The First Camera: A Visionary's Spark

The first camera was invented in 1816 by French inventor Nicephore Niepce. His simple camera used paper coated with silver chloride, which would produce a negative of the image (dark where it should be light). Because of how silver chloride works, these images were not permanent. However, later experiments using a film made from 'Bitumen of Judea' produced permanent photos, some of which remain today.

The camera obscura, meaning 'dark room' in Latin, was the first camera ever created. It wasn't a camera as we know it now, but rather small gloomy rooms with light entering only through a small hole. As a result, an inverted picture of the outside scene was cast onto the adjacent wall.

The camera obscura

The earliest documented explanation of this principle comes from Han Chinese philosopher Mozi (approximately 470 to 391 BC), who correctly argued that the inversion of the camera obscura image is a result of light travelling in straight lines from its source. Aristotle (384–322 BC) also observed the camera obscura effect and attempted to explain the phenomenon.

In the 11th century, Arab physicist Ibn al-Haytham (known in the West as Alhazen) extensively studied the camera obscura phenomenon. He is often credited with the invention of the pinhole camera and provided the first correct analysis of the phenomenon, offering the first geometrical and quantitative descriptions.

In the 16th century, the camera obscura was used as an aid for drawing and painting. The oldest known published drawing of a camera obscura is found in Dutch physician, mathematician and instrument maker Gemma Frisius’ 1545 book 'De Radio Astronomica et Geometrica', in which he described and illustrated how he used the camera obscura to study the solar eclipse of 24 January 1544.

By the late 17th century, portable camera obscura devices in tents and boxes had come into use as drawing tools. The images produced by these early cameras could only be preserved by manually tracing them, as no photographic processes had been invented yet.

The first photograph

Niépce had been experimenting with ways to fix the images of a camera obscura since 1816. He experimented with a range of plates using paper, varnish-coated parchment, and metal. He covered the plates with a type of asphalt and observed how they were impacted by sunshine.

The first cameras were large enough to accommodate one or more people, and over time they evolved into increasingly compact models.

The daguerreotype

The process involved polishing a sheet of silver-plated copper to a mirror finish, treating it with fumes to make its surface light-sensitive, and then exposing it in a camera for as little as a few seconds for brightly sunlit subjects, or much longer with less intense lighting. The resulting latent image was made visible by fuming it with mercury vapour, and its sensitivity to light was then removed by liquid chemical treatment. The plate was then rinsed, dried, and sealed behind glass in a protective enclosure.

The calotype

In 1841, Talbot patented his process, which involved exposing a sheet of paper coated with silver iodide in a camera obscura. The sheet was then developed and fixed with sodium hyposulfite to create a stable negative image. This "negative" could then be used to make multiple positive prints through a simple contact printing process.

Nevertheless, the calotype played a crucial role in the history of photography. Talbot's invention of the negative-positive process laid the foundation for modern photography, as it allowed for multiple prints to be created from a single negative. The calotype also contributed to advancements in chemical processes, such as creating multiple prints from a single negative, and it furthered our understanding of the physics of light.

The gelatin dry plate

The process was further improved in 1878 with the discovery that heat-ripening the gelatin emulsion significantly increased its sensitivity. This advancement revolutionized photography, making handheld cameras a viable option for capturing "instantaneous" snapshots.

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