Transition project tasks - Where Photography Began And Who Started It

Photography began in the 1800’s with camera obscura and the observation that some things are visibly altered when they become exposed to light. Scientist Anna Atkins first used photograms to record natural objects. Photograms are images produced without a camera; objects are put onto photosensitive paper and are exposed to light. The paper is developed and the objects shadows appear to be left behind.

Camera Obscura is a darkened chamber where the real image of an object is received through a small opening or lens and focused in natural color onto another surface rather than recorded on film. It’s the first type of camera to be made. Thomas Wedgwood was the first person to put the two together and document his results even though his attempt was unsuccessful. In the 1820’s Nicéphore Niépce was successful with the method. At that point in history the paper had to be exposed for a number of days so the early pictures were quite vague. Nicéphore Niépce had an associate called Louis Daguerre who developed daguerreotypy in 1839. Daguerreotypy is when a picture is made on a silver surface sensitized with iodine and developed by exposure to mercury vapor. This was the first photographic process which was well known by the general public. It was faster than the first attempt Nicéphore Niépce made as it only took minutes of exposure for the camera to produce a clear image. It was put out commercially in 1839, which is the year that practical photography is thought to have begun.