Photography timeline

By MarshelMallow
  • First Photograph ever taken

    First Photograph ever taken

    The First Photograph, or more specifically, the earliest known surviving photograph made in a camera, was taken by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1826 or 1827.
  • Sir John Herschel invents the cyanotype process

    Sir John Herschel invents the cyanotype process

    An inexpensive medium, the cyanotype was used as a photographic process in the 19th century and more often in the 20th century for reproducing architectural plans and technical drawings.
  • James Anson Cutting of Boston first publishes the term ambrotype in his 1854 patent for an “Improved Process of taking Photographic Pictures upon Glass”

    James Anson Cutting of Boston first publishes the term ambrotype in his 1854 patent for an “Improved Process of taking Photographic Pictures upon Glass”

    The ambrotype process used of a glass negative exposed in the camera, developed, fixed, and then placed against a dark background so that it appeared as a positive image.
  • The pictorialist movement flourishes as a photographic style from the late 1860s to the early 1900s

    The pictorialist movement flourishes as a photographic style from the late 1860s to the early 1900s

    Caroline Haskins Gurrey operated a photographic studio in Honululu and achieved recognition for her pictorialist-style portraits of Hawaii's mixed-race children.
  • Alta-Vista introduces the first mass-produced American panoramic camera

    Alta-Vista introduces the first mass-produced American panoramic camera

    The first panoramic photographs appeared as early as 1845, but the Alta-Vista, and the No. 4 Kodak Panoram introduced in 1899, allowed amateurs to take small panoramas of no more than 12 inches using roll film and no tripod.
  • Eastman Kodak introduces the Brownie camera at the retail price of one dollar

    Eastman Kodak introduces the Brownie camera at the retail price of one dollar

    One of the most popular cameras of the 20th century, the easy-to-use, inexpensive Kodak Brownie greatly expanded the amateur market for photography, leading to generations of snapshooters, who often compiled their photographs into albums.
  • In France, the Lumière brothers introduce the autochrome color process

    In France, the Lumière brothers introduce the autochrome color process

    The first commercial color process, the autochrome became popular with amateur photographers and remained available until the late 1930s.
  • Surrealist photography is introduced in Andre Breton's publication The Manifesto of Surrealism

    Surrealist photography is introduced in Andre Breton's publication The Manifesto of Surrealism

    The Welsh photographer Angus McBean used techniques such as photomontage to create this surrealistic portrait of Audrey Hepburn.
  • Eastman Kodak develops the Kodacolor process for making color prints from color negatives

    Eastman Kodak develops the Kodacolor process for making color prints from color negatives

    The first amateur color negative film, Kodacolor was sold with the cost of processing and printing included in the price until a 1954 federal court’s decree forced Kodak to stop this practice.
  • Kodak releases the Instamatic, the first point-and-shoot camera

    Kodak releases the Instamatic, the first point-and-shoot camera

  • Steven Sasson, a young engineer at Eastman Kodak, invents digital photography and makes the first digital camera

    Steven Sasson, a young engineer at Eastman Kodak, invents digital photography and makes the first digital camera

  • Camera phone is introduced

    Camera phone is introduced

  • Kodak ceases production of film cameras

    Kodak ceases production of film cameras

  • Lytro launches first pocket sized consumer light field camera capable of refocusing after images being taken.

  • Modern Photography

    Modern Photography

    With cameras becoming more advanced, people are coming up with a variety of creative ways to compose photos.