Photography's First Images

In 1826 the first permanently fixed image or photograph was produced by French inventor Joseph Nicephore Niepce. The process used by Niepce to create his images started with the foundation of a pewter plate covered with bitumen of Judea. Once exposed to light, bitumen of Judea would harden and once unhardened material was washed off and the plate was polished, the result was a negative image. This image could then be used to create a print. The image titled, “View from the Window at Le Gras”, was taken outside the third-floor window of Niepce’s house in La Gras. The exposure of Niepce’s ground-breaking photo was said to have lasted eight hours. This lengthy exposure allowed for sunlight to illuminate both sides of the building.

 After Niepce’s passing, Louis Daguerre took the first photograph of a person in “Boulevard du Temple” in 1838. Seeing as though the cameras exposure time was over 10 minutes long, the automobiles and traffic in this bustling street scene are indecipherable, but a man standing still long enough while getting his boots cleaned shows up in the photo.  

Allison Garlick