Recent Historical Articles

From the Archives: Stories From Life Magazine's Greatest Photographers

Life magazine was known for its large format photojournalism. In 1984, filmmaker David Hoffman made this not-to-be-missed television documentary about the history of Life, which included interviews with some of their greatest photojournalists. It's just as interesting today, if not more, than it would have been back then.
One Photographer's Personal Portrait Of Robin Williams

The untimely passing of Robin Williams at the still-young age of 63 sent shock waves around the world last week. Based on the outpouring of love for "Mork" on social media, it was evident that no matter your age, Robin was most likely a fixture in your upbringing. His acting brilliance ranged from the side splitting comedy "Mrs. Doubtfire" to the chillingly dramatic roles in "Good Will Hunting" and "Dead Poets Society." Robin could do it all on screen, but could be even more entertaining off screen, when he wasn't tied down to a script. He would often explode into comedic rants that would include character after character, all seemingly without stopping to take a breath. There was no doubt that the man was brilliant.

Follow the Re-creation of One of the Most Famous Photographs in History

Philippe Halsman's "Dali Atomicus" is one of the most famous images ever, notable for its complex composition and remarkable timing that captured the soul of its famous subject. This modern re-creation goes to painstaking effort to replicate the original, and the process is very neat to watch.

Two Centuries of Street Photography: An Incredible Compilation

Street photography has captured windows into history across almost two centuries now, and taking a tour through a collection of them is an amazing look at society, individuals, and more and their evolution. Check out this fantastic compilation that shows a photo from every year starting all the way back in 1838.

Why So Many People Think This Famous Photo Is Fake

Perhaps no historical event is rifer with conspiracy theories than the assassination of President John Kennedy. One of the key pieces of evidence conspiracy theorists point to is a seemingly strange photo of assassin Lee Harvey Oswald that, if real, is tremendously incriminating. This fascinating video takes a look at the photo and why so many people think it is fake and provides a modern analysis of its authenticity.

Photobooth Tintype Studio in San Fran to Close

Some four thousand custom tintype portraits, countless Polaroids and more than 30 gallery shows but after four years in business, Photobooth San Francisco is closing its doors at the end of March 2014. One of the few commercial studios selling custom hand-made tintypes, Photo Booth, located on Valencia Street, has been a favorite and easy place to have a one-of-a-kind metal portrait made.

The Best Photo Vivian Maier Never Took

We'd all love to be mentioned in the same breath as our favorite photographer. Especially if that photographer is a highly celebrated master of their genre. But what happens when your image is mistaken for, and credited to them, instead of you?

Sold: The Most Expensive Photography Books

Do you know what the most expensive photography book ever sold was? What would your guess be? How about the most expensive photography books on retail shelves? The rarest or most sought after? Take a few guesses, write them down, and then compare when you get to the end.

10 Photo Hoaxes Throughout History

It's incredibly easy to fake photos these days with a few minutes in Photoshop, but it wasn't always that easy. Take a look at these 10 photo hoaxes throughout history, from the first one in 1830 to some more modern ones.

The Experience of Photographing September 11th As It Happened

September 11th was a horrific day. Many photographers covered the events of the day, and of them, Phil Penman's images are particularly noteworthy. In this presentation, he shows some of his images and talks about his experience on that day.

Looking Back: Things We Have Photographed That Are Gone

Do you often think about the significance of the subject you are photographing? What if you knew it would be gone forever someday? Though we don’t always realize it in the moment the shutter clicks, the images we capture with our cameras become more precious when the subjects in those images no longer exist.

Photos Show Immigrants as They Arrived on Ellis Island

From 1892 to 1925, Augustus Sherman, the chief registry clerk of Ellis Island, took photographs of immigrants as they arrived in the United States. The photographs are striking for their display of the vast array of cultural backgrounds that passed through on their way to becoming citizens of the U.S. Take a look at some of the history contained in this archive.

The World's Largest Film Camera Redefines Mobile Photography

The phrase “go big or go home” seems to take on a special significance with photographer Dennis Manarchy. Obsessed with the concept of scale and the possibilities of working with massive negatives to create portrait images more than two stories high, he and his team have created a 35-foot view camera, the world’s largest film camera. The project, nicknamed “Butterflies and Buffalo”, aims to use the traveling view camera as a conduit for documenting more than 50 of the unique cultures in America.

How Ansel Adams Changed Photography

Though Ansel Adams may have died in 1984, his work and his impact on photography reverberates through the craft to this day. This video essay will explain how and why, in under ten minutes.

