Rhyme of History - The Digital Camera

A Rhyme of History:  Digital Camera

I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past. ~ Thomas Jefferson

According to Dr. Thornburg, a rhyme of history is an innovation that is a reminder of a thing from the past (Laureate Education, Inc., 2014).  Furthermore Dr. Thornburg states, “It is not the technology, but the affect of the technology, that is rekindled” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2014).  Today, I plan to discuss the history of the digital camera and what it emulates from the past.

Digital Camera (Nikon, 2015)

Brief History of the Digital Camera

Taking a picture with a smartphone (Artitudes Design, 2014)

In 1975, the digital camera was invented by Steve Sasson an engineer working for Kodak.  He created this innovation from spare parts and a “clever imaging sensor” (Skipworth, 2014).   Later, Nikon produced the first digital camera to hit the market in 1991.  By the mid-1990's Apple, Kodak, Casio, and Sony also sold digital cameras.  No longer is film needed to take pictures (Skipworth, 2014).  This filmless camera saved the consumer money and time because there is no need to buy film or pay to get the film developed. Now, people upload their pictures to their computer to save or instantly share with the world.

Moreover, people even have digital image capabilities included on their smartphones.  In fact, the inventor of the mobile phone camera, Phillippe Kahn, took a picture of his infant with his innovation in 1997 (Skipworth, 2014).  He shared the image with family and friends and now cameras are included in most mobile phones (Skipworth, 2014) to the delight of selfie-picture-taking individuals everywhere!

Ancient Egyptian statue of Nefertiti (Trigger Image, n.d.)

Emulates from the Past

The digital camera is a reminder of the painted portraits that people created in the past.  In a way, portraits were the first “selfies” that people made of themselves.  The Egyptians created sculptures for their leaders so that they lived forever while Asians painted portraits for religious reasons (Infoplease, n.d.).  The Europeans placed portraits on coins and medals eventually creating painted pictures of a person’s profile view.  Finally, artists painted full-length pictures similar to Rembrandt’s masterpieces found in museums around the world today (Infoplease, n.d.).

Rembrandt van Rijn - Self Portrait (Wikimedia Commons, 2015)

 

References:

Artitudes Design.  (2014, May 27).  Phone-tography [Digital image].  In The Art of Wow!  Retrieved from http://theartofwow.com/phonetography/

Bellis, M.  (n.d.).  History of the digital camera.  In About.com.  Retrieved from http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bldigitalcamera.htm

Infoplease.  (n.d.).  Portraiture:  The evolution of portrait painting.  Retrieved from http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/entertainment/portraiture-the-evolution-portrait-painting.html

Laureate Education, Inc.  (Producer).  (2014).  David Thornburg:  Rhyme of history [Video file].  Baltimore, MD:  Author.

Nikon, Inc.  (2015).  16 digital SLR cameras:  D5500 [Digital image].  Retrieved from http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Nikon-Products/dslr-cameras/index.page

Skipworth, H.  (2014, August 19).  Tech Feature: World photography day 2014: The history of digital cameras.  In Digital Spy.  Retrieved from http://www.digitalspy.com/tech/feature/a591251/world-photography-day-2014-the-history-of-digital-cameras.html#~pihU0LHUels0dq

Trigger Image.  (n.d.).  Ancient Egyptian sculpture [Digital image].  In Artflakes.  Retrieved from http://www.artflakes.com/en/products/ancient-egyptian-sculpture#show-zoom

Wikimedia Commons.  (2015).  Rembrandt van Rijn – Self portrait (1659) [Digital image].  Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rembrandt_van_Rijn_-_Self-Portrait_%281659%29_detail.jpg