The genesis of photography is rooted in two fundamental discoveries: the principle of camera obscura image projection and the observation that certain materials undergo visible changes when exposed to light. Historical records and archaeological evidence do not suggest any prior attempts to record images using photosensitive substances before the 18th century.
The history of photography began with the discovery of two critical principles: The first is camera obscura image projection; the second is the discovery that some substances are visibly altered by exposure to light. There are no artifacts or descriptions that indicate any attempt to capture images with light sensitive materials prior to the 18th century.
Approximately in 1717, Johann Heinrich Schulze employed a photosensitive slurry to record images of stenciled letters on a glass bottle; however, he did not endeavor to render these results permanent. Subsequently, around 1800, Thomas Wedgwood undertook the earliest dependably documented, albeit unsuccessful, effort to permanently capture camera-generated images. While his experiments yielded intricate photograms, Wedgwood and his collaborator Humphry Davy were unable to devise a method for fixing these ephemeral images.
In 1826, Nicéphore Niépce achieved the first successful fixation of a camera-captured image, though this process necessitated prolonged exposure times, ranging from a minimum of eight hours to several days, and yielded rudimentary results. His collaborator, Louis Daguerre, subsequently advanced the daguerreotype process, which became the inaugural publicly announced and commercially viable photographic method. The daguerreotype significantly reduced exposure times to mere minutes and produced sharp, highly detailed images. On August 2, 1839, Daguerre presented the intricacies of this process to the Chamber of Peers in Paris. The technical specifications were publicly disclosed on August 19 during a joint session of the Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Fine Arts at the Palace of Institute; in recognition of their contributions, Daguerre and Niépce received substantial lifetime annuities for making their inventions accessible to the public. Concurrently with the formal public unveiling of the metal-based daguerreotype, Henry Fox Talbot had already showcased his competing paper-based calotype negative and salt print processes in London, albeit with less widespread public attention. Subsequent technological advancements enhanced the ease and versatility of photography. Novel materials progressively shortened camera exposure durations from minutes to seconds, and eventually to fractions of a second. Furthermore, new photographic media offered improved economy, sensitivity, or convenience. From the 1850s onward, the collodion process, utilizing glass-based photographic plates, merged the superior image quality characteristic of the Daguerreotype with the multiple print capabilities of the calotype, remaining a dominant technique for decades. The introduction of roll films subsequently democratized photography for amateur users. By the mid-20th century, further innovations enabled amateur photographers to capture images in both natural color and monochrome.
The commercial introduction of digital cameras in the 1990s marked a transformative era for photography. Throughout the initial decade of the 21st century, the prevalence of film photography diminished as digital cameras became more affordable, user-friendly, and offered superior image fidelity. The subsequent integration of cameras as standard features in smartphones normalized the act of capturing and sharing photographs online, making it an ubiquitous aspect of global daily life.
Etymology
The term photography is generally credited to Sir John Herschel, who coined it in 1839. Its etymological roots lie in the Greek words φῶς (phōs; genitive phōtos), signifying "light," and γραφή (graphê), denoting "drawing" or "writing," thereby collectively conveying the meaning "drawing of light."
Early history of the camera
The camera obscura, a natural phenomenon also known as a pinhole image, projects an inverted image through a small aperture onto an opposing surface. This principle may have been recognized and employed during prehistoric eras. The earliest documented accounts of the camera obscura date back to the 4th century BCE, appearing concurrently in two distinct regions: attributed to Aristotle in Greece and Mozi in China. Alhazen (also known as Ibn al-Haytham) is credited with constructing the first camera obscura. Prior to the 16th century, the camera obscura primarily served as a tool for optical and astronomical research, particularly for the safe observation of solar eclipses without ocular harm. Significant technical enhancements emerged in the latter half of the 16th century, including the incorporation of a biconvex lens within the aperture (initially documented by Gerolamo Cardano in 1550) and a diaphragm to regulate the opening (introduced by Daniel Barbaro in 1568), which collectively yielded brighter and sharper images. In 1558, Giambattista della Porta became the first to publish a description of the camera obscura's application as an artistic drawing aid in his widely acclaimed and impactful publications. Della Porta's concept gained widespread acceptance among artists, leading to the common use of portable camera obscura versions from the 17th century onward, initially as tent structures and subsequently as compact boxes.
