Learn the History of How Photography Was Invented
Several important achievements and milestones dating back to the ancient Greeks have contributed to the development of cameras and photography. Here is a brief timeline of the various breakthroughs with a description of its importance.
5th-4th Centuries B.C.
Chinese and Greek philosophers describe the basic principles of optics and the camera.
1664–1666
Isaac Newton discovers that white light is composed of different colors.
1727
Johann Heinrich Schulze discovered that silver nitrate darkened upon exposure to light.
1794
First Panorama opens, the forerunner of the movie house invented by Robert Barker.
1814
Joseph Niepce achieves the first photographic image using an early device for projecting real-life imagery called a camera obscura. However, the image required eight hours of light exposure and later faded.
1837
Louis Daguerre’s first daguerreotype, an image that was fixed and did not fade and needed under thirty minutes of light exposure.
1840
First American patent issued in photography to Alexander Wolcott for his camera.
1841
William Henry Talbot patents the Calotype process, the first negative-positive process making possible the first multiple copies.
1843
The first advertisement with a photograph is published in Philadelphia.
1851
Frederick Scott Archer invented the Collodion process so that images required only two or three seconds of light exposure.
1859
Panoramic camera, called the Sutton, is patented.
1861
Oliver Wendell Holmes invents a stereoscope viewer.
1865
Photographs and photographic negatives are added to protected works under copyright law.
1871
Richard Leach Maddox invented the gelatin dry plate silver bromide process, which means negatives no longer had to be developed immediately.
1880
Eastman Dry Plate Company is founded.
1884
George Eastman invents flexible, paper-based photographic film.
1888
Eastman patents Kodak roll-film camera.
1898
Reverend Hannibal Goodwin patents celluloid photographic film.
1900
The first mass-marketed camera, called the Brownie, goes on sale.
1913/1914
First, a 35mm still camera is developed.
1927
General Electric invents a modern flashbulb.
1932
The first light meter with the photoelectric cell is introduced.
1935
Eastman Kodak markets Kodachrome film.
1941
Eastman Kodak introduces the Kodacolor negative film.
1942
Chester Carlson receives a patent for electric photography ( xerography).
1948
Edwin Land launches and markets the Polaroid camera.
1954
Eastman Kodak introduces high-speed Tri-X film.
1960
EG&G develops an extreme depth underwater camera for U.S. Navy.
1963
Polaroid introduces an instant color film.
1968
Photograph of the Earth is taken from the moon. The photograph, Earthrise, is considered one of the most influential environmental photographs ever taken.
1973
Polaroid introduces one-step instant photography with the SX-70 camera.
1977
Pioneers George Eastman and Edwin Land are inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
1978
Konica introduces the first point-and-shoot autofocus camera.
1980
Sony demonstrates the first consumer camcorder for capturing moving pictures.
1984
Canon demonstrates the first digital electronic still camera.
1985
Pixar introduces the digital imaging processor.
1990
Eastman Kodak announces Photo Compact Disc as a digital image storage medium.
1999
Kyocera Corporation introduces the VP-210 VisualPhone, the world’s first mobile phone with a built-in camera for recording videos and still photos.
Originally published at https://www.thoughtco.com.
Bellis, Mary. “Photography Timeline.” ThoughtCo, Aug. 27, 2020, thoughtco.com/photography-timeline-1992306.