Historical Photography Techniques

The explosion of photo technology began with the camera obscura.

Photography has had a long but constantly developing history. Its uses have evolved right along with the technologies, giving us motion pictures, family photo albums, photo journalism and streaming video.

First Efforts

French inventor Joseph Nicephore Niepce used a camera obscura and a pewter plate coated with bitumen of Judeato in 1826 to invent the first photos. He burned a permanent image onto the plate, though it took eight hours of exposure. He named this process heliography.

Faster with Chemicals

Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre invented the daguerreotype process in 1839. It used silver compounds to develop the images. William Talbot also used silver compounds in his invention of the calotype process in 1840. This process created negative images for the first time.

Fast and Moving

In 1884, George Eastman developed photographic film and the use of glass plates ended. Instead, reflected light caused chemical reactions in the celluloid in the film. For a century, film ruled the photography world, both still and moving picture. The technology passed through a series of improvements from black-and-white to color and many formats.

Digital

Digital photography's beginnings culminated in 1986 when scientists from the Kodak company invented the megapixel sensor. It could record millions of pixels, which could be used to produce a digital photograph.

References

• National Geographic: History of Photography
• The History Calendar: History of Photography
• Let's Go Digital: Digital Photography Future and History