The box-type camera obscura served as the foundational design for photographic cameras, employed in the initial endeavors to record natural images onto light-sensitive media. This development represented the inaugural stage in the trajectory articulated by Walter Benjamin in his seminal work, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.
Physiognotrace
A physiognotrace constitutes an apparatus designed for the semi-automated production of portraits. Invented in the 18th century, its use declined following the advent of light-sensitive materials. This device enjoyed popularity for several decades. The subject would be positioned within a wooden frame, facing sideways for the pose. A pantograph, linked to a drawing instrument, would then generate a contour outline on a plate in a matter of minutes.
Camera lucida
The camera lucida is an optical instrument employed by artists to facilitate drawing. This device projects an optical image of the observed subject directly onto the artist's drawing surface. Consequently, the artist perceives both the scene and the drawing surface concurrently, akin to a photographic double exposure. This capability enables the artist to accurately transfer critical elements of the scene onto the drawing medium, thereby assisting in the precise depiction of perspective.
Light-sensitive materials
Fixing
It is important to note that the "Fixing" stage is integral to the process under discussion. This step is crucial in both the negative development and chemical printing processes. (It is, however, not necessary in digital printing). During this phase, all residual light-sensitive compounds are eliminated, ensuring that the final product (whether film or print) can be exposed to ambient light without subsequent alteration of the image.
Before 1700: Light-sensitive materials
The understanding that light influences various substances, such as the tanning of skin or the fading of textiles, likely existed from antiquity. Concepts related to permanently capturing mirror images or other methods of automated image creation may have been contemplated long before the advent of photography. Nevertheless, historical documentation reveals no concepts even remotely analogous to photography prior to 1700, notwithstanding early awareness of light-sensitive materials and the camera obscura.
In 1614, Angelo Sala observed that powdered silver nitrate darkens upon exposure to sunlight, and that paper enclosing silver nitrate for a year also undergoes blackening.
Wilhelm Homberg documented the light-induced darkening of certain chemical compounds in 1694.
1700 to 1802: earliest concepts and fleeting photogram results
Schulze's Scotophors: earliest fleeting letter photograms (circa 1717)
Around 1717, German polymath Johann Heinrich Schulze inadvertently discovered that a slurry of chalk and nitric acid containing dissolved silver particles darkened when exposed to sunlight. Following experiments where threads created lines on the bottled substance after sun exposure, he applied stencils of words to the bottle. These stencils produced dark red, almost violet textual reproductions on the surface of the otherwise whitish contents. The impressions persisted until erased by shaking the bottle or obliterated by overall light exposure. Schulze named the substance "Scotophors" upon publishing his findings in 1719. He theorized that this discovery could be applied to detect silver in metals or minerals and hoped that further experimentation would lead to other useful results. Schulze's process resembled later photogram techniques and is sometimes regarded as the earliest form of photography.
De la Roche's Fictional Image Capture Process (1760)
The early science fiction novel Giphantie (1760) by French author Tiphaigne de la Roche described a process remarkably similar to (color) photography, involving the fixation of transient images formed by light rays. The narrative states: "They coat a piece of canvas with this material, and place it in front of the object to capture. The first effect of this cloth is similar to that of a mirror, but by means of its viscous nature the prepared canvas, as is not the case with the mirror, retains a facsimile of the image. The mirror represents images faithfully, but retains none; our canvas reflects them no less faithfully, but retains them all. This impression of the image is instantaneous. The canvas is then removed and deposited in a dark place. An hour later the impression is dry, and you have a picture the more precious in that no art can imitate its truthfulness." De la Roche thus conceptualized a process utilizing a special substance in conjunction with mirror properties, rather than a camera obscura. The requirement for a dark drying place suggests an implicit understanding of the material's light sensitivity, though he explicitly attributed the effect to its viscous nature.
