The first photograph in history was taken in 1826 by the Frenchman Joseph Nicéphore Niepce.
Niepce used a camera obscura and... asphalt, which hardens in places illuminated by the sun. To create the photograph, he covered a metal plate with a thin layer of bitumen and spent 8 hours filming the view from the window of the workshop in which he worked.
The image turned out, of course, of poor quality, however, it was the first photograph in the history of mankind in which the outlines of real objects could be distinguished.
The method of obtaining the image itself is Zh.N. Niépce called it heliography, which can be roughly translated as “painting with the sun.”
However, along with Niepce, Daguerre and Talbot are considered the inventors of photography. Why is that? The thing is that Louis-Jacques Mande Daguerre, also a Frenchman, collaborated with J.N. Niepce, working on the invention, however, Niepce never managed to bring his brainchild to fruition - he died in 1833. Further development was carried out by Daguerre.
He used a more advanced technique - his photosensitive element was no longer bitumen, but silver. After holding the silver-coated plate in the camera obscura for half an hour, he then transferred it to a dark room and held it over mercury vapor, after which he fixed the image with a solution of table salt. Daguerre's first photograph - of very good quality - was a rather complex composition of paintings and sculptures. He called the method, which Daguerre discovered by 1837, by his own name - daguerreotype, and in 1839 he made it public, presenting it to the French Academy of Sciences.
Around the same years, the Englishman William Henry Fox Talbot discovered a method for producing a negative image.
He obtained it in 1835 using paper impregnated with silver chloride. The photographs came out of very high quality for that time, although the photographing process itself initially took longer than Daguerre’s - up to an hour. The main difference between Talbot's invention was the ability to copy photographs - it was possible to transfer a positive image (photograph) from a negative by making photosensitive paper of the same type as for the negative. And also - in the invention of a special small camera with an inch window, which Talbot used instead of a pinhole camera - this made it possible to increase its light efficiency. The first thing Talbot removed was a lattice window in the room that belonged to the scientist's family. He called his method “calotype,” which meant “beautiful print,” and received a patent for it in 1841.
Color photography was invented by James Clerk Maxwell, an outstanding British scientist of the 19th century.
Using the theory of three primary colors, he introduced the first color photograph to the scientific community in 1861. It was a photograph of a tartan ribbon (tartan ribbon), taken through three filters - green, red and blue (solutions of salts of various metals were used).
Russian photographer, inventor, traveler Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky also made his contribution to the development of color photography.
He managed to develop a new sensitizer that made the photographic plate's light sensitivity uniform to the entire spectrum, which made it possible to give natural colors to the photograph. At the beginning of the century, while traveling around Russia, he took a huge number of color photographs. Below are some of them presented to your attention to get an idea of the quality of Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky’s photographs.
Turbine room of the Hindu Kush hydroelectric power station on the Murgab River. 1911
Like painting, the history of photography and cinema began with a simple desire of a person to capture the moments of his life, preserve them for a long time and pass them on to future generations. Having gained the ability to accurately reproduce images on paper or film, these two directions were developed in art. Photographers, for example, did not limit themselves to a task that simply conveys information about the appearance of the model. Photography began to receive a certain message, an idea, to convey the character of the model, the mood of the moment. It’s the same in cinema: starting with animation lasting a few seconds, the direction developed quite quickly, and today cinema has enormous possibilities, right up to constructing stories about extraterrestrial civilizations and magical worlds. The invention of photography and cinema marked a series of discoveries and amazing works in the world of art, however, in addition, photos and videos have become an integral part of the life of modern man. Today, the processes of taking and processing photographs, shooting and processing videos for everyday use have become so simple that they do not require special training and do not take a long time. Where did the history of the invention of photography begin? How did cinema develop?
The appearance of the first photographic images
How to get clear pictures of the world around you, captured on paper? This question was asked by the great minds of past centuries. A success was the emergence of the so-called one, which made it possible to obtain a fairly accurate representation of objects in the outside world, which is where the invention of photography began. The date and century of the first attempt to capture a person, to make an instant display of him in a photograph, are still unknown exactly, but the first who paid attention to the unusual light displays of objects was Leonardo Da Vinci. Somewhat later, Giovanni Porta designed camera obscura models, which were used to transfer the contours of the model onto the canvas by hand. Being a prototype of the modern one, alas, it did not provide such opportunities that the camera later gave humanity. The moment when the dream of obtaining an image using technology came closer, when a number of discoveries were made related to photosensitivity and the special properties of chemical elements that made it possible to transfer and fix the image.