Watch 30 Years of Canon Cameras Evolving Before Your Eyes

The Canon EOS (Electro-Optical System) and the EF (Electro-Focus) lens mount have been the standard of Canon SLR and DSLR cameras since 1987. This neat video showcases 30 years of evolution in just 90 seconds.

Vivian Maier Films Coming Soon

The greatest 20th Century photographer you've never heard of is about to become a household name. Vivian Maier, the reclusive, very private Chicago nanny whose 150,000-image archive proves her to be one of the most talented street photographers of the past century, is about to be immortalized in two separate films.

How to Colorize a Photo Using Curves in Photoshop

Adding color to a black and white photo is one of the most fun things you can do in Photoshop. Not only that but it is surprisingly straightforward, only taking a few repetitive steps to accomplish. In this tutorial, I’ll take you through the steps necessary to add color to any photo you like!

Five Inspirational Photography Books

There are many great photography books out there but this is a list of five of my all-time favorites, the ones routinely jockeying for space on my nightstand even though I’ve read or pawed through them numerous times. Each is a continual source of inspiration and provides welcome insight into the thought-process behind successful imagemaking at the highest level.

An Iconic Image: 'Lunch Atop a Skyscraper'

If I were a betting man, I'd wager that you've seen this image from 1932 of construction workers sitting on an iron beam, called "Lunch Atop A Skyscraper." I'd also wager that you hadn't thought much about the photographers that took the image.

Your Photos Need More Life and Less Photoshop

I find so many photographs today to be technical masterpieces, yet they lack any sense of life. They don't draw the viewer into the photograph or encourage the viewer to spend several moments viewing the photograph.

Are Smartphones Really Better Than Some Professional Photographers?

Time-honored English fashion and portrait photographer David Bailey is 81. His prominent heyday was a time that now seems remote — one of a young Mick Jagger and the four Beatles. Now Bailey himself thinks that the day of the star professional photographer is gone forever.

Ed Drew's Wartime Tintypes from Afghanistan

Not since Matthew Brady’s work documenting the Civil War has the tintype photographic process been used on the battlefield. Staff sergeant Ed Drew, an aerial gunner in the California Air National Guard, brought tintype back to the theater of war to photograph his fellow soldiers during his deployment from April to June in Afghanistan’s Helmand province.

Photographer Awarded $625,000 Grant For Documenting Small Pennsylvania Town

Every year the MacArthur Fellowship announces the winners of its $625,000 grant and among the 24 they have chosen for this year is a photographer by the name of LaToya Ruby Frazier. LaToya has been documenting her small hometown of Braddock, Pennsylvania for the past 12 years and it has resulted in some very large accolades.

Robert Capa at D-Day: What Was and Could've Been

In the archives of photography, few moments have been as pivotal as Robert Capa's coverage of the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944. Capa stepped onto the beaches of Normandy and captured the raw intensity of one of the most significant events of World War II, and, it can be argued, one of the most significant events in history. Despite the chaotic atmosphere, Capa's work stands as a testament to the power and importance of photojournalism. We've all seen the photos. They are some of the most iconic images captured during war. However, due to a darkroom mishap, many of those moments he captured are gone forever.

Nikon's D1 Changed Photography 20 Years Ago

With all of the noise about new mirrorless cameras and all the benefits they bring to the digital photography table, it’s time to take a moment to recognize a pioneer whose 20th birthday just quietly passed: the Nikon D1.

10 of the Weirdest Digital Cameras Ever Made

The form of the digital cameras has become relatively standardized. There are certainly variations from manufacturer to manufacturer, but the basic design is generally stable across companies. That was not always the case, however, particularly in the early days of digital. This neat video takes a look at 10 of the weirdest digital cameras ever made and just what made them so unique.

A Haunting but Gorgeous View of Chernobyl by Filmmaker Christiaan Welzel: Beautiful Ghost

Christiaan Welzel and his wife Kseniya have trekked across the world adventuring for the majority of the last eight years. They decided to start exploring places that were extremely hard to get to like Antarctica or various ghost towns, but they finally decided on traveling to Ukraine where Kseniya is from. It was in April of last year, days before the 27th anniversary of the nuclear disaster, when months of preparations finally came to fruition and they headed off to Chernobyl.

Did Sony Kill the DSLR?

Back in 2006, Sony bought out camera manufacturer Minolta, triggering a sequence of events that has all but brought about the demise of the beloved DSLR.

Newly Released Photos Show Reactions of President, Vice-President, to the 9/11 Attacks

A set of over 300 never-before-released photos taken on September 11, 2001 has just been posted on the U.S. National Archives' Flickr page. These images take us right into the middle of meetings between President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and more. They offer us a powerful look at the reactions of our nation's leaders as they are faced with the largest terrorist attack ever on U.S. soil.