Scheele's Overlooked Chemical Fixer (1777)
In 1777, chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele investigated silver chloride, a substance with intrinsic light sensitivity. He determined that light exposure caused its darkening by disintegrating it into microscopic dark particles of metallic silver. Of significant potential utility, Scheele observed that ammonia dissolved silver chloride but not these dark particles. This discovery could have been employed to stabilize or "fix" camera images captured using silver chloride; however, it was not adopted by early photographic experimenters.
Scheele additionally noted that red light had minimal effect on silver chloride, a phenomenon subsequently applied in photographic darkrooms to enable viewing of black-and-white prints without compromising their development.
Although Thomas Wedgwood drew general inspiration from Scheele's writings, he evidently overlooked or failed to recall these specific experiments. Consequently, he did not discover a method to fix the photogram and shadow images he captured around 1800.
Elizabeth Fulhame and the Effect of Light on Silver Salts (1794)
Elizabeth Fulhame's publication, An essay on combustion, detailed her experiments concerning the effects of light on silver salts. While she is primarily recognized for her discovery of catalysis, Larry J. Schaaf, in his historical account of photography, regarded her work on silver chemistry as a significant advancement in the field's development.
Thomas Wedgwood and Humphry Davy: Transient Detailed Photograms (1790–1802)
He passed away in 1805 at the age of 34.
The publication seemingly went unnoticed by Niépce or Daguerre, and by Talbot only after he had independently developed his own photographic methods.
Jacques Charles: Ephemeral Silhouette Photograms (circa 1801)
Given Arago's indication of the early 19th century and a date preceding the 1802 publication of Wedgwood's process, Charles's demonstrations would have occurred in 1800 or 1801, assuming Arago's recollection was precise nearly four decades later.
1816–1833: Niépce's Initial Fixed Images
Consequently, disillusioned with silver salts, he redirected his focus toward light-sensitive organic compounds.
The earliest extant photograph produced by a camera obscura was created by Niépce in either 1826 or 1827. This image was formed on a polished pewter sheet, coated with a thin layer of bitumen, a natural petroleum tar dissolved in lavender oil, which was applied and allowed to dry. Following an exceptionally long camera exposure—traditionally cited as eight hours but now estimated to be several days—the bitumen hardened proportionally to its light exposure. Subsequently, the unhardened sections were removed with a solvent, yielding a positive image where hardened bitumen represented light areas and bare pewter depicted dark areas. Optimal viewing required specific lighting conditions, making the exposed metal appear dark and the bitumen relatively light.
Collaborating, Niépce in Chalon-sur-Saône and Louis Daguerre in Paris advanced the bitumen process. Their refinements involved substituting the original material with a more photosensitive resin and implementing a distinct post-exposure treatment, resulting in images of superior quality and enhanced visibility. Although significantly reduced, camera exposure durations for this improved process still extended to several hours.
