This document provides a brief history of photography from its origins to modern digital cameras. It describes early innovations like the camera obscura and Joseph Nicéphore Niépce's creation of the first permanent photograph in 1826. Key early photographic processes included the daguerreotype invented in the 1830s and William Henry Fox Talbot's negative/positive process. George Eastman's 1888 introduction of roll film and the Kodak camera brought photography to the masses. Edwin Land's 1948 Polaroid camera enabled instant photographs, while Steven Sasson's 1975 digital camera was the first recorded attempt at a digital camera.
2. Camera obscuras.
Used in a dark room. A blacked out room. Just with a pinhole in,
projecting what’s outside to a wall inside. Nothing actually used
but the materials to black the room out and the knife to cut the
hole. The picture projects upside down.
Ancient
Years
3. First permanent photo
This was created by the French
inventor, Joseph Nicéphore
Niépce.
It was of a barn outside of his
house. His photographs were
produced on a polished pewter
plate covered with a petroleum
derivative called bitumen of
Judea, which he then dissolved in
white petroleum.
Ancient 1826
Years
4. Daguerreotype
After Niépce's 1833 death, Daguerre continued to research the
chemistry and mechanics of recording images by coating copper
plates with iodized silver. In 1835 Daguerre discovered—after
accidentally breaking a mercury thermometer, according to
traditional accounts—a method of developing the faint or
invisible images on plates that had been exposed for only 20 to
30 minutes.
A solar eclipse on 18th
July 1851, using
Daguerreotype
Ancient 1826 1835
Years
5. William Henry Fox Talbot (Negative)
Talbot said he engaged his photographic
experiments beginning in early 1834, well before
1839, when Louis Daguerre exhibited his pictures
taken by the sun. Talbot's negative/positive
process eventually succeeded as the basis for
almost all 19th and 20th century photography.
The negative meant that the print could be
reproduced as many times as was required. The
daguerreotype was a direct positive process and
not reproducible.
Ancient 1826 1835
Years
6. Cyanotypes
The English scientist and astronomer Sir
John Herschel discovered this procedure in
1842. Though the process was developed
by Herschel, he considered it as mainly a
means of reproducing notes and diagrams,
as in blueprint. It was Anna Atkins who
brought this to photography. Atkins placed
specimens directly onto coated paper,
allowing the action of light to create a
sillhouette effect.
Ancient 1826 1835 1842
Years
7. First moving image
• In 1878 Eadweard
Muybridge photographed a
horse named "Occident" in
fast motion using a series of
12 stereoscopic cameras.
The first experience
successfully took place on
June 11 at the Palo Alto
farm in California. The
cameras were arranged
along a track parallel to the
horse's, and each of the
camera shutters was
controlled by a trip wire
which was triggered by the
horse's hooves.
Ancient 1826 1835 1842 1878
Years
8. First mass market camera
George Eastman started manufacturing
paper film in 1885 before switching to
celluloid in 1889. His first camera, which
he called the "Kodak," was first offered
for sale in 1888. It was a very simple box
camera with a fixed-focus lens and
single shutter speed, which along with
its relatively low price appealed to the
average consumer. The Kodak came pre-
loaded with enough film for 100
exposures and needed to be sent back
to the factory for processing and
reloading when the roll was finished. By
the end of the 19th century Eastman
had expanded his lineup to several
models including both box and folding
cameras.
Ancient 1826 1835 1842 1878 1888
Years
9. Polaroid
• The instant camera is a type of camera
that generates a developed film image.
The most popular types to use self-
developing film were formerly made by
Polaroid Corporation.
• The invention of modern instant cameras is
generally credited to American scientist
Edwin Land, who unveiled the first
commercial instant camera, the Land
Camera, in 1948, a year after unveiling
instant film in New York City. The earliest
instant camera, which consisted of a
camera and portable darkroom in a single
compartment, was invented in 1923 by
Samuel Shlafrock
Ancient 1826 1835 1842 1878 1888 1948
Years
10. First digital camera
• The first recorded attempt at
building a digital camera was in
1975 by Steven Sasson, an
engineer at Eastman Kodak. The
camera weighed 8 pounds (3.6
kg), recorded black and white
images to a cassette tape, had a
resolution of 0.01 megapixels
(10,000 pixels), and took 23
seconds to capture its first image
in December 1975.
Ancient 1826 1835 1842 1878 1888 1948 1975
Years
