, Louvre.	Francesco Solimena, c. 1715.	François Boucher, self-portrait in the studio, 1720
Joshua Reynolds, National Portrait Gallery, 1748. The artist as visionary. Much cut down, this originally had a vertical format.	George Desmarées and his daughter, 1750, Munich.	Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Inspiration Self-Portrait, 1769	Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin (1771), in his painting clothes.
Goya, 1795,	The huge The Painter's Studio, A Real Allegory Summarizing My Seven years of Life as an Artist, Gustave Courbet, 1855, Louvre	The Danish artist Carl Ludwig Jessen, 1857	Jacek Malczewski, Polish Symbolist painter, 1892
Julian F alat, Polish landscape painter and impressionist, 1896	Anders Zorn, Selfportrait with model, 1896	Umberto Boccioni, Self-portrait, 1906	Charles Sheeler, Self-portrait with easel, 1932

Classification

Parmigianino, Self-portrait in a mirror is itself painted on a convex surface, like that of the mirrors of the period.

Art critic Galina Vasilyeva-Shlyapina separates two basic forms of the self-portrait: "professional" portraits, in which the artist is depicted at work, and "personal" portraits, which reveal moral and psychological features. She also proposes a more detailed taxonomy: (1) the "insertable" self-portrait, where the artist inserts his or her own portrait into, for example, a group of characters related to some subject; (2) the "prestigious, or symbolic" self-portrait, where an artist depicts him- or herself in the guise of a historical person or religious hero; (3) the "group portrait" where artist is depicted with members of family or other real persons; (4) the "separate or natural" self-portrait, where the artist is depicted alone. However it might be thought these classes are rather rigid; many portraits manage to combine several of them.

Mirrors and poses

Johannes Gumpp, 1646, shows how most self-portraits were painted

The self-portrait supposes in theory the use of a mirror; glass mirrors became available in Europe in the 15th century. The first mirrors used were convex, introducing deformations that the artist sometimes preserved. A painting by Parmigianino in 1524 Self-portrait in a mirror, demonstrates the phenomenon. Mirrors permit surprising compositions like the Triple self-portrait by Johannes Gumpp (1646), or more recently that of Salvador Dalí shown from the back painting his wife, Gala (1972-73). This use of the mirror often results in right-handed painters representing themselves as left-handed (and vice versa). Usually the face painted is therefore a mirror image of that the rest of the world saw, unless two mirrors were used. Most of Rembrandt's self-portraits before 1660 show only one hand - the painting hand is left unpainted. He appears to have bought a larger mirror in about 1652, after which his self-portraits become larger. In 1658 a large mirror in a wood frame broke whilst being transported to his house; nonetheless, in this year he completed his Frick self-portrait, his largest.

Las Meninas, painted in 1656, shows Diego Velazquez working at the easel to the left.

The size of single-sheet mirrors was restricted until technical advances made in France in 1688 by Bernard Perrot. They also remained very fragile, and large ones were much more expensive pro-rata than small ones - the breakages were recut into small pieces. About 80 cms, or two and a half feet, seems to have been the maximum size until then - roughly the size of the palace mirror in Las Meninas (the convex mirror in the Arnolfini Portrait is considered by historians impractically large, one of Van Eyck's many cunning distortions of scale). Largely for this reason, most early self-portraits show painters at no more than half-length.

Self-portraits of the artist at work were, as mentioned above, the commonest form of medieval self-portrait, and these have continued to be popular, with a specially large number from the eighteenth century on. One particular type in the medieval and Renaissance periods was the artist shown as Saint Luke (patron saint of artists) painting the Virgin Mary. Many of these were presented to the local Guild of Saint Luke, to be placed in their chapel. A famous large view of the artist in his studio is The Painter's Studio by Gustave Courbet (1855), an immense "Allegory" of objects and characters amid which the painter sits.

Other meanings, storytelling

The self-portraits of many Contemporary artists and Modernists often are characterized by a strong sense of narrative, often but not strictly limited to vignettes from the artists life-story. Sometimes the narrative resembles fantasy, roleplaying and fiction. Besides Diego Velazquez, (in his painting Las Meninas), Rembrandt Van Rijn, Jan de Bray, Gustave Courbet, Vincent Van Gogh, and Paul Gauguin other artists whose self-portraits reveal complex narratives include Pierre Bonnard, Marc Chagall, Lucien Freud, Arshile Gorky, Alice Neel, Pablo Picasso, Lucas Samaras, Jenny Saville, Cindy Sherman, Andy Warhol and Gilbert and George.

