At the beginning of the twentieth century, photography underwent extraordinary changes. Photography, however, is unique in that it transforms the perception of its medium unlike any other type of visual representation. This is why photography attracted artists in the early 1900s.
The Kodak #1 camera (1888) made photography accessible to upper-middle class consumers; the Kodak Brownie camera, which cost far less, reached the middle class by 1900.
Following World War I’s devastations, technology becomes a vehicle of progress and change in the early 1920s, instilling hope in many. Photography became incredibly appealing to avant-garde artists because of its ties to science, everyday, and technology—the same reasons it was denigrated half a century before. In the post-WWI era, the camera was the fastest, most modern, and arguably the most relevant form of visual representation.
Below are some fabulous group photos that show how people posed for the camera from the early 20th century.
