History of Photography

Pinhole Camera and Camera Obscura

400 BCE

the first historical mention by philosophers Mozi, Aristotle, Alhazeb

Leonardo Da Vinci records detailed description of Camera Obscura

1490

Evidences of artists use (Rembrandt, Vermeer, Caravaggio)

Silver nitrate reaction discovery

1724

Johann Heinrich Schulze discovers silver nitrate reacts with light

Heliography

1826

Joseph Nicéphore takes the first photograph. The exposure lasted for days.

Daguerreotype

1833

Louis Daguerre creates the first practical photographic process

Daguerreotype is free to the world

1839

The French government buys the Daguerreotype and makes it free to be used by anyone

First photo of a human

1839

With an exposure of 7-10 min, Louis Daguerre could photograph a human who was standing still for that length of time having his shoes polished

Calotype

1840

Henry Fox Talbot creates the Calotype camera based on paper negative. However he puts copyright which reduces popularity due to price.

Mobile Photo Studios

1850

Wagons are used to transport and be the studio. The exposure lasts around 3 min so people wouldn't smile. They would take medications, use adjustable head rests, clamps and posing stands.

First photoshop

1861

Abraham Lincoln has a photo of his head placed on a nobleman body

First Coloured Photo

1861

Joseph Nicéphore Niépce took the first coloured photo

Gelatin Dry Plate

1871

Richard Leach Maddox created the gelatin dry plate, therefore smaller cameras and no tripod necessary

Roll Film

1885

George Eastman founder of Kodak invents the roll film. The first hand-held camera

Kodak goes on sale

1888

Pre loaded camera with a 100 exposures and needed to be sent back to the factory to be processed and reloaded.

Brownie become affordable

1900

The camera introduces the concept of snap shot

Leica 35mm Creation

1925

Oskar Barnack invented the first 35mm camera, which was mobile, light and small, enabling to capture any moment

First Single Lens Reflex

1949

First SLR arrives.

First Digital Image

1957

First scanned digital image

First Polaroid Camera

1963

First polaroid camera arrives

First Digital Camera

1975

Steve Sasson create the first digital camera

First Auto-focus

1985

First camera with Auto-focus function built-in

DSLR revolution

1990

DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) takes over photography

First Camera on phones

2000

First phone with built-in cameras are sold

Kodak Digital cameras

2004

Kodak brings out its digital cameras to the market

Kodak bankruptcy

2012

Kodak bankrupts and leaves the market.

Smart Phone Cameras

2018

Nowadays, phones have incredible built-in cameras, which allow anyone to have access to photography worldwide. Access to photography has developed like never before.