Award Winning Photo

Throughout the history of photography, technological advances in optics, camera production, developing, and imaging have had an effect on the way people view images. Up until 1960, most printed photographs were black and white. Cameras that could print colour film began to be popular in the 1960s, particularly with the invention of the Polaroid camera invented by Edwin Land, which could print out a colour film print directly from the camera, within a few minutes of taking the picture. Up until the advent of the digital camera, amateur photographers could either buy print film for their camera, or slide film. If they purchased slide film, the resulting slides could be viewed using a slide projector. Digital photography began to be available in the early 2000s. The simultaneous increased use of the Internet and email, relatively cheap computers and digital cameras led to a tremendous increase in the number of photographic images in digital formats.
In the early part of the 21st century, the dominant method of viewing still images has been on computers and, to a lesser extent, on cellular phones (although people still make and look at prints). These factors have led to a decrease in film and film camera sales and film processing, and has had a dramatic effect on companies such as Fuji, Kodak, and Agfa. In addition, many stores that used to offer photofinishing services or sell film no longer do, and those that do have seen a tremendous decline.