A Brief History of Photography

By debbie.sf
  • Period: 470 BCE to 391 BCE

    Mozi, a Chinese philosopher, describes an early camera obscura.

    In his book Mozi, filled with philosophical teaching and reflection on ancient Chinese life, Mozi also describes the early technology of images reflecting through a pinhole.
  • Period: 1200 to 1280

    Albertus Magnus discovers silver nitrate.

  • Period: 1516 to 1571

    George Fabricius discovers silver chloride.

  • Johann Heinrich Schulze discovers silver nitrate darkens with light exposure.

  • Nicéphore Niépce produces the first photograph.

    Nicéphore Niépce produces the first photograph.

  • Period: to

    Nicéphore Niépce introduces Heliography.

  • Sir Charles Wheatstone describes stereoscopic photographic views.

  • Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre and Nicéphore Niépce invent the Daguerreotype.

  • William Henry Fox Talbot introduces the calotype process

  • John Herschel invents the cyanotype.

  • Friedrich von Martens the first panoramic camera: the Megaskop-Kamera.

  • Frederick Scott Archer invents wet collodion process.

  • Gaspar Felix Tournachon takes first aerial photo from hot air balloon.

  • First color photo is taken by Thomas Sutton.

  • R.L. Maddox introduces the dry plate.

  • Étienne-Jules Marey creates chronophotographic gun.

  • Kodak is founded by George Eastman and Henry A. Strong.

  • First roll of plastic transparent film on nitrocellulose invented.

  • Louis and Auguste Lumière invent the camera and projector: the Cinématographe.

  • Brownie camera series is introduced.

  • Kodak introduces safety film.

  • Ur-Leica, the first 35mm camera, developed by Oskar Barnack.

  • Kodachrome, one of the first successful color materials, is introduced.

  • Exakta Modell B, first camera with built-in flash.

  • First shots of Earth taken from space using a 35mm inside the V-2 No. 13.

  • Edwin Land debuted the first Polaroid camera, the Model 95.

  • First digital image produced by Russell Kirsch.

  • Agfa Optima, the first camera with fully automatic exposure, is invented.

  • Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith invent the CCD image censor.

  • Kodak engineer Steve Sasson invents the first digital camera.

  • Nikon releases first commercial DSLR: the QV-1000C.

  • Photoshop 1.0 is launched under Adobe.

  • J-SH04, first mobile phone with camera, released by J-Phone.

  • The first front-facing camera phone, the Ericsson Z1010, is released by Sony.

  • Dalsa Origin, first commercial 4k cinema camera, released.

  • Facebook founded by Mark Zuckerberg, sets social exchange of photos into motion.

  • V610, first digital camera with Bluetooth, debuts through Kodak.

  • Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1, the first MILC using the Micro Four Thirds system, released.

  • Samsung, Panasonic, and Sony release 3D-compatible televisions.

  • Instagram is released by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, initiating a major powerhouse in visual social media.

  • Sony releases Xperia XZ2, the first smartphone with 4k HDR video recording.