PHOTOGRAPHY

A brief overview of the history of photography

The history and development of photography is characterized from a technical point of view by the (re)discovery of the principle of the camera obscura and the magic lantern, the invention of the camera lucida, the physionotrace as well as the panorama and the diorama. Photography is the technical process by which optical systems are used to project a light image onto a light-sensitive medium, where it can be stored directly for a long period of time.

TIME LINE

Milestones of photography history
in short form.

PRINCIPLE CAMERA OBSCURA

384-322 BC

The principle was already recognized by Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) in the 4th century B.C. In the apocryphal writing Problemata physica.

Source: Aristotle, via Wikimedia

Source: Leonardo da Vinci, via Wikimedia

INTERPRETATION CAMERA OBSCURA

15th/16th century

First correct interpretation by Leonardo da Vinci, who also recognized that the principle of the pinhole camera can also be found in the eye.

USE CAMERA OBSCURA

until the 19th century

The camera obscura was used as a painting and drawing device until the 19th century. The image projected on a screen was traced with a brush or pencil.

Source: 18th century camera obscura, Wikimedia

Quelle: Nicéphore Niépce, Wikimedia

PERMANENT PHOTOGRAPHY

from 1827

In 1827, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce succeeded in using a camera obscura in the heliographic process to produce the first known photograph that has survived to the present day.

PLATE PROCESS

from 1851

Thanks to the invention of the colledium wet plate by Frederick Scott Archer and the gelatin dry plate by Richard Leach Maddox, images could be captured more durably and sharply in plate cameras.

Source: Nicholas Kuss II (1854-1940), Wikimedia

Source: Brownie No. 2 (1901-35), Wikimedia

BOX CAMERA / ROLL FILM

from 1889

Kodak released the Kodak No. 1 (Brownie) by Georg Eastman in 1888 specifically to sell its newly launched celluloid roll film.

35MM CAMERA

from 1913

Oskar Barnack developed the first prototype of a 35mm camera for Leitz in 1913. It was not until 1925 that the 35mm camera for small-format film was introduced in Germany.

Source: Ur-Leica, Wikimedia

Source: Exakta Ihagee SLR, Wikimedia Source: Rolleiflex TLR, Wikimedia

SLR & TLR MIRROR REFLEX

from 1928

The first SLR camera was designed by Thomas Sutton as early as 1861. The first two-lens (TLR medium format) was created in 1928 by Paul Franke and Reinhold Heidecke. In 1936, the Ihagee "Kine-Exakta" was introduced as the world's first 35mm SLR camera.

INSTANT CAMERAS

from 1947

The Polaroid camera became popular. It delivers the finished prints shortly after the picture is taken, using an instant process developed by EDWIN H. LAND.

Source: Polaroid Model 95 1948, the Photo Museum

Source: Construction of a digital SLR, Wikimedia

DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY

from 1975

The first digital camera,was a prototype developed by Steven Sasson at Kodak in 1975. However, the 1981 Sony Mavica is considered the original digital camera. It wasn't until the late 80's/early 90's that digital photography really became popular.

CAMERA PHONES

from 2000

The first mobile phone with a camera was the Sharp J-SH04. It's hard to imagine our everyday life without the smartphone we use today, with its high resolution and 3d sensors.