Pinhole cameras were used in ancient times to project images, but they couldn’t take a picture—that had to wait until the 1820s. The first photographs took several hours of exposure in the camera. Now, with digital technology, we can take pictures and view them instantly.
The earliest known photograph was taken by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1826. It shows the view from an upstairs window at his country estate in France.
THE FIRST SNAPS
The first photographs, taken by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in the 1820s, were very crude. It was his colleague, Louis Daguerre, who developed the first viable photographic process. The 1839 Giroux Daguerreotype was the world’s first commercially produced camera.
SILVER SHOTS
Daguerreotype images were made by exposing a silvercoated copper plate for a few minutes. The faint image was developed to full visibility using mercury fumes. William Fox Talbot created the “calotype,” another early photographic process, in 1841. Unlike the daguerreotype, an unlimited number of prints could be made from one calotype.
CAMERA OBSCURA
The camera obscura, a bigger version of the simple pinhole camera, was refined in 1870. Inside a dark room, a tiny hole is made in one wall. Natural light is focused through it, and an image of the outside scene is projected onto the opposite wall.
SEEING IN COLOR
The earliest color pictures required photographers to take three photographs using red, blue, and green filters, and then superimpose them using projectors. In 1907, the French Lumière brothers found a way of combining the colors on a single plate in a process they called “autochrome.”
IN A FLASH
For lighting in dark places, early photographers used flash powder—a mix of magnesium powder and potassium chlorate, ignited in a pan. It was very dangerous. In 1929, a German company introduced the flashbulb, with magnesium contained in the bulbs.
GELATIN DRY PLATES
Developed in 1871, the gelatin dry plate was more sensitive than previous film plates and reduced exposure time. For the first time, a tripod or other support was not necessary. Small cameras could be handheld while taking “snapshots.”
ON A ROLL
In 1885, the American George Eastman introduced transparent, flexible photographic film. This allowed multiple images to be taken using a roll of film rather than a single plate. Eastman introduced a camera for his film, the Kodak, which was first offered for sale in 1888. The Kodak camera was handheld and easy to use, making photography accessible to more people, not only professional photographers.
SNAP AWAY
Until relatively recently, photography was reserved for special occasions, such as holidays and weddings, due to the cost and time involved in buying film and having it developed. Now we can take pictures all day long and we no longer even need a special camera—our cell phones do the job.
Pocket camera
■ What? Folding Pocket Kodak No.1
■ Who? Eastman Kodak Co Ltd
■ Where and when? US, 1897–1898
Pioneers in the camera business, Kodak produced ever smaller and cheaper models for the amateur photographer, including one of the first folding cameras. This was followed by an even smaller “vest pocket” camera in 1912.
Press camera
■ What? Speed Graphic
■ Who? Graflex
■ Where and when? US, 1912
A press camera shot pictures that were bigger than average, but the camera was still relatively compact and very easy to handle. It was used by press photographers and anybody that needed a reliable camera that could shoot pictures quickly.
35 mm camera
■ What? Leica Standard
■ Who? Oskar Barnack
■ Where and when? Germany, 1932
In the first quarter of the 20th century, 35 mm (the width of film) became the primary the format for cameras. Cameras using 35 mm film were available as early as 1913, but the compact cameras made by Leica, such as the iconic Leica Standard really popularized the format.
Twin-lens reflex camera
■ What? Rolleiflex K1
■ Who? Franke & Heidecke
■ Where and when? Germany, 1929
TLR (twin-lens reflex) cameras have two lenses, one to take the picture and one for viewing, as pictured above on the later 2.8 F model. A 45-degree mirror allows the user to view the shot from above, with the camera held at waist height. With this technique, the camera could also be held more steadily.
Brownie Flash series
■ What? Brownie Flash II
■ Who? Eastman Kodak Co Ltd
■ Where and when? UK, 1957
In 1898, Kodak founder George Eastman asked his camera designer to design the cheapest camera possible, and the Brownie was created—a camera so simple to use, anyone could operate it. The Brownie range continued with the popular Brownie Flash series in the 1950s, which was even more useful as it allowed the user to attach a flash.
Hasselblad cameras
■ What? Hasselblad 500 EL
■ Who? Victor Hasselblad
■ Where and when? Sweden, 1969
A former trading company, Hasselblad started making cameras during World War II. Their cameras are regarded as being of the highest quality, and they became well known when NASA chose the Hasselblad 500 EL to be the camera used on the legendary Moon landing in 1969.
Polaroids
■ What? Polaroid SX-70
■ Who? Edwin Land of the Polaroid Corporation
■ Where and when? US, 1972
Jennifer Land, after having her photo taken, asked her father, “Why can’t I see them now?” Her father was Edwin Land of the Polaroid company, who went on to invent the first commercial instant camera. The innovation continued with the iconic SX-70, which delivered a print shortly after taking the picture and was popular in the 1970s.
Digital camera
■ What? Minolta RD-175
■ Who? Minolta
■ Where and when? Japan, 1995
Cameras that do not use film but capture and save photographs electronically first appeared commercially in the mid 1990s. The first properly portable digital camera was probably the Minolta RD-175, released in 1995, followed by the Nikon D1 in 1999.
Action cameras
■ What? GoPro HERO
■ Who? Nick Woodman
■ Where and when? US, 2004
Beloved of adventure-sports enthusiasts, the GoPro range of cameras was dreamed up by a surfer who could not find the right kind of equipment he needed to shoot while riding waves. The original camera, developed in 2001, used 35 mm film, but later models incorporated digital and video technology, as well as special wide lenses.
Drone photography
■ What? SOLO Drone
■ Who? 3D Robotics
■ Where and when? US, 2015
Originally designed for military use, small drones equipped with GPS navigation and digital cameras have become commonplace, allowing increasing numbers of photographers to capture stunning aerial images.
Written by John Farndon, Jacob Field, Joe Fullman, Andrew Humphreys, and Giles Sparrow in "Smithsonian Inventions - A Visual Encyclopedia", DK Dorling Kindersley (Penguin), London, 2018, senior Carron Brown, excerpts pp.156-159.Digitized, adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.