1832–1840: Development of Early Monochrome Photographic Processes
Following Niépce's sudden death in 1833, Daguerre inherited his research notes. Daguerre, whose interests leaned more towards silver-based photographic methods than Niépce's, began experimenting with capturing camera images directly onto highly polished, silver-surfaced plates. These plates were fumed with iodine vapor, which reacted with the silver to form a silver iodide coating. Similar to the bitumen process, the resulting image appeared positive when appropriately illuminated and viewed. Initial exposure times remained impractically lengthy until Daguerre made the crucial discovery that a faint, "latent" image, produced by a significantly shorter exposure, could be chemically "developed" to full visibility using mercury fumes. This innovation drastically reduced the necessary exposure time to mere minutes under optimal conditions. Subsequently, a concentrated hot solution of common salt was employed to stabilize or "fix" the image by dissolving the residual silver iodide. On January 7, 1839, this comprehensive and practical photographic process was formally announced at a session of the French Academy of Sciences, rapidly disseminating the news. Initially, the specifics of the process were kept confidential, with demonstrations of specimens exclusively conducted at Daguerre's studio, under his strict supervision, for Academy members and other distinguished invitees. Subsequently, the French government acquired the rights to the invention, providing pensions for Niépce's son and Daguerre, and presented it globally as a public gift, with the exception of Great Britain, where Daguerre's agent secured a patent. Full instructions for the process were publicly released on August 19, 1839. This method, known as the daguerreotype process, remained the predominant commercial photographic technique until the late 1850s, when it was supplanted by the collodion process.
Concurrently, French-born Hércules Florence independently developed his own photographic technique in Brazil around 1832 or 1833, assisted by pharmacist Joaquim Corrêa de Mello (1816–1877). Florence sought an alternative method for reproducing graphic designs, capturing images on paper treated with silver nitrate, either as contact prints or within a camera obscura. However, he was unable to adequately fix his images and subsequently abandoned the endeavor upon learning of the Daguerreotype process in 1839, consequently failing to formally publish his discoveries. Notably, he reportedly termed his technique "photographie" (in French) as early as 1833, a designation potentially influenced by De Mello. Several surviving photographic contact prints, believed to date from approximately 1833, are preserved within the IMS collection.
Henry Fox Talbot had successfully produced stabilized photographic negatives on paper by 1835, yet he continued to refine his process after encountering initial reports of Daguerre's invention. In early 1839, Talbot obtained a crucial enhancement—an effective fixing agent—from his associate John Herschel, a polymath scientist. Herschel had previously demonstrated that hyposulfite of soda (colloquially known as "hypo" and now formally designated as sodium thiosulfate) possessed the property of dissolving silver salts. The dissemination of information regarding this solvent also proved advantageous for Daguerre, who promptly integrated it as a more efficient substitute for his initial hot salt water fixing technique.
In 1837, the mineralogist and writer Franz von Kobell produced finely detailed salt-paper negatives depicting various perspectives of the Munich Frauenkirche and other local structures. Kobell presented his work in 1839, in collaboration with Carl August von Steinheil. The "Steinheil method" yielded images measuring 4 cm in diameter, and negatives were subsequently rephotographed to generate positive prints.
Talbot's initial experiments with silver chloride "sensitive paper" necessitated camera exposure times exceeding an hour. In 1841, Talbot developed the calotype process, which, similar to Daguerre's method, employed the chemical development of a faint or imperceptible "latent" image, thereby reducing exposure durations to mere minutes. This process involved exposing silver iodide-coated paper within the camera, subsequently developing it into a translucent negative image. In contrast to a daguerreotype, which necessitated re-photographing for duplication, a calotype negative facilitated the production of numerous positive prints through straightforward contact printing. A further characteristic distinguishing the calotype from other nascent photographic techniques was the finished product's diminished clarity, attributable to its translucent paper negative. This particular quality was considered advantageous for portraiture, as it imparted a softer aesthetic to facial features. Talbot secured a patent for this process, a decision that significantly hindered its widespread adoption, and subsequently engaged in protracted legal battles against purported infringers. His efforts to enforce an expansive interpretation of his patent alienated photographers utilizing subsequent glass-based processes developed by other innovators, ultimately resulting in his legal defeat. Nevertheless, Talbot's pioneering silver halide negative process, involving chemical development, forms the foundational technology for contemporary chemical film cameras. Concurrently, Hippolyte Bayard independently devised a photographic method; however, his delay in publicizing it precluded his recognition as its inventor.