Self-promotion

The self-portrait can be a very effective form of advertising for an artist, especially of course for a portrait painter. Dürer was not really interested in portraits commercially, but made good use of his extraordinary self-portraits to advertise himself as an artist, something he was very sophisticated in doing. Rembrandt made his living principally from portrait-painting during his most successful period, and like Van Dyck and Joshua Reynolds, many of his portraits were certainly intended to advertise his skills. With the advent of regular Academy shows, many artists tried to produce memorable self-portraits to make an impression on the artistic stage. A recent exhibition at the National Gallery, London, Rebels and Martyrs, did not shrink from the comic bathos that sometimes resulted. An example from the 21st century is Arnaud Prinstet, an otherwise little-known contemporary artist who has generated good amounts of publicity by undertaking to paint his self portrait every day.On the other hand, some artists depicted themselves very much as they did other clients.

François Desportes, a specialist animal painter, Self-portrait as Hunter, 1699.

Maurice Quentin de La Tour, pastel, 1750-60.

Gustave Courbet, Self Portrait (The Desperate Man), c. 1843.

William Orpen, c. 1910

Diagnosing the self-portrait

Self-portrait of Egon Schiele 1911, depicting masturbation.

Some artists who suffered neurological or physical diseases have left self-portraits of themselves that have allowed later physicians to attempt to analyze disruptions of mental processes; and many of these analyses have entered into the textbooks of neurology.

The self-portraits of artists who suffered mental illnesses, give a unique possibility to physicians for investigating self-perception in people with psychological, psychiatric or neurologic disturbances.

Russian sexologist Igor Kon in his article about masturbation notes that a habit of masturbating may be depicted in works of art, particularly paintings. So Austrian artist Egon Schiele depicted himself so occupied in one of his self-portraits. Kon observes that this painting does not portray pleasure from the masturbation, but a feeling of solitude. Creations of Schiele are analyzed by other researchers in terms of sexuality, and particularly pedophilia.

Collections

One of the most distinguished, and oldest, collections of self-portraits is in the Vasari Corridor of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. It was originally the collection by the Cardinal Leopoldo de' Medici in the second part of the 17th century and has been maintained and expanded until the present time. It is mostly not on view for general visitors, although some paintings are shown in the main galleries. Many famous artists have not been able to resist an invitation to donate a self-portrait to the collection. It comprises more than 200 portraits, in particular those of Pietro da Cortona, Charles Le Brun, Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, and Marc Chagall. Other important collections are housed at the National Portrait Gallery (United Kingdom) in London (with various satellite outstations elsewhere), and the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC.

Gallery

Pietro Perugino (c. 1500)	Raphael (c. 1517-1518)	Hans Baldung (1526)	Lucas Cra nach the Elder (1550)
Titian seems to have painted no self-portraits until he was in old age, 1567	Probable self-portrait by El Greco, 1604.	Peter Paul Rubens (1623)	Rubens with his (first) wife, Munich, c. 1609
Self-portrait of Francisco Zurbarán, as Saint Luke. Detail of Saint Luke as a Painter Before the Crucifixion	Salvator Rosa, 1640. "Of Silence and Speech, Silence is better" says the inscription.	Diego Velazquez, Self-Portrait, 1643	Nicolas Poussin, Self-Portrait, 1650
Jan de Bray and his wife as Ulysses and Penelope, 1668, a typical portrait historié.	Joshua Reynolds, presented to the Royal Academy, of which he was first President. Rather like Rembrandt, but more successful. 1773	Francisco Goya, 1815 Oil on panel, Museo de la Real Academia de San Fernando, Madrid	The Artist in His Museum, American artist Charles Willson Peale, 1822.
Eugene Delacroix, 1837	Gustave Courbet (1842)	James McNeill Whistler, self-portrait, 1872	Camille Pissarro, Self-portrait, 1873
Édouard Manet, Self-portrait with palette, 1879	Paul Cézanne, 1880-1881 National Gallery, London	Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, self portrait, 1882-1883	Édouard Vuillard, self-portrait, 1889
Vincent Van Gogh, 1889 Musée d'Orsay Paris	Paul Gauguin, 1889 National Gallery of Art, Wa shington DC	Vincent Van Gogh (1889)	Paul Gauguin (1893)
Henri Rousseau, (1890)	Thomas Eakins, National Academy of Design, 1902.	Stanislaw Wyspianski (1869–1907), Polish playwright, poet, architect, painter, prolific self-portraitist (1902)	Henri Matisse, Self-Portrait in a Striped T-shirt 1906, Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, Denmark
John Singer Sargent, self portrait, 1907	Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1910)	Egon Schiele (1910)	Egon Schiele, 1912
Marc Chagall (1910)	Kazimir Malevich (1912)	J.B. Ma nson, Self-Portrait, c.(1912)	William Merritt Chase, 1915.
Charles Demuth, Turkish Bath with Self Portrait, 1918	Kaita Murayama, self portrait, 1918, Japanese writer, poet	Paul Klee Gespenst eines Genies (Ghost of a Genius), 1922	Lovis Corinth, 1924
Chen Cheng-po, self-portrait, 1930	Max Beckmann (1938-1940)	Jenny Saville, Closed Contact #10, 1996	Yan Pei-Ming, self portrait, (2000)