Treasure Chest Of Unpublished, Eighty Year Old Edward Steichen Portraits Unearthed

You never know what’s going to happen in New York. Last week, photographic gold was struck in Times Square in the deep cavernous archives inside the Conde Nast building. Two thousand prints shot by Edward Steichen, one of 20th Century’s most influential photographers, were found after lying hidden for over eighty years. The story behind them, and of Steichen’s rise to photographic fame and acclaim, are almost too unbelievable to be true.

Death Photography: The Roots of Portrait Photography

Point and shoot. That's how many people think about modern photography. A lot of things we take for granted today developed in the 1800s, including photography. Exposures took days until Louis Daguerre invented his daguerreotype process, which reduced days to minutes and produced clearer, more detailed images. At about the same time, the Victorian Period began with the ascension of Queen Victoria to the British throne. Disease was rampant and mortality rates were high, especially among children under five years old. Arguably, these were contributing factors to the unintended birth of portrait photography.

Major Milestones in the History of Photography

This year, we celebrate the 184th birthday of photography, and in those nearly two centuries, we have seen some remarkable accomplishments and advancements. This fantastic video essay takes a look at the craft we all love and some of the most important milestones in its history.

The World's Most Technologically Advanced Yellow Line

If you grew up in a house with a football-loving father like I did, you probably had your young little mind blown every NFL Sunday by the yellow line darting under the players' feet. My dad's answer? "Hollywood Magic." Up until the moment I stumbled across this video that was the only answer I had ever gotten.

The Psychological Benefits of Post-Mortem Photography

Death photography was, at one time, a popular way of preserving a memory of a loved one who has passed. This video discusses the history of it, and suggests that it can still play a role in modern society as a way to cope with grief.

Rescued Film Project Finds And Develops 31 Rolls Of Film From WW2

In late 2014 at an auction in Ohio, Levi Bettweiser of the Rescued Film Project, stumbled upon one of his greatest finds. Up for bid were 31 rolls of 70 year old undeveloped film from World War 2 shot by an unknown soldier and photographer. The Rescued Film Project is an effort to find and salvage undeveloped film from as early as the 1930's. They strive to recover even those films which are damaged by age or the elements, as in the case of this large find of film from WW2.

The End Of The Line For The Family Album?

I grew up as part of the generation of photographers that developed film (or had a lab develop it) and mounted photos in family albums. At the time, I would remember thinking it wasn't a particularly special exercise or the photos themselves weren't particularly amazing. But how many of you remember the feeling - often years later - of finding those same 'mundane' shots and nostalgically revisiting the past? Wasn't that a powerful and often wonderful feeling?

The Biggest Changes in the Photo Industry Since I Began my Career

Every time I think about how much 2020 has fundamentally changed my life and my profession, I am reminded that, while dramatic, this is hardly the only period of change I’ve experienced in the business. So today, I thought I’d have a look back at just some of the changes that have impacted my own career since I first started making money as a professional photographer.

Go Behind The Scenes On "The Great Human Odyssey" - A Documentary On The Origin Of Our Species

A group of filmmakers from Edmonton, Alberta have been working on a three-part science and nature documentary called The Great Human Odyssey. I recently spoke with some of the crew to learn more about how a production team approaches a project that involves planning and shooting in some of the most remote environments in the world. Check out their behind the scenes video, but read on for more videos and insight into their process.

The Myths of ISO

Eye-es-oh or eye-soh? Not as simple as you think! Tip: Don't believe everything you read on the internet.

15 Top Magazine Covers Then and Now: From Marilyn Monroe to Caitlyn Jenner

From Vogue to People, including Playboy and National Geographic, all these popular magazines are familiar to us and instantly recognizable, but just a few of us know what their first editions looked like decades ago. As time passed by, bringing forth new faces, new fashion, and a whole new way of thinking, magazines needed to evolve with their time and adapt. Some have stayed faithful to their initial visual identity, having only undergone minor changes because they knew what worked for them. On the other hand, other magazines covers have changed drastically, their covers being a far cry from the original design.

The Most Liked Image in Instagram History: Beyoncé's Maternity Photo

Kim Kardashian West needed to bare her booty in an attempt to "break the internet" for Paper Magazine, but move over Kim, the Queen has just side stepped your attempts in grand fashion. Beyoncé's birth announcement photo, published yesterday, has captured more than 8 million likes on Instagram as of this writing, making it the most liked photo to ever grace the social media platform.