history of photography
timeline
Photography has been around for thousands of years. The earliest documented forms of photography go as far back as the 5th Century BC, where Chinese and Greek philosophers and mathematicians described the pinhole camera as it naturally occurred
when sunlight was filtered through dense leaves.
1500: The first pinhole camera (camera obscura) is invented by Alhazen (Ibn Al-Haytham).
1839: The Daguerreotype Camera is announced by the French Academy of Sciences.
1840: Alexander Wolcott receives the first American photography patent for his camera.
1859: Thomas Sutton receives a patent for the panoramic camera.
1861: Oliver Wendell Holmes invents the stereoscope viewer.
1885: George Eastman begins manufacturing paper camera film.
1888: George Eastman patents Kodak roll-film camera, making him a pioneer in photographic films usage.
when sunlight was filtered through dense leaves.
1500: The first pinhole camera (camera obscura) is invented by Alhazen (Ibn Al-Haytham).
1839: The Daguerreotype Camera is announced by the French Academy of Sciences.
1840: Alexander Wolcott receives the first American photography patent for his camera.
1859: Thomas Sutton receives a patent for the panoramic camera.
1861: Oliver Wendell Holmes invents the stereoscope viewer.
1885: George Eastman begins manufacturing paper camera film.
1888: George Eastman patents Kodak roll-film camera, making him a pioneer in photographic films usage.
1900: George Eastman invents the "Brownie", the world's first mass-marketed camera. It was on sale until the 1960s.
1900: The Raisecamera (travel camera) is invented. It was popular among landscape photographers for it's portability, being extremely lightweight and small when it was folded.
1913/1914: The first 35mm still camera (also called "candid camera") is developed by Oskar Barnack of German Leica Camera.
1948: Edwin Land invents the Polaroid camera which could take pictures and print them in about a minute.
1900: The Raisecamera (travel camera) is invented. It was popular among landscape photographers for it's portability, being extremely lightweight and small when it was folded.
1913/1914: The first 35mm still camera (also called "candid camera") is developed by Oskar Barnack of German Leica Camera.
1948: Edwin Land invents the Polaroid camera which could take pictures and print them in about a minute.
1960: EG&G develops an extreme depth underwater camera for the U.S. Navy.
1978: Konica introduces the "Jasupin", the first point-and-shoot, autofocus camera.
1981: Sony demonstrates the world’s first digital electronic still camera, the Sony "Mavica".
1986: Fuji introduces the disposable camera, also known as the "single-use camera”.
1991: Kodak releases the first professional digital camera system (DCS) which was great for photojournalists.
1994-1996: The first digital cameras for consumers that worked with a PC via cable were the Apple QuickTake 100 camera, the Kodak
DC40 camera, the Casio QV-11, and Sony’s Cyber-Shot Digital Still Camera.
2000: Sharp introduces the world's first camera phone, the Sharp J-SH04.
2005: Canon releases the EOS 5D, the first consumer-priced digital SLR camera.
1978: Konica introduces the "Jasupin", the first point-and-shoot, autofocus camera.
1981: Sony demonstrates the world’s first digital electronic still camera, the Sony "Mavica".
1986: Fuji introduces the disposable camera, also known as the "single-use camera”.
1991: Kodak releases the first professional digital camera system (DCS) which was great for photojournalists.
1994-1996: The first digital cameras for consumers that worked with a PC via cable were the Apple QuickTake 100 camera, the Kodak
DC40 camera, the Casio QV-11, and Sony’s Cyber-Shot Digital Still Camera.
2000: Sharp introduces the world's first camera phone, the Sharp J-SH04.
2005: Canon releases the EOS 5D, the first consumer-priced digital SLR camera.
Daguerreotype
The daguerreotype was a type of camera named after its creator, Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre. This was the first form of photography that developed real images without drawing or tracing. After taking the photo, the image would be developed onto a silver plate through a chemical reaction between the silver plate, iodine and mercury vapour, then fixed with a salt solution. This created a clear image, but the camera was only capable of producing one picture. |
Calotype/Talbotype
In 1835, William Henry Fox Talbot developed a procedure which used silver treated paper (a less expensive method than using silver sheets) to create a photograph. An exposed negative image was placed onto a second sheet of paper, then exposed to a bright light that produced a positive image. With this technique, it was possible to create multiple positive copies of the negative image, but the copies would end up unclear. |
Collodion Wet Plate Process
This process was ideal because it created a very clear image and and could create multiple copies. A clean glass plate was covered evenly in collodian, then dipped in a silver nitrate solution. It would then be inserted into the camera and exposed. The image had to be developed immediately after and given time to dry. This process took great skill and speed, as the image would be ruined if the glass plate dried before it was complete. |
Camera Obscura
The camera obscura was the earliest known form of the camera. first stage of what would become the camera we know today. It was a box with a small pinhole in the side that functioned as a lens. Parallel to the pinhole on the inside of the box is a mirror at a 45 degree angle. On top of the box there was large opening just above the mirror; an artist would use this opening to place tracing paper on and trace the image that was projected through the pinhole and bounced off the mirror. The image after being projected was always inverted (flipped). |