History of Photography

The first photographers

1827

In 1827, French scientist Joseph Nicephore Niece developed the first photographic image. He placed an engraving onto a meal plate coated in bitumen and exposed it to light. when he added the metal plate in a solvent, slowly, an image would appear. Despte this, it took Niepce eight hours of exposure to show the image which would then slowly fade away.

Development of photography

1839

Following Joseph Niepce's discovery, Louis Daguerre was trying to find a way to improve how long a photograph lasts. What he first done is he fixed the photo's onto a sheet of silver plated copper, once he had done this, he would then polish the silver and cover it in iodine. This would then have a surface then would be sensitive to light allowing an image to be captured if not exposed to light.

The popularity of Daguerre's discovery

1850

In 1839, Louis Daguerre sold the rights of his discovery to the French Government and would later write a book explaining step by step what he did to discover his findings. In 1850, there was over 60 of his studious in New York and his book was rapidly increasing in popularity around the world.

James Clerk Maxwell

1861

This is a photo taken by James Clerk Maxwell taken in 1861. It was the first ever coloured photograph, and changed photography for the better as his discovery led more advanced photographs to be taken as time went on.

George Eastman

1888

George Eastman was an American entrepreneur who was one of the most influential entrepreneur's the world has seen. He is the founder of the famous photography company Kodak. This allows his to produce the first ever simplified camera for the public to use, the 'Kodak number 1.'

Oscar Barnack

1913

In 1913, Oscar Barnack created the first 35mm camera. This was revolutionary as it lead to more advanced cameras being produced

Dorothea Lange

1933

This is picture by Dorothea Lange called 'White Angel Breadline, San Francisco' taken in 1933. She was a very famous photographer during the Social realism period which is when she produced most of her work.

Ansel Adams

1944

This is a piece by the famous photographer Ansel Adams called 'Winter sunrise, Sierra Nevada from lone pine' created in 1944. He was an environmentalist which meant he took multiple images similar to this.

Garry Windogrand

1959

Garry Winogrand was an American photographer who was very well known for his street photography around New York city. This is just one of his many famous photo's called 'Park Avenue, New York' created in 1959

Henri Cartier - Bresson

1964

Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French Lens based photographer and was considered to be the best 'street photographer' of the 20th century. This piece is called 'Celebration, Mexico city' taken in 1964

First 35mm camera was created by Canon

1976

In 1976, the first 35mm camera was created by Canon with a built in microprocessor called the A-E 1. This came with multiple exposure modes including shutter priority, appetite priority and program modes.

Cindy Sherman

1978

This is a piece by Cindy Sherman called 'Untitled film still 21' created in 1978. This is one of the most recognisable photographs of the 20th century and Cindy Sherman is one of the most famous photographers of all time

Yousuf Karsh

1988

Yousaf Karsh was a famous photographer known for taken famous portraits of famous people. For example he photographed Queen Elizabeth, Winston Churchill, Martin Luther king jr etc. This piece is titled 'Mother Theresa' created in 1988. He was one of the most well known photographers in the 20 th century

NASA - The pillars of creation

1995

This is piece taken by NASA in 1995 called 'The pillars of creation'. This picture inspired many people around the world changing the way they saw the universe. I personally really like this image, mainly because of the colours I think it just gives off so many emotions when I look at this image.

Michael Nichols

2000

This is a photograph taken by Michael Nichols called 'Surfing Hippos' created in 2000. He is an American journalist and would taken many images similar to this one each containing a different wild animal. I really think his images are unique as i haven't personally seen many good quality pictures of different animals.