Early Photography Forms & Types of Photography

Early portraitists from eras ranging from the Roman Empire to the British Empire have attempted to capture everything from an idealized spiritual likeness of their subjects to exact copies of their physical specimens. While portraiture varied in every culture, and the standards differed even more, one uniform aspect of portraiture was that the artist was typically bound by the unwritten rules of their trade. Early photographers, however, were without the academic and commercial restrictions of their counterparts. As a result, their work was typically rich in artistic experimentation. Talbot and Bayard, two early photographers, were especially enthralled with the new medium and produced intimate, personalized work. Included herein are links related specifically to early forms and types of photography.