Photo-portraits

Two methods of obtaining photographic self-portraits are widespread. One is photographing a reflection in the mirror, and the other photographing one's self with the camera in an outstretched hand. Eleazar Langman photographed his reflection on the surface of a nickel-plated teapot.

Another method involves setting the camera or capture device upon a tripod, or surface. One might then set the camera's timer, or use a remote controlled shutter release.

Finally, setting up the camera, entering the scene and having an assistant release the shutter (i.e., if the presence of a cable release is unwanted in the photo) can arguably be regarded as a photographic self-portrait, as well.

Mathew Brady, self-portrait, circa 1875	Nadar, the leading French portrait photographer, c.1870s	Thomas Eakins, Self portrait with John Laurie Wallace, circa 1883	Eadweard Muybridge Self-portrait as man throwing, climbing and walking, circa 1893
Edward S. Curtis, self-portrait, 1898	August Strindberg, self-portrait, c. 1900	Ernst Kirchner, self-portrait, 1919	El Lissitsky self-portrait, 1924
Carl Van Vechten portrait photographer, self-portrait, 1934	Lucas Samaras (1973)	Catherine Opie, self-portrait-pervert, 1994	Yasumasa Morimura Self Portrait, After Marilyn Monroe, 1996

Drawings, prints and engravings

Giuseppe Arcimboldo, self portrait, c. 1577	Peter Paul Rubens, self portrait, c. 1634	Francisco de Goya, self portrait, print, 1795	John Constable self portrait, 1806
Caspar David Friedrich, self portrait, age thirty-six, 1810	Dante Gabriel Rossetti, poet and artist, self portrait, 1847	Jean-François Millet, self portrait, c. 1850	Max Liebermann, self portrait, 1922

Fine art

Fine art is any art form developed primarily for aesthetics rather than utility. This type of art is often expressed in the production of art objects using visual and performing art forms, including painting, sculpture, dance, theatre, architecture, photography and printmaking. Schools, institutes, and other organizations still use the term to indicate a traditional perspective on the art forms, often implying an association with classic or academic art.

Description

The word "fine" does not so much denote the quality of the artwork in question, but the purity of the discipline.

"Imitation, then, is one instinct of our nature. Next, there is the instinct for 'harmony' and rhythm, meters being manifestly sections of rhythm. Persons, therefore, starting with this natural gift developed by degrees their special aptitudes, till their rude improvisations gave birth to Poetry." -Aristotle

This definition tends to exclude visual art forms that could be considered craftwork or applied art, such as textiles. The more recent term visual arts is widely considered to be a more inclusive and descriptive phrase for today's variety of current art practices, and for the multitude of media in which high art is now more widely recognized to occur.

The term is still often used outside of the arts to denote when someone has perfected an activity to a very high level of skill. For example, one might metaphorically say that "Pelé took football to the level of a fine art."

That fine art is seen as being distinct from applied arts is largely the result of an issue raised in Britain by the conflict between the followers of the Arts and Crafts Movement, including William Morris, and the early modernists, including Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group. The former sought to bring socialist principles to bear on the arts by including the more commonplace crafts of the masses within the realm of the arts, while the modernists sought to keep artistic endeavor as exclusive and esoteric.

