History of Photography

History of Photography

• Earliest known surviving heliographic engraving was made in 1825 by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce using his "heliographic process".
• Niépce took the first permanent photograph from nature using a camera obscura in 1826 or 1827, titled "View from the Window at Le Gras".
• The concept of a pinhole camera was described by Chinese philosopher Mo Di and Greek mathematicians Aristotle and Euclid in the 5th and 4th centuries BCE.
• Byzantine mathematician Anthemius of Tralles used a camera obscura in his experiments in the 6th century CE.
• Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) studied the camera obscura and pinhole camera (965-1040).
• Albertus Magnus discovered silver nitrate (1193-1280).
• Georg Fabricius discovered silver chloride (1516-1571).
• Daniele Barbaro described a diaphragm in 1566.
• Wilhelm Homberg described the photochemical effect in 1694.
• The book "Giphantie" (1760) by French author Tiphaigne de la Roche described what can be interpreted as photography.

Precursor Technologies

• The camera obscura was used by Renaissance painters to create optical renderings in color.
• Thomas Wedgwood obtained copies of paintings on leather using silver salts, but they would turn black in the light and had to be kept in a dark room for viewing.
• Leonardo da Vinci mentioned natural cameras obscura formed by dark caves on the edge of a sunlit valley.

First Camera Photography

• The first permanent photoetching was produced in 1822 by Nicéphore Niépce, but it was destroyed in a later attempt to make prints from it.
• Niépce's camera photographs required an extremely long exposure (at least eight hours and probably several days).
• Niépce and Louis Daguerre worked together to improve the bitumen process, leading to the discovery of a more practical and sensitive process.
• Daguerre continued to experiment with light-sensitive silver halides after Niépce's death in 1833, leading to the development of more practical and permanent photography.

Explore the evolution of photography, from its precursor technologies to the first permanent photograph. Learn about the contributions of pioneers like Joseph Nicéphore Niépce.