The first photo in history
The year of the invention of photography was 1839, when the French inventor Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre published the result of his work on fixing an image obtained with a camera obscura on paper. In parallel, along with him, Henry Fox Talbot and Joseph Nicephore Niepce worked on the discovery and obtaining of the first images. It was Niépce who received the first fixed reflection and prototype of the photograph in 1826. Having cooperated together and concluded an agreement, Daguerre and Niepce begin work on obtaining photographic images. The result was daguerreotype - obtaining fairly clear images on metal plates with a layer of silver iodide using mercury vapor. Some time passed since then until daguerreotype developed into the direction of stereo photography. The inventors faced a number of problems: financial losses, and a lack of understanding among others about how the invention of photography would really be useful. How did photography develop in the future?
Development process
The invention of negatives is considered a turning point in the history of photography. This opened up new possibilities: with the help of a photographic negative it was now possible to enlarge pictures and make copies of them, and this is when photography literally happened. The date of this remarkable event - 1841 - is the receipt by the English inventor William Henry Fox Talbot of a patent for the calotype method - obtaining a paper negative and then developing a positive photograph on silver chloride paper. A series of successive discoveries: the wet collodion process for improving the developing emulsion, work on photographic materials and the invention of photographic film in 1887 - this is a rapid process of development and simplification of the process of creating a photograph. The end of the 19th century gave humanity the opportunity to take photographic photographs relatively quickly and easily, and, undoubtedly, the invention of photography itself became a turning point in the history of art.
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The first photograph taken in color was obtained using three cameras. James Clark Maxwell began experimenting with color photography, and the results of his work using color filters of red, blue and green amazed society. The work was based on the discovery that the combination of these three colors could give any desired shade. However, the invention of color photography was a long way off: the process remained too labor-intensive. In the early 20th century, photographers widely used the technique of colorizing black and white images, but the true invention of color photography became a reality with the invention of color film in 1935. A year later, 35 mm color photographic film went on sale, and it was then that the boom of color photography began, which was much more accessible to the average consumer.
From film to digital
It seems like what else is worth dreaming about? The invention of photography is one of the greatest discoveries in history. But the person wanted to further simplify the process of receiving and printing photographs. Part of the first success and prototype of obtaining instant photos was the invention of the Polaroid camera, which instantly printed a photograph on paper. But the process of working with such cameras was complicated by the need to purchase special cassettes for photographs, as well as a limited number of photographs. But soon here, too, scientists announced success, and a new, “digital” invention of photography took place. Date - 1975 - it was then that the first camera was developed, which was capable of taking a photograph and recording the image on a magnetic cassette. The resolution of the first photograph was only 100 by 100 pixels, and the magnetic cassette weighed more than three kilograms! The first compact camera was developed by Sony under the name "Mavika", and then other developers followed the pioneer. Companies competed to obtain higher resolution and the ability to record photographs as a separate file with the ability to save them later. The real boom and widespread use of color digital cameras began at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century.
The Art of Photography
The invention of photography gave creative people a new opportunity for self-expression. Like painters, photographers experiment with composition and perspective, colors and lighting, trying to “catch” the best shot, and sometimes turning their photograph into a real painting. Annie Leibovitz, Helen Levitt, Erich Salomon - the names of famous photographers could be listed for a very long time, and each of them became famous in a certain, closest genre of photography. Today, every person in the world can at least once try themselves as a photographer. Art requires a lot of dedication and a certain idea that the author wants to convey to his viewers. Is it difficult to start filming on your own?
- To create an interesting photo, you need to focus on the composition in the frame. To do this, you can study the rules of composition that are used in painting, or experiment, developing your own distinctive shooting features.
- You shouldn’t chase technology and strive to buy the most expensive and modern camera. The optimal choice for a beginner would be to choose a convenient device that allows you to gain basic knowledge about photography; you can also experiment with materials, for example, by photographing objects using a film camera.
- The base that any photographer should be able to operate freely is knowledge about depth of field, lighting, composition, and working with aperture. Later, you can begin to create using the play of light and shadow, add various light filters to your work, and also learn how to skillfully process images in appropriate programs.