Confusion often occurs when people mistakenly refer to the Fine Arts but mean the Performing Arts (Music, Dance, Drama, etc). However, there is some disagreement here, as, for example, at York University, Fine Arts is a faculty that includes the "traditional" fine arts, design, and the "Performing Arts". Furthermore, creative writing is frequently considered a fine art as well.

Illustration

An illustration is a visualization such as a drawing, painting, photograph or other work of art that stresses subject more than form. The aim of an illustration is to elucidate or decorate textual information (such as a story, poem or newspaper article) by providing a visual representation.

Painting and drawing

Drawing is a form of visual expression and is one of the major forms within the visual arts. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoals, chalk, pastels, markers, stylus, or various metals like silverpoint. There are a number of subcategories of drawing, including cartooning. Certain drawing methods or approaches, such as "doodling" and other informal kinds of drawing such as drawing in the fog a shower leaves on a bathroom mirror, or the surrealist method of "entopic graphomania," in which dots are made at the sites of impurities in a blank sheet of paper, and lines are then made between the dots, may or may not be considered as part of "drawing" as a "fine art."

Comics are a graphic medium in which images are utilised in order to convey a sequential narrative. Comics are typically seen as a low art, although there are a few exceptions, such as Krazy Kat and Barnaby. In the late 20th and early 21st century there has been a movement to rehabilitate the medium.

Printmaking and imaging

Printmaking is the process of making artworks by printing, normally on paper. Except in the case of monotyping, the process is capable of producing multiples of the same piece, which is called a print. Each piece is not a copy but an original since it is not a reproduction of another work of art and is technically known as an impression. Painting or drawing, on the other hand, create a unique original piece of artwork. Prints are created from a single original surface, known technically as a matrix. Common types of matrices include: plates of metal, usually copper or zinc for engraving or etching; stone, used for lithography; blocks of wood for woodcuts, linoleum for linocuts and fabric plates for screen-printing. But there are many other kinds, discussed below. Works printed from a single plate create an edition, in modern times usually each signed and numbered to form a limited edition. Prints may also be published in book form, as artist's books. A single print could be the product of one or multiple techniques.

Fine art photography

Refers to photographs that are created to fulfill the creative vision of the artist. Fine art photography stands in contrast to photojournalism and commercial photography. Photojournalism provides visual support for stories, mainly in the print media. Fine art photography is created primarily as an expression of the artist’s vision, but has also been important in advancing certain causes. The work of Ansel Adams' in Yosemite and Yellowstone provides an example. Adams is one of the most widely recognized fine art photographers of the 20th century, and was an avid promoter of conservation. While his primary focus was on photography as art, his work raised public awareness of the beauty of the Sierra Nevada mountains and helped to build political support for their protection.

Sculpture

Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping hard or plastic material, commonly stone (either rock or marble), metal, or wood. Some sculptures are created directly by carving; others are assembled, built up and fired, welded, molded, or cast. Because sculpture involves the use of materials that can be moulded or modulated, it is considered one of the plastic arts. The majority of public art is sculpture. Many sculptures together in a garden setting may be referred to as a sculpture garden.

Dance

Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting. Dance is also used to describe methods of non-verbal communication (see body language) between humans or animals (bee dance, patterns of behaviour such as a mating dance), motion in inanimate objects (the leaves danced in the wind), and certain musical forms or genres. In sports, gymnastics, figure skating and synchronized swimming are dance disciplines while martial arts kata are often compared to dances.

Theatre

Modern Western theatre is dominated by realism, including drama and comedy. Another popular Western form is musical theater. Classical forms of theatre, including Greek and Roman drama, classic English drama including Shakespeare and Marlowe and French theater including Molière is still performed today. In addition, performances of classic Eastern forms such as Noh and Kabuki can be found in the West, although with less frequency.

Fine arts film is a term that encompasses high quality motion pictures and the field of film as an fine art form. A fine arts movie theater are venues, usually a building, for viewing such movies. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects. Films are cultural artifacts created by specific cultures, which reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them. Film is considered to be an important art form, a source of popular entertainment and a powerful method for educating — or indoctrinating — citizens. The visual elements of cinema gives motion pictures a universal power of communication. Some films have become popular worldwide attractions by using dubbing or subtitles that translate the dialogue.

