(Roughly) Daily

Or so it seems. Indeed, as the ability- and the impulse– to take pictures becomes ubiquitous, we risk losing a sense of how rarefied, how special photos once were. By way of a reminder, from Her Moments, a collection of 35 photographic firsts…

If not for the invention of the camera, many of the greatest moments in human history would have been lost forever. What would the world be like without images of unforgettable moments like the flag being raised over Iwo Jima or the man facing down a tank in Tiananmen Square? Throughout the history of photography, there have been plenty of incredible milestones. These rare photographic firsts may be some of the most impactful pictures ever taken…

Many more at “35 Photography Firsts That Paint A Fascinating Portrait Of Human History.”

For an overlapping but different collection of photographic firsts, see “First images from atoms to the universe.”

And for more on three of the photos in the first collection, covered in earlier (R) D posts, see “First Takes” and “Time and tide wait for no man.”

* Susan Sontag

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As we point and click, we might recall that it was on this date in 1982 that Def Leppard and their producer Mutt Lange completed production on “Photograph,” the lead single from their next album, Pyromania; the album and the single were released the following month. ”Photograph” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top Tracks chart, where it stayed for six weeks. 

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