The role of portraits in the early days of photography and portraits today

What are the main differences and similarities between portraits in the early days of photography and portraits today?

Some of the similarities between photography today and in the early stages of it's birth are that the most popular subjects are still people, landscape and food. Though earlier photography was mainly for portraits of people. For the most part I believe photography now and then are quite alien from one another. Currently, there is a multitude of technological advancements such as digital cameras, editing software, lighting equipment etc. Also, artists today use every angle imaginable, and have more going on in the image, whetherr it be a particular editing style, theme, or subjects, we are very creative and are always pushing the envelope. Another huge difference is that now, anyone can take a picture, and quite often they are used as means of communication across the globe, like albums on facebook or images sold on flicker, photography is everywhere.

Who was the photographer and who was the subject of photographs in the past and today?

In the 19th century, photography was mainly used for portraits of nobility, and usually the subjects were limited to humans.The photographers were hired by nobility and were few. Today any subject you can think of has an image available somewhere, as there is a high demand for images for advertisement, which can range from toothpaste to an apple. Basically anything goes. Anyone  can take a picture, and very many do, which is why cameras are so popular, everyday people use them to express themselves and captures moments to remember.

What was the impact of technology on the portraits in the past and today?

Technology has truly changed portraits from the past into something completely different today. Before a picture was what it was, yes you could utilize the best lighting possible, apply make-up etc.But, today you can literally change anything and everything about a portrait. This is very common in magazine editing, where the picture of a women like the one above has been altered to change the shape of their body, to fit what is considered acceptable or the ultimate attainment. This picture of Jessica Alba shows how far photographers go to achieve "perfection", as in my opinion she is absolutely stunning already in the untouched photo.Technology in a way has perverted our perception of the "ideal" body image. People look at advertisements and see the "perfect" body or face and want to achieve that, although the subject in the picture in reality doesn't even look like that.