Follow the story of photography in BBC Four's six-part series 'The Genius of Photography'. See some of the most famous photographs ever taken and find out more about what made them so very special.
In the course of our 170 year relationship, photography has delighted us, served us, moved us, outraged us and occasionally disappointed us. But mainly, it has intrigued us by showing the secret strangeness that lies beneath the world of appearances. And that is photography's true genius.
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Series covers
Programme 1: Fixing the Shadows
Thursday 25th October 9pm BBC Four
Photography first came to life in Venice where Abe Morell used bin-liners and masking tape to turn a room into a camera - but the images created were transitory.
Henry Fox Talbot and Louis Daguerre discovered how to 'fix the shadows' to produce permanent images and at that moment photography was born.
Fixing the Shadows follows the birth of photography through to the age of mass photography triggered by the creation of Kodak by George Eastman.
In following weeks :-
Right Place, Right Time?
Examines the photographs of D-Day, the Holocaust and Hiroshima raising questions about history as seen through the viewfinder.
We Are Family
Having conquered the street and the road, photographers approached the final frontier: the home, the self, and private life.
Documents for Artists
After World War One the potential of photography attracted the attention of artists and governments alike.
Paper Movies
Charts the golden age of 'photographic journeys' and how the use of colour slowly became a credible medium for 'serious' photographers
Snap Judgement
Shows how photography has become part of the art world where a single image can cost $2.9m and, in the digital world, where all images are possible.