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Article: Art in the City; `On Location': The Lens And the Lay of the Land
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- January 9, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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The camera's love for the landscape dates to its inception. In
1835 the first-ever photography review mentioned a "perfect"
image, fixed to a plate, of a valley by the French painter,
inventor and showman, Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre. The stunned
writer was driven to conclude, however hesitantly, that "physical
science has, perhaps, never offered such a marvel."
Of course, the camera loves anything one puts in front of it.
Daguerre's invention and those of others at about the same time
meant not only that the race for pretty picture postcard views of
mountains and valleys was on, but also that ordinary families for
the first time would soon be able to preserve their likenesses ...