First film
The invention of photography is briefly described above in the article, but what can we say about the history of the development of cinema? Inventors in the 19th century experimented with systems that would make it possible to create an animated recording, and the first to achieve success were the first 35mm short video recordings entitled "Arrival of a Train", "Exit of the Factory", the pioneers of cinematography gained public recognition and further opportunity to develop this direction of art.
Development of cinema
A turning point in the history of cinema was the release of The Jazz Singer in 1927, when the film was filmed and dubbed. A further development was the film Gone with the Wind, shot in color in 1939, and a complete transition to color video filming occurred already in the 60s of the 20th century. This relatively young art direction has already produced amazing films in various genres. What seemed completely impossible and unrealistic back in the last century is now being realized with the help of stunts and computer graphics. Filmmaking involves a huge team of professionals who create the final product. The best films of all time are rightfully recognized as “Nosferatu” (1922, directed by F. Murnau), “Seven Samurai” (1954, directed by A. Kurosawa), “Pulp Fiction” (1994, directed by K. Tarantino), "Apocalypse Now" (2003, directed by F. F. Coppola) and many other films.
Development prospects
It is worth noting that cinema is now in search of new solutions for presenting ideas and stories, developing artistic solutions and computer processing methods. An important problem of modern cinema is the problem of copyright and piracy, the free distribution of the finished product on the Internet. What will surprise cinema in the future and what levers will be invented to control the product of art? Only time can answer these questions.
Despite the abundance of photographers, often self-made, few can tell in detail about the history of photographs. This is exactly what we will do today. After reading the article, you will learn: what a camera obscura is, what material became the basis for the first photograph, and how instant photography appeared.
How did it all begin?
People have known about the chemical properties of sunlight for a very long time. Even in ancient times, anyone could say that the sun's rays make the skin color darker, they guessed the effect of light on the taste of beer and the sparkling of precious stones. History goes back more than a thousand years of observations of the behavior of certain objects under the influence of ultraviolet radiation (this type of radiation is characteristic of the sun).
The first analogue of photography began to be truly used back in the 10th century AD.
This application consisted of the so-called camera obscura. It is a completely dark room, one of the walls of which had a round hole allowing light to pass through. Thanks to him, a projection of an image appeared on the opposite wall, which the artists of that time “modified” and obtained beautiful drawings.
The image on the walls was upside down, but that didn't make it any less beautiful. This phenomenon was discovered by an Arab scientist from Basra named Algazen. He had been observing light rays for a long time, and the phenomenon of a camera obscura was first noticed by him on the darkened white wall of his tent. The scientist used it to observe the darkening of the sun: even then they understood that looking at the sun directly is very dangerous.
First photo: background and successful attempts.
The main premise is Johann Heinrich Schulz's proof in 1725 that it is light, not heat, that causes silver salt to turn dark. He did this by accident: trying to create a luminous substance, he mixed chalk with nitric acid and a small amount of dissolved silver. He noticed that under the influence of sunlight the white solution darkened.
This prompted the scientist to do another experiment: he tried to obtain an image of letters and numbers by cutting them out on paper and applying them to the illuminated side of the vessel. He received the image, but he didn’t even have any thoughts about saving it. Based on the work of Schultz, the scientist Grotthus established that the absorption and emission of light occurs under the influence of temperature.
Later, in 1822, the world's first image was obtained, more or less familiar to modern man. Joseph Nicéphore Niépce received it, but the frame he received was not properly preserved. Because of this, he continued to work with great diligence and received an 1826 full-length shot called “View from a Window.” It was he who went down in history as the first full-fledged photograph, although it was still far from the quality we are used to.
The use of metals is a significant simplification of the process.
A few years later, in 1839, another Frenchman, Louis-Jacques Daguerre, published a new material for taking photographs: copper plates coated with silver. After this, the plate was doused with iodine vapor, which created a layer of photosensitive silver iodide. It was he who was key to future photography.
After processing, the layer was exposed for 30 minutes in a room illuminated by sunlight. Next, the plate was taken to a dark room and treated with mercury vapor, and the frame was fixed with table salt. It is Daguerre who is considered to be the creator of the first more or less high-quality photograph. Although this method was far from “mere mortals,” it was already significantly simpler than the first.