In 1839, John Herschel produced the inaugural glass negative, though his method proved challenging to replicate. The Slovene inventor Janez Puhar developed a technique for creating photographs on glass in 1841, which received official recognition on June 17, 1852, in Paris by the Académie National Agricole, Manufacturière et Commerciale. In 1847, Niépce St. Victor, a chemist and cousin of Nicéphore Niépce, disclosed his innovation for producing glass plates coated with an albumen emulsion; concurrently, the Langenheim brothers of Philadelphia and John Whipple and William Breed Jones of Boston also devised viable negative-on-glass photographic processes during the mid-1840s.
1850 to 1900
In 1851, English sculptor Frederick Scott Archer devised the collodion process. The photographer and children's author Lewis Carroll employed this technique. Carroll references the process as "Talbotype" within his narrative "A Photographer's Day Out".
Herbert Bowyer Berkeley ascertained that the inclusion of sulfite, which absorbed sulfur dioxide released by dithionite in the developer, rendered dithionite itself unnecessary for the developing process. In 1881, he disclosed his findings. Berkeley's formulation comprised pyrogallol, sulfite, and citric acid. Ammonia was incorporated immediately prior to application to render the formula alkaline. This novel formula was marketed by the Platinotype Company in London under the designation Sulphur-Pyrogallol Developer.
Throughout the nineteenth century, innovations in photographic processes often led to proprietary claims. The German-born, New Orleans photographer Theodore Lilienthal successfully pursued legal recourse in an 1881 infringement lawsuit concerning his "Lambert Process" within the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Popularization
The daguerreotype gained widespread popularity, driven by the burgeoning demand for portraiture among the middle classes during the Industrial Revolution. This burgeoning demand, which traditional oil painting could not satisfy in terms of volume or affordability, significantly propelled the advancement of photography.
Roger Fenton and Philip Henry Delamotte contributed to the popularization of this novel method for documenting events; Fenton through his Crimean War photographs, and Delamotte via his documentation of The Crystal Palace's disassembly and reconstruction in London. Concurrently, other photographers of the mid-nineteenth century solidified the medium's role as a more accurate method for recording landscapes and architectural subjects compared to engraving or lithography. For instance, Robert Macpherson's extensive photographic collection depicting Rome, the Vatican's interior, and the surrounding environs served as a refined visual chronicle for discerning travelers.
François Arago announced the invention of photography in 1839, captivating his audience with the display of the first photograph taken in Egypt, depicting Ras El Tin Palace. In his address to the French Chamber of Deputies, Arago underscored photography's significant potential for documenting the Middle East, particularly highlighting its benefits for Egyptian expeditions in terms of record-keeping and replication. Over the subsequent decades, numerous European photographers adopted his recommendations, establishing the Middle East as a crucial location for early photographic experimentation and skill development.
By 1851 in America, daguerreotypist Augustus Washington's broadsheet advertised prices for his services, ranging from 50 cents to $10. Nevertheless, daguerreotypes presented challenges due to their inherent fragility and the difficulty of reproduction. This prompted photographers to urge chemists to develop more efficient and economical methods for mass-producing copies, ultimately redirecting attention to Talbot's photographic process.
The photographic process evolved significantly through a series of refinements and enhancements during its initial two decades. In 1884, George Eastman, based in Rochester, New York, introduced dry gel on paper, known as film, as a replacement for cumbersome photographic plates. This innovation eliminated the need for photographers to transport heavy boxes of plates and hazardous chemicals. By July 1888, Eastman's Kodak camera was launched with the marketing slogan, "You press the button, we do the rest." This development democratized photography, enabling individuals to capture images without mastering the intricate technical aspects, and further expanded to the mass market in 1901 with the debut of the Kodak Brownie.
