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  • 2007-10-24T23:00:00Z on BBC Four
  • 1h
  • 6h (6 episodes)
  • United Kingdom
  • English
  • Documentary
Documentary series exploring the history of photography - from daguerreotype to digital, from portraits to photo-journalism, from art to advertising.

6 episodes

Series Premiere

2007-10-24T23:00:00Z

1x01 Fixing the Shadows

Series Premiere

1x01 Fixing the Shadows

  • 2007-10-24T23:00:00Z1h

This elegant, studious documentary - the first of a six-part series - leads us from ancient Rome to the Great War. Taking as its starting point the baffling natural phenomenon of camera obscura, it reveals how mathematician Henry Fox Talbot’s inability to draw led him to pioneer photographic methods, and how the new discovery made a big impression on painter Edgar Degas. The early tussle to see which photographic process would gain the upper hand is a fascinating one. Though occasionally dry and prone to pseudobabble, it covers a lot of territory, and Denis Lawson’s arch narration is the perfect accompaniment to some unforgettable images

2007-11-01T00:00:00Z

1x02 Documents For Artists

1x02 Documents For Artists

  • 2007-11-01T00:00:00Z1h

By the end of World War One photography had become the central medium of the age. Photographers began to turn their lenses to the plight of rural victims of the American Depression and minority communities. Alexander Rodchenko and August Sander found their artistic skills put to another use by the state – as propaganda.

Documents for Artists focuses on the first few decades after World War One when the potential of photography attracted the attention of artists and governments alike.

2007-11-08T00:00:00Z

1x03 Right Time Right Place

1x03 Right Time Right Place

  • 2007-11-08T00:00:00Z1h

Examines the photographs of D-Day, the Holocaust and Hiroshima raising questions about history as seen through the viewfinder.

2007-11-15T00:00:00Z

1x04 Paper Movies

1x04 Paper Movies

  • 2007-11-15T00:00:00Z1h

After World War One the potential of photography attracted the attention of artists and governments alike.

2007-11-22T00:00:00Z

1x05 We Are Family

1x05 We Are Family

  • 2007-11-22T00:00:00Z1h

Having conquered the street and the road, photographers approached the final frontier: the home, the self, and private life.

2007-11-29T00:00:00Z

1x06 Snap Judgements

1x06 Snap Judgements

  • 2007-11-29T00:00:00Z1h

Shows how photography has become part of the art world where a single image can cost $2.9m and, in the digital world, where all images are possible.

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