10 Surprising Facts About the History of Photography

Photography has transformed the way we see and understand the world around us. From the earliest recorded attempts to capture an image through the use of light-sensitive materials, to the current modern-day camera technology, photography has undergone a remarkable evolution. Here are 10 surprising facts about the history of photography, all of which are sure to stun even the most avid in the field.

#1 The Invention of Camera Obscura

The Camera Obscura, roughly translated from Latin as “dark chamber,” originated in ancient times. The Greeks and Chinese, along with other civilizations, studied ways to capture an image using this rudimentary device. It consists of a small hole on one side of a darkened room or box that allows light to enter and project an image on the opposite wall. The concept of the camera obscura was later refined by famous artists such as Leonardo da Vinci in the early 1500s, paving the way for the camera as we know it today.

#2 The First Photograph Ever Taken

The first photograph ever taken dates back to 1826 when a French inventor named Joseph Nicephore Niepce developed a method for capturing an image on a metal plate coated with bitumen. His first surviving image, “View from the Window at Le Gras,” was taken from his room’s window and required an eight-hour exposure time to develop. This pioneering work has been considered humankind’s first photographic image and marks the beginning of a photographic revolution.

#3 George Eastman and the First Camera

George Eastman founded the Eastman Kodak Company in 1888, producing his own brand of film, and created the first affordable camera- the Kodak camera. This camera had pre-loaded rolls of flexible, transparent film, which eliminated the need to develop plates. As such, photography became available and more accessible to common folks; a portrait, which previously took hours to create, now took only a few moments.

#4 The First Female Photographer

The first female photographer in history was Anna Atkins, a botanist, and a pioneer of camera-based work. Atkins’ work focused on photographic illustrations of ferns, and she produced the first book illustrated entirely with photographs – “Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions” in 1843. Despite early skepticism by many in the field, Atkins’ work helped to break the stereotype that photography is a masculine hobby.

#5 The Discovery of Color Photography

Color photography was ambitious and highly complex in the early 20th century. In 1903, the scientific duo, Auguste and Louis Lumiere presented a practical process called ‘Autochrome’ that allowed photographers to capture color images, and it became the prominent medium for decades ahead. The process involved taking a glass plate and coating it with a layer of dyed potato starch. Millions of microscopic starch grains acted as miniature color filters, and each grain reproduced the colors of the scene differently.

#6 The Kodak Brownie Camera

In 1900, George Eastman introduced the Kodak Brownie, a low-cost, hand-held camera that used perforated film rolls. The Brownie offered people the ability to capture their own memories on film and paved the way for modern consumer photography.

#7 The Birth of the First 35mm Camera

In 1913, Oskar Barnack built the Ur-Leica, what we today recognize as the first modern 35mm camera, which made the equipment smaller and thus more mobile. The Leica’s precursor was initially designed with a cine-film format of 24 x 36mm frames for optical filming. The 35mm format allowed modern-day photography and cinematography to become more compact and manual.

#8 The Large-Format Camera

The Large-Format cameras, which came to light in the early 20th century, were designed to capture stunningly high-quality images. These cameras were capable of producing images with a resolution higher than those taken by digital cameras. The photographers could adapt these cameras to produce beautiful portraits or landscapes that were representative of their subjects’ scale and context.

#9 Polaroid and Instant Photography

Introduced in 1948 by Edwin Land, the Polaroid camera was a groundbreaking invention that provided instant photography. The camera developed polaroid film immediately after a person snapped the shutter, providing both an image negative and a positive print. These cameras were incredibly popular, offering photographers the opportunity to document events and socialize more efficiently.

#10 The Digital Revolution

By the time the digital revolution arrived in the mid-20th century, photography had undergone countless transformations. The digital camera, which records and stores pictures on a memory card, brought a new level of convenience and accessibility to photography. Although digital photography was initially met with resistance, it eventually surpassed traditional photographic techniques, with smartphones and digital cameras delivering superior results at a much lower cost. With the rise of social media and photo-sharing platforms, digital photography has become more popular than ever before.