Cinematography is the discipline of making lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for the cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography, though many additional issues arise when both the camera and elements of the scene may be in motion. Independent filmmaking often takes place outside of Hollywood, or other major studio systems. An independent film (or indie film) is a film initially produced without financing or distribution from a major movie studio. Creative, business, and technological reasons have all contributed to the growth of the indie film scene in the late 20th and early 21st century.

Architecture

Architecture is frequently considered a fine art, especially if its aesthetic components are spotlighted in contrast to structural-engineering or construction-management components]. Architectural works are perceived as cultural and political symbols and works of art. Historical civilizations are often known primarily through their architectural achievements. Such buildings as the pyramids of Egypt and the Roman Colosseum are cultural symbols, and are an important link in public consciousness, even when scholars have discovered much about a past civilization through other means. Cities, regions and cultures continue to identify themselves with (and are known by) their architectural monuments.

Other

Avant-garde music is frequently considered both a performing art and a fine art.

Electronic Media (perhaps the newest medium for fine art, since it utilizes modern technologies such as computer hardware and software from production to presentation. Includes amongst other things video, digital photography, digital printmaking and interactive pieces).

Textiles, including quilt art and "wearables" or "pre-wearables" are frequently considered fine art if part of an art display

Academic study

Photograph

A photograph (often shortened to photo) is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of what the human eye would see. The process of creating photographs is called photography. The word "photograph" coined 1839 by Sir John Herschel and is based on the Greek φώς (phos), "light" + γραφίς (graphis), "stylus", "paintbrush" or γραφή (graphê), "representation by means of lines" or "drawing", together meaning "drawing with light".

History

The first permanent photograph was made in 1826 by a French inventor, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, building on a discovery by Johann Heinrich Schultz (1724): that a silver and chalk mixture darkens under exposure to light. Niépce and Louis Daguerre refined this process. Daguerre discovered that exposing the silver first to iodine vapor, before exposure to light, and then to mercury fumes after the photograph was taken, could form a latent image; bathing the plate in a salt bath then fixes the image. These ideas led to the famous daguerreotype.

The daguerreotype had its problems, notably the fragility of the resulting picture, and that it was a positive-only process and thus could not be re-printed. Inventors set about looking for improved processes that would be more practical. Several processes were introduced and used for a short time between Niépce's first image and the introduction of the collodion process in 1848. Collodion-based wet-glass plate negatives with prints made on albumen paper remained the preferred photographic method for some time, even after the introduction of the even more practical gelatin process in 1871. Adaptations of the gelatin process have remained the primary black-and-white photographic process to this day, differing primarily in the film material itself, originally glass and then a variety of flexible films.

Color photography is almost as old as black-and-white, with early experiments dating to John Herschel's experiments with Anthotype from 1842, and Lippmann plate from 1891. Color photography became much more popular with the introduction of Autochrome Lumière in 1903, which was replaced by Kodachrome, Ilfochrome and similar processes. For many years these processes were used almost exclusively for transparencies (in slide projectors and similar devices), but color prints became popular with the introduction of the Chromogenic negative, which is the most-used system in the C-41 process. The needs of the movie industry have also introduced a host of special-purpose systems, perhaps the most well known being the now-rare Technicolor.

Types of photographs

Non-digital photographs are produced with a two-step chemical process. In the two-step process the light-sensitive film captures a negative image (colors and lights/darks are inverted). To produce a positive image, the negative is most commonly transferred ('printed') onto photographic paper. Printing the negative onto transparent film stock is used to manufacture motion picture films.

Alternatively, the film is processed to invert the negative image, yielding positive transparencies. Such positive images are usually mounted in frames, called slides. Before recent advances in digital photography, transparencies were widely used by professionals due to their sharpness and accuracy of color rendition. Most photographs published in magazines were taken on color transparency film.

Originally all photographs were monochromatic, or hand-painted in color. Although methods for developing color photos were available as early as 1861, they did not become widely available until the 1940s or 50s, and even so, until the 1960s most photographs were taken in black and white. Since then, Color photography has dominated popular photography, although black and white is still used, being easier to develop than color.

Panoramic format images can be taken with cameras like the Hasselblad Xpan on standard film. Since the 1990s, panoramic photos have been available on the Advanced Photo System film. APS was developed by several of the major film manufacturers to provide a film with different formats and computerized options available, though APS panoramas were created using a mask in panorama-capable cameras, far less desirable than a true panoramic camera which achieves its effect through wider film format. APS has become less popular and is being discontinued.

