work in progress
Daguerreotype to Digital: A History of Photography as told through Five Presidents
Daguerreotype to Digital tells a history of photography through five stories of how presidents shaped and participated in transformative moments in the history of the medium: the rise of the daguerreotype portrait after 1839, the dawn of the “halftone era” in the late nineteenth century, the emergence of so-called miniature photography in the late 1920s, and the digital revolution of the early twenty-first century. From daguerreotypes to selfies, from the earliest photographs printed in newspapers to online slideshows, the ways we participate in photography have changed in large part because technological developments have transformed its practice. Presidents are no exception, and stories of their participation in photography offer a compelling lens through which to study how photography shapes public experience and teaches us who we are as Americans.
Research on the project has been supported by an Arnold O. Beckman Award from the University of Illinois Campus Research Board, a University of Illinois Center for Advanced Study fellowship, the University of Illinois system University Scholars award, and a 2016-17 National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship.
Photo illustration by Cara Finnegan. Photo credits: Pete Souza, White House (inset); Cara Finnegan.
Daguerreotype to Digital tells a history of photography through five stories of how presidents shaped and participated in transformative moments in the history of the medium: the rise of the daguerreotype portrait after 1839, the dawn of the “halftone era” in the late nineteenth century, the emergence of so-called miniature photography in the late 1920s, and the digital revolution of the early twenty-first century. From daguerreotypes to selfies, from the earliest photographs printed in newspapers to online slideshows, the ways we participate in photography have changed in large part because technological developments have transformed its practice. Presidents are no exception, and stories of their participation in photography offer a compelling lens through which to study how photography shapes public experience and teaches us who we are as Americans.
Research on the project has been supported by an Arnold O. Beckman Award from the University of Illinois Campus Research Board, a University of Illinois Center for Advanced Study fellowship, the University of Illinois system University Scholars award, and a 2016-17 National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship.
Photo illustration by Cara Finnegan. Photo credits: Pete Souza, White House (inset); Cara Finnegan.