1. The major difference in creativity that Szarkowski raises with the invention of photography is, “how could this mechanical and mindless process be made to produce pictures meaningful in human terms – pictures with clarity and coherence and a point of view.”
2. For the most part, converted silversmiths, tinkers, druggists, blacksmiths, and printers were working as photographers in the 19th century.
3. Early photographers chose to describe, “objects of all sorts, size and shapes, without every pausing to ask themselves, is this or that artistic.”
4. Szarkowski’s thoughts on the thing itself were photos were “the actual,” yet the photo was different from the reality itself. He also believed there was an artistic problem, not a scientific problem, leading to believe that what the camera saw was the truth, and what our eyes saw was an illusion.
5. Szarkowski’s thoughts on detail was that a photograph’s compelling clarity suggested that the subject had never before been properly seen and filled with undiscovered meaning. He also believed if the photo could not tell a narrative, it could be read as a symbol.
6. Szarkowski believed the frame demarcated what the photographer felt was most important. The frame created a crop that would allow the photographer to create infinite numbers of compositions as the frame kept moving along.
7. There is no things as an instantaneous photography, a shutter speed with a duration will expose for the photo. Slow speeds would show dogs with multiple heads and squirming babies in family portraits. Equipment evolved for faster speeds which lead to the visualization of the galloping horse, and human expressions that could not be seen by our eyes.
8. The unexpected vantage point of photos have given a sense of scene. Photos could be taken from the bird’s eye view, or below from the worm, or from a distorted view like foreshortening, or with an unusual pattern of light. In the early days of photography, the distortion of the photos was one of the most popular aspect of photography.
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