The advent of the microcomputer and digital photography has led to the rise of digital prints. These prints are created from stored graphic formats such as JPEG, TIFF, and RAW. The types of printers used include inkjet printers, dye-sublimation printer, laser printers, and thermal printers. Inkjet prints are sometimes given the coined name "Giclée".

Preservation

Paper folders

Ideal photograph storage involves placing each photo in an individual folder constructed from buffered, or acid-free paper. Buffered paper folders are especially recommended in cases when a photograph was previously mounted onto poor quality material or using an adhesive that will lead to even more acid creation. Store photographs measuring 8x10 inches or smaller vertically along the longer edge of the photo in the buffered paper folder, within a larger archival box, and label each folder with relevant information in order to identify it. The rigid nature of the folder protects the photo from slumping or creasing, as long as the box is not packed too tightly or under filled. Folder larger photos or brittle photos stacked flat within archival boxes with other materials of comparable size.

Polyester enclosures

The most stable of plastics used in photo preservation, polyester, does not generate any harmful chemical elements, but nor does it have any capability to absorb acids generated by the photograph itself. Polyester sleeves and encapsulation have been praised for their ability to protect the photograph from humidity and environmental pollution, slowing the reaction between the item and the atmosphere. This is true, however the polyester just as frequently traps these elements next to the material it is intended to protect. This is especially risky in a storage environment that experiences drastic fluctuations in humidity or temperature, leading to ferrotyping, or sticking of the photograph to the plastic. Photographs sleeved or encapsulated in polyester cannot be stored vertically in boxes because they will slide down next to each other within the box, bending and folding, nor can the archivist write directly onto the polyester to identify the photograph. Therefore, it is necessary to either stack polyester protected photographs horizontally within a box, or bind them in a three ring binder. Stacking the photos horizontally within a flat box will greatly reduce ease of access, and binders leave three sides of the photo exposed to the effects of light and do not support the photograph evenly on both sides, leading to slumping and bending within the binder. The plastic used for enclosures has been manufactured to be as frictionless as possible in order to prevent abrading and scratching the photos during insertion to the sleeves. Unfortunately, the slippery nature of the enclosure generates a build-up of static electricity, which attracts dust and lint particles. The static can attract the dust to the inside of the sleeve, as well, where it can scratch the photograph. Likewise, these components that aid in insertion of the photo, referred to as slip agents, can break down and transfer from the plastic to the photograph, where they deposit as an oily film, attracting further lint and dust. At this time, there is no test to evaluate the long-term effects of these components on photographs. In addition, the plastic sleeves can develop kinks or creases in the surface, which will scratch away at the emulsion during handling.

Handling and care

It is best to leave photographs lying flat on the table when viewing them. Do not pick it up from a corner, or even from two sides and hold it at eye level. Every time the photograph bends, even a little, this can break down the emulsion. The very nature of enclosing a photograph in plastic encourages users to pick it up; users tend to handle plastic enclosed photographs less gently than non-enclosed photographs, simply because they feel the plastic enclosure makes the photo impervious to all mishandling. As long as a photo is in its folder, there is no need to touch it; simply remove the folder from the box, lay it flat on the table, and open the folder. If for some reason the researcher or archivist does need to handle the actual photo, perhaps to examine the verso for writing, he or she can use gloves if there appears to be a risk from oils or dirt on the hands.

Cultural Misconceptions

Sontag suggests that whilst painting can only ever be a "narrowly selective interpretation", a photograph can be treated as a "narrowly selective interpretation". A painting is dependant on a number of subjective variables such as personal ability, subject selection and personal interpretative techniques. Although photography encompasses less of these variables, it is by no means excempt from subjectivity.
The sheer quantity of concepts and principles and photography techniques demonstrates the extent as to how a photograph can encapsulate alternate meanings. Sontag suggests that even when photographers are concerned only with mirroring reality, they are still preoccupied with taste and conscience. As seen in the Farm Security Administration of the 1930s, deciding which exposure should be selected, which should not, is imposing a set of standards on the subject.

Peter Doyle elaborates that photography now attracts a learned suspicion. The adage "a photo never lies" is increasingly tested as digital photography becomes the photographic standard.

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