100 years of Infrared imaging

Chris Forrester ©RapidTVNews | 08-02-2010

This year sees the 100^th anniversary of the first use of infrared photography.

Modern photography itself extends back to the 1820s, but became something of a popular pastime from the 1880s when George Eastman invented his Kodak system.

In October 1910 the Royal Photographic Society in London published the world’s first infrared images, and this year the RPS is celebrating 100 years since the event.

Infrared images use film, or a modern sensor, that is sensitive to near-infrared light, and the end result is quite different from conventional photography whether in black and white or colour. There’s a growing fascination, certainly amongst art-houses and specialist galleries, for images taken with infrared cameras.

To see many fascinating examples of old and more recent infrared images, and to see what’s happening during this 100^th celebration year, have a glance at the following sites:

http://www.infrared100.org/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/photoblog/2010/01/on_a_different_wavelength_100_years_of_infrared_ph.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/photoblog/2010/02/your_infrared_pictures.html