NOW:
1975. Digital Cameras
Invented in 1975, digital cameras became widely available in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
1995-PRESENT. This American Life
2007. The iPhone
Unveiled January 9, 2007
2010. The iPad
Unveiled March 12, 2010
2012. Google Glass Explorer Edition
Unveiled June 27, 2012
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7TB8b2t3QE[/youtube]
THEN:
1900. SEARS ROEBUCK CATALOG
The 1900 Sears Roebuck Catalog advertises portable film cameras, intended for home use.
Sears Roebuck Catalog, 1900 [note: this is a placeholder image]
Courtesy of the Sears Archives
1917. AGITPROP TRAIN
Lenin’s government gave revolutionary artists an ‘Agit Prop’ train, so they could travel through the Russian countryside and spread news of the revolution. One car was converted into a mobile cinema.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck-7wqD2Zf0[/youtube]
Agitprop Train, 1917
Courtesy of TBD
1940s. PORTABLE 16MM CAMERAS
Arriflex and Eyemo portable 16mm film cameras, designed in the mid-1920s, saw wide usage during World War II.
United States Signal Corps cameraman Robert Hagelstein films German troop movements in the Rhine Valley with a handheld Eyemo 16mm camera, March 5, 1945
Courtesy of the United States Army
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnzC8nogDMo&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
Universal Pictures Newsreel, May 1944 (Public Domain)
1950s-1960s. AMATEUR TAPE RECORDING CLUBS
Members of British tape recording clubs would record everyday sounds on reel-to-reel recorders, often swapping and sharing tapes.
Leicester Tape Recording Club, c. 1960
Courtesy of Mark Vernon
[soundcloud]http://soundcloud.com/opendoclab/london-tape-recording-club[/soundcloud]
London Tape Recording Club, 1958
Courtesy of the London Sound Survey
1960s. DIRECT CINEMA
“My idea was to have one or two people, unobtrusive, capturing the moment.”
-Robert Drew, 2003
Portable sound recording equipment made documentarians mobile. They could more easily follow their subjects, and remain unobtrusive.
Robert Drew and Richard Leacock shooting Primary (1960)
Courtesy of TBD
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC53DovFLRw&feature=related[/youtube]
Primary, 1960
Dir. Robert Drew