Stereoscopic Photography
Charles Wheatstone devised his mirror stereoscope around 1832, though its public announcement did not occur until June 1838. Following the disclosures of Daguerre's and Talbot's photographic inventions, Wheatstone promptly recognized the potential for integrating his device with photography. He subsequently commissioned Henry Fox Talbot to create calotype pairs specifically for the stereoscope, receiving the initial results in October 1840. However, Wheatstone expressed dissatisfaction with these early attempts due to the excessively wide angle between the photographic exposures. From 1841 to 1842, Henry Collen produced calotypes of various subjects, including statues, architectural structures, and portraits, notably a depiction of Charles Babbage captured in August 1841. Wheatstone also acquired daguerreotype stereograms from Mr. Beard in 1841, and from Hippolyte Fizeau and Antoine Claudet in 1842. None of these early stereoscopic images have been located to date.
In 1844, David Brewster developed a stereoscope incorporating lenses and a binocular camera. He subsequently exhibited two stereoscopic self-portraits created by John Adamson in March 1849. A stereoscopic portrait of Adamson, housed in the University of St Andrews Library Photographic Archive and dated "circa 1845," is potentially one of these early sets. Additionally, a stereoscopic daguerreotype portrait of Michael Faraday, part of Kingston College's Wheatstone collection and on loan to the Bradford National Media Museum, dated "circa 1848," might predate the Adamson images.
Color Photography Processes
The pursuit of a practical method for color photography commenced early in the medium's history. Edmond Becquerel demonstrated initial results as early as 1848; however, these required exposure times spanning hours or even days, and the resulting colors were so highly photosensitive that they could only be briefly viewed under very dim illumination.
The inaugural color photograph comprised a composite of three black-and-white images, each captured through red, green, and blue filters, and subsequently superimposed using three projectors equipped with corresponding filters. This image was produced by Thomas Sutton in 1861 for a lecture delivered by Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell, who had initially proposed this method in 1855. Due to the insensitivity of contemporary photographic emulsions to most of the visible spectrum, the outcome was highly imperfect, and the demonstration quickly faded from prominence. Maxwell's technique is now primarily recognized through the early 20th-century contributions of Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii. Its practical application was significantly advanced by Hermann Wilhelm Vogel's 1873 discovery of a method to render emulsions sensitive across a broader spectrum, leading to its gradual commercial adoption from the mid-1880s.
During the 1860s, two French inventors, Louis Ducos du Hauron and Charles Cros, independently developed remarkably similar concepts for color photography, which they famously presented on the same day in 1869. Their proposals encompassed techniques for viewing a series of three color-filtered black-and-white photographs in full color without projection, as well as methods for producing full-color prints on paper from these images.
The Autochrome plate, a process initiated by inventors Auguste and Louis Lumière in the 1890s and commercially launched in 1907, represented the first widely adopted method of color photography. This technique was based on Louis Duclos du Haroun's concept: instead of capturing three distinct photographs through separate color filters, a single image was recorded through a mosaic of minute color filters overlaid on the emulsion, with viewing achieved through an identical mosaic. If the individual filter elements were sufficiently small, the human eye would blend the primary colors of red, blue, and green, producing the same additive color synthesis as the filtered projection of three separate photographs.
Autochrome plates featured an integral mosaic filter layer, incorporating approximately five million pre-dyed potato starch grains per square inch on the surface. A rolling press then applied five tons of pressure to flatten these grains, enabling each to capture and absorb color, while their microscopic size created the illusion of merged hues. The final stage involved coating the plate with silver bromide, a light-sensitive substance, after which a color image could be imprinted and developed. To render the image visible, reversal processing converted each plate into a transparent positive, suitable for direct viewing or projection with a standard projector. A significant drawback of this technology was its lengthy exposure time, requiring at least one second in bright daylight and considerably more in poor lighting conditions. An indoor portrait, for instance, necessitated several minutes with the subject remaining stationary. This was attributed to the slow color absorption rate of the grains and the mandatory use of a yellowish-orange filter to prevent an excessively blue cast in the photograph. Despite its necessity, this filter reduced the amount of light absorbed. Another limitation was the restricted potential for image enlargement before the individual dots comprising the image became visibly apparent.
