Historical

Photography has undergone a fundamental transformation that extends far beyond technical capabilities. While digital cameras and smartphones have democratized image-making and eliminated financial barriers to practice, they may have simultaneously dismantled the psychological foundations that historically drove photographic mastery: patience, deliberation, and tolerance for delayed gratification.

Every photographer today carries in their camera bag technologies that would have seemed like science fiction to previous generations. Features we consider basic—automatic exposure, instant image review, face detection—represent decades of engineering breakthroughs that fundamentally transformed how photography works. Understanding the revolutionary nature of these now-mundane features reveals both how far camera technology has advanced and how quickly we adapt to miracle becoming ordinary.

Maria Santos learned to stop looking at faces.

The bell above the door hadn't stopped ringing for twenty minutes. It was a Saturday afternoon in March 1985, and Harrison Camera on 47th Street was packed with its usual crowd: wedding photographers arguing about lens choices, art students pawing through used equipment bins, tourists asking endless questions about film types, and the regulars who came not to buy anything but simply to belong somewhere that understood their obsession.

The chemical stains on Samuel McKinney's hands told the story of his profession before he ever opened his mouth. Fine brown flecks of silver nitrate freckled his fingertips; years of handling pyrogallic developer had yellowed his nails. His clothes reeked faintly of sulfur and ether no matter how many times his wife scrubbed them.

Imagine taking a photo and not seeing it for a week. Imagine every click of the shutter costing real money. Imagine gathering your family around the kitchen table to pass around actual printed photographs, holding them up to the light, flipping them over to read date stamps printed in orange numbers.

In technology, being first doesn't guarantee success—it often guarantees failure. The photography industry is littered with brilliant innovations that arrived years or even decades before the world was ready for them. These weren't bad ideas executed poorly; they were revolutionary concepts that failed because the supporting ecosystem, consumer behavior, or complementary technologies hadn't caught up yet.

The RolleiFlex 3.5F, with its classic Schneider lens, holds a special place in film photography—when it works. Reliability can be tough, but photographers keep coming back because when it's good, it’s outstanding.

Photography didn't just evolve technologically—it fundamentally altered how humans behave, interact, and see themselves. These five moments didn't just introduce new features or platforms; they rewired our brains and created entirely new social behaviors that didn't exist before. Each represents a permanent shift in human psychology that we can never undo.

Photography has evolved dramatically over the past 50 years, but certain cameras didn't just capture images—they fundamentally altered the entire medium. These five cameras didn't just introduce new features; they sparked revolutions that are still shaping how we create and consume photography today.

Did you know that DVDs store captions in two fundamentally different ways? This isn't just trivia; understanding this matters if you're relying on older media for accessibility.

Magic Eye stereograms swept through the 1990s as a cultural phenomenon, capturing imaginations with their ability to transform a flat image into a mesmerizing 3D scene. For many, they became an intriguing challenge that separated those who could instantly discern the hidden depth from those left squinting at a frustrating blur (aka me).

The camera industry is littered with the corpses of products that looked revolutionary on paper but crashed spectacularly in the real world. These aren't just minor missteps—these are epic failures that cost companies millions, confused consumers, and taught us valuable lessons about what not to do. Here are the cameras that failed hardest, and the brutal reasons why.

Leica is observing a truly historic moment in 2025: the 100th anniversary of the Leica I camera. You might know the name Leica, but the introduction of the Leica I was more than just a product launch; it was an event that irrevocably altered the landscape of photography.

Eighty years after the end of the Second World War, and in commemoration of VE80, I’m sharing a never-before-seen collection of images taken by my grandfather during his service as a British Army mechanic.

More is sometimes less. High dynamic range can be great for bringing out the details in your photographs’ shadows and highlights, but it can also make them look rather flat, clinical, and lifeless. If you want to give your images impact and emotional depth, consider trying high contrast instead.

Photography has always been about capturing light to preserve moments. For over a century, that meant exposing a roll of film and then disappearing into a darkroom or waiting for a lab to develop the images. It’s easy to forget how different this process was before digital cameras came along. In the 1970s, the idea of instantly seeing a photo on a screen felt like science fiction. Yet it was in this era of film and chemicals that a young engineer quietly built a device that would change photography forever. What follows is the story of how the first digital camera was invented and how it transformed the way we take and share photos.

On February 23, 1945, during the Battle of Iwo Jima, six men—five U.S. Marines and a U.S. Navy corpsman—raised an American flag atop Mount Suribachi. Joe Rosenthal, a photographer with the Associated Press, happened to put himself in the right place at the right time. With one click of the shutter, he captured a fleeting moment of unity and grit that would echo far beyond the war: the raising of the U.S. flag on Iwo Jima.

Limiting yourself to a single fixed lens can transform how you see and capture your surroundings. It's a deliberate constraint that makes you rethink every shot and pushes you to become more creative in your photography.

The Canon PowerShot 350, launched in 1997, stands out for its unconventional design and unusual features. Here's a look at one of the neatest cameras of yesteryear.

As photographers, we can often get lost in the art of composition, lighting, and creative expression. We love the challenge of capturing a scene that tells a story, evokes an emotional response, or simply looks stunning. But beyond a camera's function as a creative tool, its most important role is its ability to preserve memories and offer a connection to the past.

The idea of incorporating scent into entertainment isn't new, but it remains one of technology’s strangest endeavors. For creators and enthusiasts alike, adding smell to media has long been seen as a compelling, if peculiar, ambition.

Lightroom's evolution over the past 18 years reveals just how far photo editing software has come since its original release.

Canadian photographer Greg Girard left Vancouver in the 1970s to explore Southeast Asia with his camera. His colorful, atmospheric landscapes showed us a very different and unfamiliar part of the world that, for Westerners at that time, was much less traveled and even less well known.

Mastery of the camera, a keen photographic eye, and excellent timing are all prerequisites for being a good portrait photographer. But there’s another quality that is much harder to come by and less often talked about, yet it can distinguish a great portrait photographer from a good one.

On February 14, 2025, YouTube celebrates its 20th anniversary—a milestone that invites deep reflection on how a single website, originally conceived as a platform for sharing simple video clips, evolved into a global cultural powerhouse. Over two tumultuous decades, YouTube has transformed media hierarchies, empowered ordinary individuals to become creators, and reshaped public discourse on a myriad of social, political, and cultural issues.

Before baby monitors and viral livestreams, a glitchy black-and-white camera pointed at an empty coffee pot ignited an internet revolution. This is the surprising tale of how a thirst for caffeine birthed the world’s very first webcam.

Photographer Martha Cooper has made a lasting impact on both the world of photography and the art world as a whole. Renowned for her documentation of urban street art and graffiti culture, Cooper's career reflects her deep passion for storytelling and her remarkable ability to capture everyday moments. Her work transcends photography, serving as historical records of cultural movements.

Born in Baltimore in 1943, Cooper began her career as a photojournalist, working for various news outlets. However, it was her groundbreaking book, Subway Art, co-authored with...