Pioneers of Photography

Akshay Malhotra's Review Eva Weber has explored the historic characteristics of photography through her book Pioneers of Photography. She expands the whole idea of how photography evolved from the very first" camera obscura "to the very well known Pioneers such as Edward Weston, Walker Evans and Adam West . " The beginning pages of the book examine the birth of photography and how Dagurrotypes were considered the supreme form of photographic prints. Her usage of plates, very clearly illustrate the time period over which prints became more and more successful. The book bases itself upon the evolution of photography, which spread from France to England and to the United States. She reproduces the story through images presenting a kaleidoscope of styles that came out of historic photography up until the early 193o's. Weber's presentation style seems a little haphazard, because she keeps shifting back and forth between dates and time periods. This confused a lot of information, making it hard, for the reader to process a timeline. The analysis and comparison between the types of prints and the styles of photography expose the different characteristics while providing a glimpse into the olden days and how photography was viewed. This information also explains the social acceptance of photography as not only an art but as tool or mechanism to capture things. Weber doesn't engage in much of the motif aspect, through her book (pioneers of photography ,as much as she tries to accomplish factual information regarding the pioneers of photography. The fact that the book is more informative than it is opinionated makes the book a little dry but gives the required information.