Color photography is a breakthrough of its time.
Many people think that color photography only appeared with the creation of film cameras. This is not true at all. The year of creation of the first color photograph is considered to be 1861, it was then that James Maxwell received the image, later called the “Tartan Ribbon”. To create it, we used the three-color photography method or the color separation method, whichever you prefer.
To obtain this frame, three cameras were used, each of which was equipped with a special filter that made up the primary colors: red, green and blue. As a result, we got three images that were combined into one, but such a process could not be called simple and fast. To simplify it, vigorous research was carried out on photosensitive materials.
The first step towards simplification was the identification of sensitizers. They were discovered by Hermann Vogel, a scientist from Germany. After some time, he managed to obtain a layer sensitive to the green color spectrum. Later, his student Adolf Mithe created sensitizers that were sensitive to three primary colors: red, green and blue. He demonstrated his discovery in 1902 at a Berlin scientific conference along with the first color projector.
One of the first photochemist scientists in Russia, Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky, a student of Mite, developed a sensitizer more sensitive to the red-orange spectrum, which allowed him to surpass his teacher. He also managed to reduce the shutter speed, managed to make the photographs more widespread, that is, he created all the possibilities for reproducing photographs. Based on the inventions of these scientists, special photographic plates were created, which, despite their shortcomings, were extremely in demand among ordinary consumers.
Instant photography is another step towards speeding up the process.
In general, the year of appearance of this type of photography is considered to be 1923, when a patent for the creation of an “instant camera” was recorded. Such a device was of little use; the combination of a camera and a darkroom was extremely cumbersome and did not greatly reduce the time it took to obtain a frame. Understanding of the problem came a little later. It consisted in the inconvenience of the process of obtaining a finished negative.
It was in the 30s that complex light-sensitive elements first appeared, making it possible to obtain ready-made positive images. Their development was initially carried out by Agfa, and the guys from Polaroid started working on them en masse. The company's first cameras made it possible to receive instant photographs immediately after taking a frame.
A little later, similar ideas were tried to be implemented in the USSR. The photo sets “Moment” and “Photon” were created here, but they did not find popularity. The main reason is the lack of unique light-sensitive films for obtaining positive images. It was the principle laid down by these devices that became one of the key and most popular at the end of the 20th – beginning of the 21st century, especially in Europe.
Digital photography is a sharp leap in the development of the industry.
This type of photography really began quite recently - in 1981. The Japanese can safely be considered the founders: Sony showed the first device in which the matrix replaced photographic film. Everyone knows how a digital camera differs from a film camera, right? Yes, it could not be called a high-quality digital camera in the modern sense, but the first step was obvious.
Subsequently, many companies developed a similar concept, but the first digital device, as they are accustomed to seeing it, was created by Kodak. The camera began to be mass-produced in 1990, and it almost immediately became super popular.
In 1991, Kodak and Nikon released the Kodak DSC100 professional digital SLR camera based on the Nikon F3 camera. This device weighed 5 kilograms.
It is worth noting that with the advent of digital technologies, the scope of application of photography has become more extensive.
Modern cameras, as a rule, are divided into several categories: professional, amateur and mobile. In general, they differ from each other only in matrix size, optics and processing algorithms. Due to the small number of differences, the line between amateur and mobile cameras is gradually blurring.
Application of photography
Back in the middle of the last century, it was difficult to imagine that clear images in newspapers and magazines would become a mandatory attribute. The photography boom became especially pronounced with the advent of digital cameras. Yes, many will say that film cameras were better and more popular, but it was digital technology that made it possible to rid the photo industry of problems such as running out of film or overlapping frames.
Moreover, modern photography is going through extremely interesting changes. If earlier, for example, to get a passport photo you had to stand in a long line, take a photo and wait a few more days before printing it, but now it’s enough to just take a photo of yourself against a white background with certain requirements on your phone and print the photos on special paper.
Art photography has also made great strides forward. Previously, it was difficult to get a highly detailed shot of a mountain landscape; it was difficult to crop unnecessary elements or make high-quality photo processing. Now even mobile photographers, who are ready to compete with pocket digital cameras without any problems, are getting wonderful shots. Of course, smartphones cannot compete with full-fledged cameras such as the Canon 5D, but this is a topic for another discussion.
