Invention of Photography

Photography is the art of recording images by means of light on a sensitive photographic film or an image sensor. It can be pursued as a hobby or as a profession. The term photography was used for the first time by John Herschel in 1839. Photography is derived from the Greek words, photos meaning light, and graphien meaning to draw. Hence, the collective meaning of photography is drawing with light. Though the actual photography originated in the 19th century, the idea has been in existence since the ancient times. The credit for inventing modern photography goes to many scientists and other personalities who contributed a lot in the field of photography. Let's discuss in brief about the invention of photography.

Invention of Photography

It is obvious that the art of photography began with the invention of camera. The invention of pinhole camera can be traced back to the 4th and 5th century BCE, and can be attributed to well-known philosophers, Mo Ti, Aristotle and Euclid. The ideas were put into practice in the 11th century by an Iraqi scientist, who invented the first camera obscura. The working of the camera obscura was such that, a tent with a pinhole was used to project inverted images on another surface in a darkened room (placed outside the tent). Hence, the room acted as a pinhole camera and there was only projection of images without actually recording them.

The portable camera obscura along with additional lenses was developed in the 17th century. Permanent image or photograph, as we call, was invented by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, a French physicist, in 1825. Prior to this, he made the first paper negative in 1816. Niépce used camera obscura for recording image on a polished pewter plate, coated with bitumen (a petroleum derivative). This was the first image that retained for a longer period. Later on, the experiment of Niépce, in partnership with Louis Daguerre, a French painter, led to the development of daguerreotype plates for creating permanent images.

The basic principle used in daguerreotype was that, an image taken on a silver-coated copper plate was exposed twice - first in iodine vapor, then followed by light exposure. Daguerre also discovered the phenomena of creating latent image by further exposing the image to mercury fumes. By 1839, he announced the invention of daguerreotypes to public. Daguerreotypes were popular till the late 1850s, before the invention of emulsion plates.

In late 1839, William Henry Fox Talbot, an English scientist, who developed the process of generating positive images from paper negatives, invented the glass negative. While doing so, he adopted the idea of fixing pictures from John Herschel, an astronomer, who in 1819, mentioned the use of hyposulphite of soda (now sodium thiosulfate) as a suitable dissolving substance for silver salts. By 1841, Fox Talbot introduced the calotype or talbotype by using silver iodide as a coating substance for paper. After refining Fox Talbot's process, George Eastman developed the technology for chemical films, which is used till today. He founded the Eastman Kodak Company, and is honored as the inventor of roll film.

Well! This is, in brief, a highlight with respect to the invention of photography. While speaking about the inventors, we can mention the names of four pioneers, namely, John Herschel, Niépce, Daguerre and Talbot, who with their path breaking contributions, led to the development of modern day photography.