Subsequently, competing screen plate products emerged, eventually leading to film-based versions. However, all these early color photographic methods were expensive and, until the 1930s, lacked the speed required for handheld snapshot photography. Consequently, they primarily served a niche market of affluent, advanced amateur photographers.
A new era in color photography commenced with the introduction of Kodachrome film, which became available for 16 mm home movies in 1935 and 35 mm slides in 1936. This innovative film captured the red, green, and blue color components across three distinct emulsion layers. A complex processing operation then generated complementary cyan, magenta, and yellow dye images within these layers, resulting in a subtractive color image. While Maxwell's method of taking three separate filtered black-and-white photographs continued to serve specialized purposes into the 1950s and beyond, and Polachrome, an "instant" slide film utilizing the Autochrome's additive principle, was available until 2003, the few color print and slide films still manufactured in 2015 all employ the multilayer emulsion approach pioneered by Kodachrome.
The Evolution of Digital Photography
In 1957, a team led by Russell A. Kirsch at the National Institute of Standards and Technology developed a binary digital version of the existing wirephoto drum scanner. This innovation allowed alphanumeric characters, diagrams, photographs, and other graphical content to be transferred into digital computer memory. One of the first photographs scanned was an image of Kirsch's infant son, Walden. The initial resolution was 176x176 pixels with only one bit per pixel, producing stark black and white images without intermediate gray tones. However, by combining multiple scans of the photograph, each performed with different black-white threshold settings, grayscale information could also be acquired.
The charge-coupled device (CCD) served as the primary optoelectronic component for image capture in early digital cameras. Invented in 1969 by Willard Boyle and George E. Smith at AT&T Bell Labs, the CCD was initially conceived as a memory device. At the time, the laboratory was engaged in research on the Picturephone and the advancement of semiconductor bubble memory technology. By integrating these two research areas, Boyle and Smith conceptualized the design for what they designated as "Charge 'Bubble' Devices." The fundamental principle of this design involved the capacity to transfer electrical charge across a semiconductor surface. However, it was Dr. Michael Tompsett, also from Bell Labs, who subsequently identified the CCD's potential application as an imaging sensor. The CCD has progressively been superseded by the active pixel sensor (APS), which is widely integrated into contemporary mobile phone cameras. The widespread adoption of these mobile phone cameras by billions globally has significantly amplified photographic output and content, concurrently fostering the growth of citizen journalism.
- In 1973, Fairchild Semiconductor introduced the inaugural large-scale image-capturing CCD chip, featuring a resolution of 100 rows by 100 columns.
- In 1975, Bryce Bayer of Kodak developed the Bayer filter mosaic pattern, designed for use with CCD color image sensors.
- By 1986, scientists at Kodak had successfully developed the world's first megapixel sensor.
The internet has served as a prominent platform for photo storage and dissemination since Tim Berners-Lee published the first photograph online in 1992, depicting the CERN house band, Les Horribles Cernettes. Subsequently, numerous websites and applications, including Facebook, Flickr, Instagram, Picasa (discontinued in 2016), Imgur, Photobucket, and Snapchat, have facilitated photo sharing for millions of users.
- History of Photography (academic journal)
- History of photographic lens design
- Outline of photography
- Photography by indigenous peoples of the Americas
- Movie camera
- References
References
Hannavy, John. Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography. 5 volumes.
- Hannavy, John. Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography, 5 volumes
- Clerc, L.P. Photography Theory and Practice, being an English edition of "La Technique Photographique".
- Manitta, Guglielmo (2024). History and Origins of Photography: From the Camera Obscura to the Consequences of Daguerre's Announcement (1500-1839). Il Convivio Editore. ISBN 978-88-3274-7287.
"Photography." In Encyclopædia Britannica, Vol. 21, 11th ed., 1911, pp. 845–522.
- "Photography" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 21 (11th ed.). 1911. pp. 845–522.Source: TORIma Academy Archive