Digital SLR for a beginner 2.0- for NIKON connoisseurs.
My first MIRROR- for CANON connoisseurs.
So, dear reader, now you know a little more about the history of photography. I hope you find this material useful. If this is so, then why not subscribe to blog updates and tell your friends about it? Moreover, there is still a lot of interesting materials waiting for you that will allow you to become more literate in matters of photography. Good luck and thank you for your attention.
Sincerely yours, Timur Mustaev.
Photography is a landmark invention of mankind, not only in the nineteenth century, but even throughout the history of civilization. This invention belongs to science and art, allows scientists to record significant historical events and personalities, ordinary people to find their creative abilities and generally provides a lot of endless possibilities. Photography also served as the first and key step to the emergence of the most important of modern arts - cinema, which is part of the life of almost every inhabitant of the planet. I would like to talk about the very first photographs belonging to various fields of science, technology and social life below.
First photo
The founding father of photographic art is named Joseph Nicéphore Niepce - this French inventor holds the palm and the glory of the world's first photographer. The famous first photograph, called “View from a Window at Le Gras,” was taken in 1826 at Niépce’s mansion in Burgundy using heliography, a process that would give Louis Dugger the idea for a more accurate and efficient photographic method called daguerreotype.
First color photograph
The debut color photograph was taken on the other side of the English Channel by the efforts of the Scottish physicist, mathematician and mechanic James Maxwell, who, in the course of his research on color mixing, began experimenting with photographic equipment. During a lecture at the Royal Institution on May 17, 1861, the physicist presented the world's first color photograph as proof of his theory of three primary colors. The photo shows a three-color bow.
First photograph of a person
Along with Joseph Niepce, the famous chemist and artist Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre is considered a pioneer of photography. It is symbolic that the premiere photograph of a person belongs to this brilliant experimenter. Even several people. After all, the exhibition lasted about ten minutes and during this time several citizens passed along the Parisian Boulevard du Temple. It is difficult to notice them in the picture, but if you look closely, in the lower left corner you can make out the figure of a man whose shoes are being cleaned by another participant in the exhibition.
First digital photography
The image resolution is 176×176 pixels. The square photo was originally taken on film, and then Kodak engineer Russell Kirsch, as a result of scanning, received a premiere digital photograph, in the picture is Walden Kirsch, the engineer’s son.
The middle of the last century is the beginning of the space race, so the premiere photograph of a rocket launch also belongs to the treasury of world photography. The shuttle is called “Bumper 2”, it was launched in July 1950 from the Cape Canaveral Space Center.
First selfie
The term “selfie” is an invention of the present century, but the debut “self-photograph” was taken in the initial period of the existence of photography – in 1839. The experiment belongs to Philadelphia engineer-inventor Robert Cornelius, who installed a camera in his factory, spent several minutes in front of the lens, and produced the first selfie.
In addition to Niepce and Daguerre, there is another inventor in history who fought for the title of founding father of photography. This man's name is Hippolyte Bayard. And although he lost the championship to his compatriots, in revenge Bayard published his own dead photograph in 1840, accusing his competitors that because of their machinations he committed suicide. In fact, the author of his own direct-positive photographic process died much later - in 1887 and went down in history as the author of the first photographic falsification.
Interesting articles
First photo from the air
The photo shows the city of Boston in 1860 from a height of 609 meters. Photographer James Black captured his hometown from the basket of a hot air balloon and titled it “Boston through the eyes of eagles and wild geese.”
First photograph of the Sun
Physicists Léon Foucault and Louis Fizeau had been studying the center of the solar system for most of their scientific careers, and when photography became available, they took the first photograph of the star using Daguerre's method. The historic achievement occurred on April 2, 1845.
Many scientists claim that the German V-2 rocket is a key invention in space exploration, including orbital flight and landing on the Moon. The first space photograph was also taken using this German super rocket on October 24, 1946. It was launched by the Americans at a test site in New Mexico, installing a 35 mm Devry camera on the rocket, which took pictures every one and a half seconds. This photograph of the Earth was taken at an altitude of 104 km.
History does not remember the name of the journalist and the subjects of the photograph, but it is reliably known that it was 1847 and the arrest of a person suspected of a crime - an event that made it onto the pages of newspapers with a photo illustration for the article.
