This elegant program artistically unfolds the history of photography, including the contributions of Joseph Niepce, Louis Daguerre, Fox Talbot, and the Lumieres, with an emphasis on the processes involved in creating photographs. The chemistry of modern film development is described in detail, using computer imaging to illustrate the mechanics of the exposure and development processes. In addition, the recently rediscovered Niepce process is demonstrated...

Walk in the street trying not to blink. Each time you blink, snap a photo. These instructions by Vito Acconci, the basis of his series "Blink," characterize the methods and philosophies of the Conceptualist Photography movement that began in the 1960s. Aided by his low-tech amateur camera, Acconci meant to deconstruct the notion of artistic subjectivity while suggesting that the open shutter replaces his closed eyes. Using works by Acconci and others,...

William Fox Talbot was a brilliant scholar determined to capture the magic of the camera obscura in some permanent, reproducible form. In 1835, he discovered the negative-positive process, and went on to prove himself an exceptional creative photographer. This program explains the technical aspects of his work and shows many of his most beautiful and thought-provoking results.

Few have revolutionized photography as much as French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson has. The father of modern photojournalism contributed spreading the "street photography" or "life reportage", a style that influenced generations of photographers. In this documentary, he narrates the crucial moments of his life, such as his meeting with Gandhi, while his shots illustrate his work.

Jurgen Schadeberg focuses on fellow photographer and former exile Ernest Cole in this beautiful film. Cole could have been one of a generation of lost black achievers that history overlooked, but Schadeberg reintroduced his work and his courage to the public. This film reveals how Cole acted as a shining symbol of anti-apartheid activism through his powerful art. On the payroll of the famous Drum magazine, Cole was the first photojournalist to expose...

When a trove of high-quality negatives dating back to the 19th century surfaced in a New Zealand attic, the discovery sparked much controversy over cultural sensitivity and ownership rights. In the manner of the famous Curtis photographs of Native Americans, the images depicted individual Maori people and had been used as tourist postcards during the Victorian Era's craze for all things "exotic." This program documents the discovery of William Partington's...

Tapping phone calls, paying informers, planting microphones, trespassing, purchasing information obtained illegally: it's all in a day's work for the paparazzi. Filmed in England, France, and Italy, this program introduces viewers to unscrupulous photographers prepared to go to practically any length to shoot celebrities and politicians unaware-including Antonio Zappadu, the man responsible for compromising images of Silvio Berlusconi. But do the...

The development of the still camera was one of the most significant advances of the age of invention. The captured image has transformed the way we see our world, preserving moments forever with the push of a button. Modern Marvels presents the strange saga of the birth of photography, and the men at the heart of this tale. See how Frenchman Joseph Nicephore Niepce was the first to succeed in photographing an image in 1826, but his work was co-opted...

The career of one of Britain's greatest painters tells us as much about his skill with a camera as his facility with a brush. In this program, David Hockney invites viewers on a journey of discovery that traces the evolution of his photographic work-from his initial experiments in the 1970s through the high point of his photo collage period, exemplified in Nude, featuring Theresa Russell, and another crowning achievement, Pearblossom Highway. The...