Dec 2, 2024

Milestones in the history of photography

Today, taking a photo is quicker than ever before - just one click on your smartphone is enough to capture the moment. But the history of photography is the result of centuries of experimentation and innovation. From the camera obscura to the first cell phone photos, it was a long journey full of discoveries and technical milestones. In this blog post we delve into the beginnings of the history of photography and show how it laid the foundation for a medium that is now an integral part of our everyday lives.

Part 1: How it all began: The origins of photography

©stefanocarocci, Man taking photo with old camera, adobestock

Die Camera Obscura

The origins of phtography

The origins of photography can be traced back to ancient times. Already in the 4th century BC. In the 1st century BC, Aristotle described a fascinating phenomenon: a beam of light shining through a small opening into a dark room creates an upside-down, sideways image of the outside world on the opposite wall.

Aristotle was the first to describe the principle of the Camera Obscura (Latin camera “vault”; obscura “dark”).

©mari2d, camera obscura in a realistic style. isolated objects, adobestock

Further development of the principle of the Camera Obscura

In the 15th century, Leonardo da Vinci studied this phenomenon in more detail and recognized the similarity between how the camera obscura works and the human eye.

At the beginning of its development, the camera obscura was a walk-in chamber. Eventually, during the 17th century, box-shaped devices equipped with lenses were constructed to produce sharper images. Mirrors were later added to reverse the image.

These improvements made the camera obscura a popular tool for artists, who used it for detailed drawings and the correct representation of perspective.

Importance of photography

The Camera Obscura was a technological marvel of its time and played a crucial role in the emergence of photography. It made a significant contribution to understanding the fundamentals of light and optics and, in the centuries that followed, paved the way from the mere projection of images to the possibility of permanently recording them.

Discovery of light-sensitive chemicals

Light creates chemical reactions

While the Camera Obscura revealed the functionality of light and image projection, it was the discovery of light-sensitive chemical substances that enabled the decisive step from mere projection to the permanent fixation of images.

One of the earliest and most significant discoveries dates back to 1717. Johann Heinrich Schulze, a German polymath, made an interesting observation: silver nitrate, a chemical compound, changes color when exposed to sunlight. This simple but profound finding proved that light can cause chemical reactions.

Importance of photography

Schulze's experiments showed that light is capable of having a visible effect on chemical substances. His research led to scientists intensively experimenting with light-sensitive substances in the 19th century. This laid the foundation for the first photographic processes, such as the world's first photograph.

First photo in the world

First photo in the world: „Point de vue du Gras“

With the photograph “Point de vue du Gras” Joseph Nicéphore Niépce took the world’s first permanently preserved photograph. It shows the view from his study of the courtyard of his house in Saint-Loup-de-Varennes, France.

How was the photo taken?

Niépce used a camera obscura and a coated tin plate coated with light-sensitive bitumen that hardened when exposed to sunlight. The exposure lasted several hours because the bitumen reacted very slowly to light. After exposure, Niépce washed the plate with a lavender oil and petroleum mixture to remove the uncured areas. The result was the first permanently preserved image - a milestone in the history of photography.

Importance of photography

With “Point de vue du Gras” Niépce proved that it is possible to capture photographs permanently. Later photography techniques built on his experiments and enabled shorter exposure times and more detailed images.

The first photo in Germany

Background to the discovery

The world's first photograph was taken in France, but when was the first photograph taken in Germany? Until now, researchers assumed that the first photographs were taken in 1839.

New research from the Deutsches Museum in Munich shows that the oldest known photo in Germany was taken in March 1837.

The photo shows the Frauenkirche in Munich and was captured on a salt paper negative by Franz von Kobell, a mineralogist and early photography pioneer. The image lay undiscovered in the archives of the German Museum for decades until the scientist Cornelia Kemp rediscovered it while researching for her book. A date handwritten by Kobell on the back confirmed the year of creation. Until then, the photographs by Kobell and Carl August von Steinheil from 1839 - the year in which the daguerreotype was publicly presented in Paris - were considered the earliest German photographs. There was no previous evidence that Kobell had already undertaken photographic experiments two years earlier. His role in the history of photography has long been underestimated.

Repro: Deutsches Museum

Importance of photography

The discovery of photography in 1837 permanently changed the history of photography in Germany. It shows that German scientists experimented with photographic processes early on, independently of international developments.

However, the salt paper used had technical limitations: it was too thick to make prints or positives, so the image only existed as a negative. It was only thanks to modern digitalization that it was possible to create positives of the photograph that reveal a remarkable level of detail - even the dials of the tower clocks of the Frauenkirche are visible.