When I read Robert Doty's article, “Aloft…With Balloon and Camera”, I
was shocked by the significance that ballooning, or aerostation, had on
the history of both war and photography. Previously, I had only viewed
ballooning from a modern perspective. Growing up in such a technology-based,
fast-paced society, I found it hard to imagine a hot air balloon ever being
considered state-of-the-art technology. But
after reading what Doty had to say, my opinion quickly changed.
Whenever I pictured a hot air balloon, it was always leisurely floating
across the countryside, carrying tourists at a county fair. I never pictured it
as a tool for military reconnaissance. When it came to air travel, the only
form I had considered was the airplane. It seems odd for me to imagine a hot
air balloon floating across a war zone and gathering information about enemy
troops. But looking at it from the perspective of those living at that time, it
must have been the most amazing thing, similar to a space shuttle taking off in
the late 20th century. It makes sense why all of Paris, even the
royal family, would gather outside the palace just to watch a balloon flight. This
technology, though seemingly simple by today’s standards, provided an entire
new perspective and a vital tool for the people of that time.
I also never viewed the hot air
balloon as a key factor in the development of modern day photography. I was
amazed by how long it took to develop photography equipment that made aerial
pictures possible. The fact that it took years and years to come up with the
technology to take one clear picture from the sky intrigued me, and made me
truly appreciate my digital camera. All I have to do when I want to take a
picture is pull out my iPhone. No matter where I am I can take as many pictures
as I want, instantly. Learning about the early history of photography put this
in perspective for me, and made me realize that I shouldn’t take modern day
technology for granted.
Overall I was very surprised by what I read in the article, but at the
same time very interested. I was fascinated to learn about the early history of
the technology I use everyday. It also made me think about how if this “amazing
advancement” seems so simple to me now, what will people 100 years from now
think of our “modern” technology? And what advances will be made next?
I also never really considered hot-air balloons to have ever been revolutionary tech, and I think it’s because I always thought airplanes predated them. Now that I realize hot-air balloons could be ridden in 1783, I am actually very impressed that such machines existed way back then. I’m not so impressed with the idea as I am with the ability of the engineers to actually construct the balloon with fuel, a flame apparatus, and everything. I also never pictured a hot-air balloon being used for military reconnaissance, but the idea definitely caught on with me quickly. I too never thought of air travel in terms of hot-air ballooning, but it does now strike me as romantically, frighteningly sublime. I likewise feel gratitude just be reading about how less technologically advanced people’s instruments were back then. I feel that such things as the iPhone and most modern tech has bred the idea that there must be a shortcut or a quick fix to any solution. Reading about how inventors were in Strugglesville trying to get a camera that could take short exposure photographs may not accurately reflect anything, but it definitely makes it seem as though the people around 1800 were trained by their primitive tech to be more patient. This sense may just be a mirage created by the wording of the author. I agree that it is interesting to learn about the lineage of current tech. I would also say it is very useful. I just learned, for instance, that typewriters had a return key and a new line key. This knowledge allowed me to convert a MATLAB file into a Microsoft Excel file because I needed to employ a new line command and a carriage command to carry out the conversion to the different format.
ReplyDelete