The 11th President of the United States, James Polk, is the first occupant of the White House to be photographed while serving his term in 1849, but the first time a human president was captured on camera was in 1843. This was the 6th President, John Adams, who left the presidency in 1929.
First photo of lightning
Lightning frightened ancient people and aroused great interest among scientists of the recent past, but it was not until 1882, when photographer William Jennings took the premiere photograph of lightning, that ordinary people saw with their own eyes how complex and physically attractive this phenomenon is - an electrical spark discharge in the atmosphere.
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On September 17, 1908, the famous Orville Wright, brother of Wilbur Wright, made his next dangerous flight, which this time ended in disaster. A few minutes after takeoff, when the altitude was about 30m, the aircraft's propeller split, leaving the pilot without control. Along with the aviator, there was a passenger in the car - Thomas Selfridge, who died during the plane crash. Orville survived with four broken ribs and a damaged leg, which doctors only miraculously managed to save. Rehabilitation took many weeks, after which the aviation pioneer took to the skies again.
Five years before the debut photograph of the Sun, John Draper took the first photograph of the Earth's satellite using the daguerreotype method. A daguerreotype photograph of the Moon taken from the roof of the New York University Observatory on March 26, 1840.
The pioneer of color photography, Louis du Hauron, photographed nature in color in 1877. The landscape in the photo is from the south of France, so it is not surprising that the title of the historical photograph is “Landscape of Southern France.”
Of course, for this photo story, we first had to come up with a spaceship and fly to the Moon. The rest is a matter of technology, which showed itself on August 23, 1966. It was on this day that the lunar probe flew around the satellite and took a unique picture of the Earth from the Moon.
The distance to the tornado is 22 km. It was exactly this many kilometers away from the fierce elements that amateur photographer A. Adams, a simple farmer, armed with a body camera, was located. An amateur managed to capture a tornado in 1884 and make history.
The Viking 1 spacecraft was launched to the Red Planet on August 20, 1975, and after ten months of flight, it began transmitting the first images of the disk of Mars to Earth. The landing was planned for the Fourth of July, in honor of American Independence Day, but the surface looked unsafe for landing, so NASA decided to move the date to the 20th. It was on this day that an epoch-making event took place - the landing of a spacecraft on the Red Planet, and the first photographs from Mars were sent to Earth.
Barack Obama is the darling of America, which, through the efforts of computer scientists at the Smithsonian Institution and the Department of Creative Technologies, decided to immortalize the politician as the first president-hero of 3D photography.
In what year was the first selfie taken, what became the reason for creating the first fake photograph, and how photojournalism began.
Over the almost 200 years of its existence, photography has come a long and interesting way. For example, her official year of birth is considered to be 1839, but the first photograph (which has survived to this day) was taken earlier - in 1826 or 1827. The first digital camera was invented in 1975, and the first digital photograph was taken in 1957.
Our selection includes these and 18 other “first” shots in the amazing history of photography.
1. First photo
The first photograph taken with a camera dates back to 1826 (less commonly, 1827). The image, taken by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce and known as “View from the Window at Le Gras,” was created using a camera obscura on a plate coated with a thin layer of bitumen. The bitumen on different parts of the plate froze depending on the amount of light that fell on it, then the unexposed bitumen was washed off. Niépce called this technology heliography - “solar writing.”
2. The first photograph of a person
The first photograph of a person was taken by Louis Daguerre in 1838. Daguerre filmed a view from a window onto a busy Paris street, the Boulevard du Temple; The shutter speed was almost 10 minutes, which is why it was not possible to capture passers-by in the photo - they simply were not in one place long enough to remain in the picture. However, in the lower left corner a man can be seen standing, having his shoes shined. Later, analysis of the photograph made it possible to establish that there were other people depicted in it - can you find them?
3. First selfie
Long before selfies became fashionable, American photographer Robert Cornelius took the first self-portrait. This was in 1839. To capture himself, Cornelius had to pose for more than a minute.
4. The first photograph of the moon
The first photograph of the Earth's satellite was taken on March 26, 1840 by John Draper. This daguerreotype was taken from the observatory at New York University. Judging by the state of the photograph, it has suffered a lot over more than a century and a half since it was taken.
