-The major drawback was that while it could capture the image, it could not independently preserve it. Artists had to trace its projections onto paper or canvas. Abelardo Morell, Camera Obscura Image of the Panthéon in the Hotel des Grands Hommes, 1999.

First one to do so was Alhazen (also known as Ibn al-Haytham) in 11th century. He was a scientist, mathematician, astronomer and philosopher, he wrote the Book of Optics and, among other things, he invented camera obscura and pinhole camera.

Arnaldus de Villa Nova

A definite disadvantage of the daguerreotype process is that it was impossible to duplicate an image. The images produced are positives rather than negatives. While great for portrait sittings, the daguerreotype method could only capture subjects that were absolutely still, because the length of the process.

Man Ray

Emmanuel Radnitzky

He was best known for his pioneering photography, and he was a renowned fashion and portrait photographer. Man Ray is also noted for his work with photograms, which he called “rayographs” in reference to himself.

Rayograph 1922. Man Ray made his “rayographs” without a camera by placing objects-such as the thumbtacks, coil of wire, and other circular forms used here-directly on a sheet of photosensitized paper and exposing it to light.

The technique is sometimes called cameraless photography. It was used by Man Ray in his exploration of rayographs. Other artists who have experimented with the technique include László Moholy-Nagy, Christian Schad (who called them “Schadographs”), Imogen Cunningham and Pablo Picasso.

Photogram. A photogram is a photographic image that is made without a camera. Objects are placed directly onto the surface of a light-sensitive photographic paper and then exposed to light in a darkroom. The shadows or silhouettes are where the objects have prevented light from reaching the surface of the paper.

Pictorialism, an approach to photography that emphasizes beauty of subject matter, tonality, and composition rather than the documentation of reality. The Curb Market – New York, bromoil print by Joseph Petrocelli, 1920; in the Brooklyn Museum, New York.

Photographers began to embrace its social, political and aesthetic potential, experimenting with light, perspective and developing, as well as new subjects and abstraction. Coupled with movements in painting, sculpture and architecture, these works became known as ‘modernist photography’.