Early History of Photography Survey

1) The camera obscure: One of the first inventions leading up to photography, this device projects images onto screens. Functioning similarly to a film camera with shutter and aperture, the pinhole in this device projects a sharper image as the hole becomes smaller, however the image resulted becomes darker as a result because of smaller amounts of available light.

2) Johann Heinrich Schultz: His discovery using silver salts in 1724 revealed that unless protected from light, the silver salts continued to darken with time. Eventually this provided further discoveries regarding fix in the evolution of photography.

3) Thomas Wedgewood: Credited with creating one of the first visible images through heat and light, Wedgewood successfully and notably used white leather to copy some of the first shapes onto paper, further encouraging other chemists to experiment with solutions to achieve this result.

4) Nicephore Niepce: Through the process of heliography, or sun writing, Niepce created the first known photograph in 1825. Pioneering the way, he used bitumen and lavender oil to capture a nature image through a camera obscura.

5) Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre: Already famous for the Diorama, Daguerre partnered with Niepce for a short time until Niepce's death. Daguerre then combined his original invention with his partner's speedier process to create the Daguerreotype in 1839, a machine that usually produced portraits. Images were protected from fingerprints and air in a glass-front box.

6) William Henry Fox Talbot: Talbot first patented his calotype (talbotype) process, and was also remembered for the production of negatives from which positive images can be produced. He also openly revealed the details of his photogenic drawing process, unlike the more secretive Daguerre.

7) Hill and Adamson: As a pair for four years creating 3,000 photographs, the two men became famous for the calotype portraits they created.

8) Julia Margaret Cameron: Her short-lived photographic career of eleven years began at the age of 48 when she received a camera for a gift. She aimed for soft and beautiful photographs, and captured many celebrities of her time. She was also a wonderfully organized businesswoman who kept great record of her images.

9) Felix Nadar: He built a huge balloon which allowed him to become the first ever human to take aerial photographs. He was also the innovator of using artificial lighting in photography during his work in the catacombs in Paris.

10) Frederick Scott Archer: Archer invented the wet photographic collodion process. He successfully combined being able to capture the fine detail of the daguerreotype with the ability to produce multiple copies of the calotype in order to make photography much more accessible to the public.

11) Dr. Richard Maddox: In 1871, Maddox created the first ever gelatin negative dry plates. These lightweight plates with gelatin coating allowed much more freedom in the lives of photographers because the negatives did not have to be developed immediately where as the wet collodions did.

12) George Eastman: Eastman's invention of roll film allowed even greater access to the public for photography. He was also the founder of Kodak Company.