5. First fake photo
The first fake photo was taken by Hippolyte Bayard in 1840. Bayard and Louis Daguerre claimed the title of “Father of Photography.” According to some sources, Bayard invented his process for taking photographs before Daguerre created the daguerreotype. However, the announcement of his invention was delayed, and the glory of the discoverer went to Daguerre. As a protest, Bayard made this staged self-portrait, accompanied by a signature about his suicide due to the fact that his work was not appreciated.
6. The first photo of the president
The first American president to be photographed was John Quincy Adams, the sixth head of the United States. However, this daguerreotype was made in 1843, and Adams left his post in 1829. The first president to be photographed while in office was James Polk. His photo was taken in 1849.
7. First photo of the sun
The first photograph of the sun was taken by French physicists Louis Fizeau and Léon Foucault on April 2, 1845, using a daguerreotype process (don't tell Bayard!) and a shutter speed of 1/60 of a second. Upon closer inspection, you may notice sunspots.
8. First news photo
The name of the first photojournalist in history has not been preserved, but his work is. A daguerreotype made in 1847 depicts the arrest of a man in France.
9. First aerial photography
The first aerial photograph was taken in 1860. Of course, they filmed it not from a drone, but from a hot air balloon. The photographer, James Wallace Black, titled his image “Boston as seen by an eagle and a wild goose.”
10. First color photograph
The first color photograph was taken by physicist James Clerk Maxwell in 1861, at a lecture at the Royal Institution, as evidence of his theory about photography in color. It was another person who actually clicked the shutter - photographer Thomas Sutton, the inventor of the first SLR camera, but the authorship is attributed to Maxwell, since it was he who developed the process of obtaining a color image.
11. The first color landscape photograph
The first landscape photograph in color was taken in 1877. The photographer, Louis Arthur Ducos du Hauron, was a pioneer of color photography and the creator of the color printing process that was used for this image. It captures the landscape of the south of France, as indicated by the title of the image - “Landscape of the south of France”.
12. First photo of lightning
Lightning is an extremely interesting subject to photograph. The first photographer to capture this phenomenon was William Jennings. The photo was taken in 1882.
13. First photo of a tornado
This tornado was captured in 1884 by farmer and amateur photographer A.A. Adams from Kansas. The photo was taken with a box camera from a distance of 22 kilometers from the tornado.
14. The first photo of the plane crash
Disasters are not the most pleasant subjects to photograph. But studying such cases can help find and correct mistakes in order to prevent tragedies in the future. This 1908 photo shows the death of aviator Thomas Selfridge. His aircraft was an experimental development of the aircraft manufacturing company Aerial Experiment Association. Orville Wright was on the plane with Selfridge, but he survived the crash.
15. The first photo from space
The first photograph from space was taken on October 24, 1946, from V-2 rocket No. 13. The black and white photograph captured the Earth from an altitude of more than 100 kilometers. The image was captured with a 35mm movie camera, which took a photo every 1.5 seconds throughout the rocket's takeoff.
16. First rocket launch from Cape Canaveral
The first launch from Cape Canaveral was captured on photo in July 1950 - a NASA photographer filmed the launch of the two-stage research rocket Bumper 2. The photo also shows a number of other photographers who photographed this event.
17. First digital photograph
The first digital photograph was taken in 1957, almost 20 years before a Kodak engineer invented the first digital camera. A photograph is a digital scan of a frame originally taken on film. Pictured is the son of Russell Kirsch, inventor of the digital scanner. The image resolution is 176×176: a square photo, quite suitable for Instagram.
18. First photo of the far side of the Moon
The first photo of the “dark” side of the Moon was taken from the Soviet Luna 3 station on October 7, 1959. Based on the images sent by the interplanetary station, the first map of the far side of the satellite, not visible from Earth, was compiled.
19. The first photograph of the Earth from the Moon
The Earth was first photographed from the Moon on August 23, 1966. The photo was taken by the Lunar Orbiter during its 16th orbit around the satellite.
20. First photo from Mars
The first photograph of Mars was taken by the Viking 1 spacecraft, shortly after it landed on the surface of the red planet. The photograph is dated July 20, 1976; Viking images made it possible to study the surface of Mars and its structure.
This is not a complete list of the very “first” photographs in history - the first underwater photo, the first wedding photo, the first portrait of a woman, the first photo montage, and much more were left behind the scenes. Not every one of them depicts a historical moment, but they are all historical moments in themselves.
